This here's the RTT Ready, Fire, Aim BlogPoll computer ballot. For a complete refresher on what we're doing, go here, here, here, and here. You can also hit the "blogpoll" tag below the post for a list of all of the related stories.
Prior tweaks to the system: (1) added experience ratings; (2) adjusted the weighting with a "square root of the sum of the squares." Why? I'll you why: I don't know. (3) revised the way tied teams were ranked; (4) began sorting the win/loss category based on losing percentage to hopefully alleviate the penalty to teams with early byes; (5) (a) adjusted the weighting of the win/loss factor and (b) adjusted the strength of schedule factor by subjecting the NCAA past opposition figures to a strength of conference rating. Conferences were divided into two categories: BCS and non-BCS; and (6) modified the Conference Ratings so that there were three categories instead of just BCS and non-BCS. The new categories are (a) the SEC and the Big12, (b) the other BCS conferences, and (c) the non-BCS conferences.
Tweaks for this week:
- None.
- The categories again: Win/Loss, Strength of Schedule, Pass Efficiency Defense, Rush Defense, 3rd Down Offense, Total Defense, Pass Efficiency Offense, Experience, Opponents Points Per Game, Total Offense, and 3rd Down Defense. The AVG R column is Average Ranking, and the last column is Weighted Average.
- The current weighting of the categories: 100, 15, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Then tweaked by the square root of the sum of the squares maneuver.
- Current spreadsheet here.
All right, then. The Top 35, according to the computer:
Rank |
Team |
WL |
SOS |
PED |
RD |
3DO |
TD |
PEO |
EXP |
OPPG |
TO |
3DD |
AVG R |
W AVG |
1 |
Texas Tech | 1 |
7 |
47 |
20 |
1 |
60 |
8 |
68 |
46 |
2 |
28 |
26.18 |
61.60 |
2 |
Alabama | 1 |
31 |
6 |
3 |
37 |
3 |
61 |
95 |
6 |
52 |
2 |
27.00 |
76.81 |
3 |
Texas | 6 |
1 |
59 |
4 |
4 |
58 |
3 |
116 |
25 |
9 |
42 |
29.73 |
90.39 |
4 |
Florida | 9 |
4 |
7 |
11 |
16 |
6 |
9 |
116 |
4 |
25 |
9 |
19.64 |
93.68 |
5 |
Oklahoma | 9 |
11 |
28 |
21 |
20 |
55 |
2 |
59 |
57 |
4 |
11 |
25.18 |
98.07 |
6 |
Southern California | 9 |
49 |
1 |
6 |
24 |
2 |
12 |
72 |
1 |
14 |
6 |
17.82 |
124.93 |
7 |
Ohio St. | 12 |
27 |
14 |
26 |
30 |
13 |
33 |
59 |
7 |
84 |
66 |
33.73 |
127.17 |
8 |
Penn St. | 6 |
63 |
2 |
10 |
10 |
4 |
26 |
38 |
5 |
18 |
14 |
17.82 |
128.61 |
9 |
Georgia | 12 |
2 |
60 |
14 |
44 |
24 |
16 |
90 |
58 |
23 |
54 |
36.09 |
129.61 |
10 |
Oklahoma St. | 12 |
19 |
67 |
27 |
19 |
77 |
4 |
45 |
58 |
7 |
47 |
34.73 |
137.61 |
11 |
Missouri | 12 |
15 |
73 |
40 |
5 |
89 |
6 |
32 |
55 |
6 |
79 |
37.45 |
140.87 |
12 |
Utah | 1 |
91 |
36 |
7 |
21 |
11 |
20 |
14 |
13 |
35 |
10 |
23.55 |
169.49 |
13 |
Michigan St. | 12 |
53 |
12 |
73 |
84 |
48 |
75 |
68 |
25 |
66 |
55 |
51.91 |
172.14 |
14 |
Boise St. | 1 |
94 |
3 |
12 |
31 |
12 |
10 |
114 |
2 |
15 |
13 |
27.91 |
177.64 |
15 |
TCU | 12 |
79 |
8 |
1 |
8 |
1 |
67 |
26 |
3 |
31 |
5 |
21.91 |
183.44 |
16 |
Cincinnati | 19 |
42 |
34 |
25 |
106 |
42 |
30 |
59 |
35 |
48 |
12 |
41.09 |
206.54 |
17 |
BYU | 6 |
111 |
42 |
71 |
3 |
54 |
7 |
49 |
21 |
17 |
102 |
43.91 |
221.09 |
18 |
Ball St. | 1 |
119 |
22 |
74 |
6 |
49 |
5 |
53 |
9 |
12 |
74 |
38.55 |
226.45 |
19 |
Pittsburgh | 22 |
47 |
70 |
30 |
56 |
32 |
73 |
77 |
63 |
45 |
62 |
52.45 |
234.33 |
20 |
Western Mich. | 12 |
112 |
54 |
58 |
35 |
87 |
15 |
14 |
43 |
22 |
64 |
46.91 |
245.17 |
21 |
LSU | 26 |
8 |
32 |
15 |
61 |
27 |
76 |
77 |
64 |
39 |
23 |
40.73 |
246.87 |
22 |
Northwestern | 23 |
65 |
38 |
44 |
23 |
51 |
87 |
59 |
31 |
64 |
29 |
46.73 |
250.80 |
23 |
North Carolina | 26 |
24 |
18 |
66 |
51 |
57 |
32 |
72 |
17 |
93 |
76 |
48.36 |
252.12 |
24 |
Florida St. | 26 |
40 |
29 |
23 |
22 |
5 |
79 |
53 |
30 |
43 |
1 |
31.91 |
252.97 |
25 |
Oregon St. | 26 |
46 |
26 |
22 |
48 |
15 |
27 |
12 |
40 |
26 |
4 |
26.55 |
254.72 |
26 |
Oregon | 23 |
64 |
51 |
37 |
70 |
75 |
81 |
38 |
74 |
13 |
72 |
54.36 |
255.70 |
27 |
Air Force | 23 |
78 |
39 |
53 |
36 |
35 |
18 |
7 |
22 |
54 |
84 |
40.82 |
259.79 |
28 |
Miami (Fla.) | 26 |
41 |
40 |
19 |
96 |
10 |
89 |
18 |
37 |
100 |
53 |
48.09 |
261.88 |
29 |
Georgia Tech | 26 |
52 |
21 |
35 |
55 |
14 |
62 |
109 |
11 |
65 |
63 |
46.64 |
263.78 |
30 |
Boston College | 26 |
56 |
5 |
9 |
67 |
8 |
104 |
68 |
14 |
89 |
25 |
42.82 |
266.94 |
31 |
Maryland | 26 |
59 |
62 |
67 |
49 |
64 |
64 |
22 |
23 |
71 |
38 |
49.55 |
275.03 |
32 |
Central Mich. | 19 |
101 |
98 |
50 |
11 |
99 |
17 |
95 |
83 |
30 |
77 |
61.82 |
275.89 |
33 |
Connecticut | 26 |
60 |
9 |
31 |
95 |
16 |
111 |
109 |
19 |
55 |
17 |
49.82 |
276.24 |
34 |
Tulsa | 19 |
116 |
114 |
41 |
1 |
101 |
1 |
49 |
94 |
1 |
90 |
57.00 |
296.62 |
35 |
Rice | 26 |
95 |
97 |
103 |
15 |
115 |
11 |
32 |
112 |
11 |
107 |
65.82 |
320.67 |
Shaping up quite nicely, I think. But it's still subject to human override. Candidates (those that are around five spots or more off from the major polls):
Possibly out of order
- Alabama and Texas Tech
- Florida and Texas
Possibly too high
- Western Michigan
- Florida State
Possibly too low
- Boise State
Any others that you see?
Current draft ballot, without any interventions yet:
![]() | ||
Rank | Team | Delta |
---|---|---|
1 | Texas Tech | -- |
2 | Alabama | -- |
3 | Texas | -- |
4 | Florida | ![]() |
5 | Oklahoma | ![]() |
6 | Southern Cal | -- |
7 | Ohio State | ![]() |
8 | Penn State | ![]() |
9 | Georgia | ![]() |
10 | Oklahoma State | ![]() |
11 | Missouri | ![]() |
12 | Utah | ![]() |
13 | Michigan State | ![]() |
14 | Boise State | ![]() |
15 | TCU | -- |
16 | Cincinnati | ![]() |
17 | Brigham Young | ![]() |
18 | Ball State | ![]() |
19 | Pittsburgh | ![]() |
20 | Western Michigan | ![]() |
21 | LSU | ![]() |
22 | Northwestern | ![]() |
23 | North Carolina | ![]() |
24 | Florida State | ![]() |
25 | Oregon State | ![]() |
We'll use up to three vetoes of the computer rankings. Now soliciting suggestions.