Here is our ballot in its full awesomeness.
Rocky Top Talk Ballot - Week 5
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 1 |
| 2 | Stanford Cardinal |
7 |
| 3 | Boise St. Broncos |
2 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
 -3 |
| 5 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-1 |
| 6 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
-3 |
| 7 | Florida Gators |
4 |
| 8 | Arizona Wildcats | -- |
| 9 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-3 |
| 10 | Auburn Tigers |
5 |
| 11 | LSU Tigers |
3 |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers |
9 |
| 13 | Utah Utes |
-1 |
| 14 | Nevada Wolf Pack |
4 |
| 15 | Michigan Wolverines |
4 |
| 16 | Arkansas Razorbacks | -- |
| 17 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
-7 |
| 18 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
5 |
| 19 | N.C. State Wolfpack | -- |
| 20 | Oklahoma Sooners |
-13 |
| 21 | Miami Hurricanes | -- |
| 22 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | -- |
| 23 | Texas Longhorns |
-10 |
| 24 | Missouri Tigers | -- |
| 25 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
-8 |
| Dropouts: Northwestern Wildcats, Fresno St. Bulldogs, Air Force Falcons, Michigan St. Spartans | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
All in all, the change from last week's ballot was a net delta of 106, up slightly from last week's delta of 100 but still well within the normal bounds for this time of the season. Comments on overrides from the draft follow.
Number One
I went ahead and put Alabama back at the number one slot, though I really have no problem with Stanford sitting there. The two teams are effectively equal to our computers, and it's just easier to explain Stanford at #2 to people who get stuck in the mindset that the traditional powers must occupy the top slot (e.g. the AP voters and anybody who insists on slotting Boise lower than about #6 because they don't play in the SEC).
Arizona bumped down a bit because we're still not sure they're as good as the numbers. Ohio State was bumped up for similar reasons.
Weeding Out
Texas A&M received the customary drop out of the polls entirely but could make an appearance if they beat Oklahoma State this weekend. Northwestern and Kansas State were similarly bumped, and USC was removed as per our policy of ranking bowl-eligible teams. (They were #17 in our computers for those who are interested.)
SEC Carnage
Arkansas and South Carolina were brought back up as they lost in close games to very good teams and losses this early in the season incur a very heavy penalty in the computer. (In previous years, I'd correct for this every week, but this year I haven't had to go to such lengths yet.) Auburn was flopped ahead of LSU to match our SEC Power Poll ballot.
Etc.
Oklahoma and Texas were both reintroduced to the ballot on the basis of talent and the holes left by the aforementioned teams being dropped out. If Texas loses this weekend, they're certainly out of the polls as they've been underwhelming all year. If Oklahoma loses, things will get more interesting (and by that, I mean disgusting).
There are other moves between the two, but those are the major ones.