Here's my intial Week 9 ballot for the BlogPoll; remember, I'm a resume voter, comparing bodies of work. These are becoming significant; notes follow the ballot, below the break.
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The Purple Wimple Ballot - Week 9
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auburn Tigers |
 3 |
| 2 | Boise St. Broncos |
 -1 |
| 3 | TCU Horned Frogs |
2 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
-1 |
| 5 | Michigan St. Spartans |
1 |
| 6 | Wisconsin Badgers |
7 |
| 7 | Missouri Tigers |
1 |
| 8 | Utah Utes |
-1 |
| 9 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
3 |
| 10 | Oklahoma Sooners |
-8 |
| 11 | Stanford Cardinal | -- |
| 12 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 13 | LSU Tigers |
-3 |
| 14 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
3 |
| 15 | Arizona Wildcats |
1 |
| 16 | USC Trojans |
2 |
| 17 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
3 |
| 18 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 19 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
-10 |
| 20 | Nevada Wolf Pack | -- |
| 21 | Iowa Hawkeyes |
-6 |
| 22 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
1 |
| 23 | Miami Hurricanes | -- |
| 24 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
-3 |
| 25 | San Diego St. Aztecs | -- |
| Dropouts: Florida St. Seminoles, Texas Longhorns, Mississippi St. Bulldogs, West Virginia Mountaineers | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
First, the ritual reading of the Three Rules: Rule #1: I make exceptions to all of the following rules, as I see fit, except for Rule #2. Rule #2: for at least one week, the winner of a game must outrank the loser of the same game. Rule #3A: We cannot measure a team’s quality until it beats a quality opponent. Rule #3B: Beating a 2A team is usually a meaningless exercise.
Alright: I'm on the Cam Newton bandwagon. Wow. Big time players play big time in big games, and to date, Newton's biggest came was Saturday, and he was sensational. The Iron Bowl is growing in significance each time this man carries the ball.
About Oregon, which I moved below TCU, knowing that this will draw ire from BlogPoll watchers. This is the body of work beginning to hurt the Ducks, who have exactly one high quality win to date-- Stanford. Beating UCLA at home is an OK win, and after that the Ducks have gobbled up a bunch of creampuffs. Honestly, I might demote Oregon further, upon comparing its resume with that of Michigan State (Wisconsin > Stanford) and Wisconsin (which has two very high quality wins, but one loss).
I keep Nevada and San Diego State in my ballot this week, for different reasons. Nevada is my lowest ranked one-loss team, and its wins over Cal, BYU, and Colorado State are widely underrated, in my opinion. Its loss to Hawaii is increasingly forgivable. San Diego State, on the other hand, is still two admitted bad referee mistakes away from a perfect record, and its near-miss at Missouri looks better by the week.