This and that

It would appear that if John McCain wins every state where he is leading big, narrowly leading, tied, or within 8 points of Obama, he will barely win the Presidency, whereas if Obama holds his big lead states and manages to win one of the close states, he'll win - and he's ahead in most of the battleground states.

I'm not ready to call the election yet - we haven't had a real October surprise, have we? - but it's looking less competitive than the last couple of go rounds.

On to the real polls...

1. Texas (8-0, 1)
2. Alabama (8-0, 2)
3. Texas Tech (8-0, 5)
4. Penn State (9-0, 4)
5. Boise State (7-0, 3)
6. Utah (8-0, 6)
7. Georgia (7-1, 8)
8. Oklahoma (7-1, 9)
9. Florida (6-1, 12)
10. Ball State (8-0, 10)
11. Tulsa (8-0, 11)
12. Minnesota (7-1, 17)
t13. Oklahoma State (7-1, 14)
t13. USC (6-1, 13)
15. TCU (8-1, 14)
16. Ohio State (7-2, 7)
17. Florida State (6-1, 21)
18. BYU (7-1, 25)
19. Michigan State (7-2, NR)
20. North Carolina (6-2, NR)
21. Missouri (6-2, NR)
22. UConn (6-2, NR)
23. Central Michigan (6-2, NR)
24. Georgia Tech (6-2, 15)
25. Northwestern (6-2, 23)

Dropped out - Pitt (5-2, 18), USF (6-2, 19), Cincinnati (6-2, 24), LSU (5-2, 20), BC (5-2, 22)

Other teams of note...
34. Nebraska (5-3, 47)
50. Iowa (5-3, 50)
74. UTEP (3-4, 80)
t106. Iowa State (2-6, 107)
113. Idaho (2-7, 119)
120. North Texas (0-8, 120)

You know where it sucks right now? The state of Washington. The boys from Pullman are hovering at #117, while the latte sippers from Seattle are at #119. Rotten apples indeed.

It's Monday!

Ate at Gorat's this weekend - the Omaha steak house where the Oracle of Omaha himself sits down and tucks into a T-bone.

God Almighty I like meat. So does Warren Buffett, apparently. Good times.

Your football rankings (W-L and last week's ranking in parentheses)

1. Texas (7-0, 1)
2. Alabama (7-0, 2)
3. Boise State (6-0, 3)
4. Penn State (8-0, 5)
5. Texas Tech (8-0, 6)
6. Utah (8-0, 4)
7. Ohio State (7-1, 10)
8. Georgia (6-1, 13)
9. Oklahoma (6-1, 8)
10. Ball State (7-0, 9)
11. Tulsa (7-0, 18)
12. Florida (5-1, 16)
13. USC (5-1, NR)
14. Oklahoma State (6-1, NR)
15. Georgia Tech (6-1, 25)
16. TCU (7-1, 21)
17. Minnesota (6-1, 22)
18. Pitt (5-1, 23)
19. USF (6-1, NR)
20. LSU (5-1, NR)
21. Florida State (5-1, NR)
22. BC (5-1, NR)
23. Northwestern (6-1, NR)
24. Cincinnati (5-1, NR)
25. BYU (6-1, 7)

Dropped out - Missouri (5-2, 12), Michigan State (6-2, 11), Kansas (5-2, 20), Virginia Tech (5-2, 15), North Carolina (5-2, 17), Vanderbilt (5-2, 19), Wake Forest (4-2, 14), Cal (4-2, 24)

Other teams of note...

47. Nebraska (4-3, 46)
50. Iowa (5-3, 50)
80. UTEP (3-4, 71)
107. Iowa State (2-5, 101)
119. Idaho (1-7, 118)
120. North Texas (0-7, 120)

Weekly rankings

Seriously - is there anything better than savoring an unexpected blowout road win by my beloved Hawkeyes while listening to the Husker nation cry about having their hearts RIPPED out by Texas Tech?

Probably, but let me have my moment.

This week's Top 25 (with record and last week's rank)

1. Texas (6-0, 3)
2. Alabama (6-0, 2)
3. Boise State (5-0, 7)
4. Utah (7-0, 9)
5. Penn State (7-0, 8)
6. Texas Tech (5-0, 10)
7. BYU (6-0, 13)
8. Oklahoma (5-1, 4)
9. Ball State (7-0, 12)
10. Ohio State (6-1, 19)
11. Michigan State (6-1, 15)
12. Missouri (5-1, 1)
13. Georgia (5-1, 20)
14. Wake Forest (4-1, NR)
15. Virginia Tech (5-1, 14)
16. Florida (5-1, 25)
17. North Carolina (5-1, 17)
18. Tulsa (6-0, 16)
19. Vanderbilt (5-1, 5)
20. Kansas (5-1, NR)
21. TCU (6-1, NR)
22. Minnesota (6-1, NR)
23. Pitt (4-1, 23)
24. Cal (4-1, 21)
25. Georgia Tech (5-1, 32)

Dropped out - Northwestern (5-1, 6), USF (5-1, 24), LSU (4-1, 11), Notre Dame (4-2, 18), Kentucky (4-2, 22)

Other teams of note...

46. Nebraska (3-3, 35)
50. Iowa (4-3, 57)
71. UTEP (3-3, 90)
101. Iowa State (2-4, 100)
118. Idaho (1-6, 115)

I'm interested to see how accurate this formula is over the long haul. I was a little surprised at how far a couple of schools dropped.

Interesting that the top 2 match the consensus top 2 in the polls. Interesting that North Texas ranks as the worst team in the country (#120). Good times.

A new blog institution

With time on my hands here in the wilds of Omaha, I've had time to put the finishing touches on my college football ranking system.

I'll post the rankings each week just to see how close my formula comes to matching whatever you want it to match.

Enjoy!

1. Missouri
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Vanderbilt
6. Northwestern
7. Boise State
8. Penn State
9. Utah
10. Texas Tech
11. LSU
12. Ball State
13. BYU
14. Virginia Tech
15. Michigan State
16. Tulsa
17. North Carolina
18. Notre Dame
19. Ohio State
20. Georgia
21. Cal
22. Kentucky
23. Pitt
24. USF
25. Florida

For the locally curious...

57. Iowa
100. Iowa State