Just know that this hurts me far more than it hurts you.
For as long as I can remember I've railed against the fact that preseason polls turn regular season top 25's into somewhat of a caste system (i.e. South Florida still being behind Auburn in the Coaches Poll), which completely taints the validity of both the BCS and end of the season rankings. I believe that as the weeks go on and we learn more about each team, resumes should become increasingly important to the creation of one's top 25 until we reach the end of the season and they're accounting for 95-100 percent of how one goes about ordering the best teams in the country.
I've never understood how a top five team can beat a middle of the road team from the MAC on a late field goal and only drop two or three spots with the only justification seemingly being that people thought a month ago they were going to be good.
All this said, what kind of hypocrite would I be if I left a Louisville team that has crushed one of the worst Division I-AA teams in the country, and given up 42 points to an offensively challenged team (Oklahoma State proved that FAU's defense isn't that good) from the Sun Belt in my top 15 when there are so many other teams who have actually proven things on the playing field? It's important to note that I'm not ranking teams strictly based on resume right now, because if I were the Cards wouldn't be mentioned at all.
What you're about to see is not pretty.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU | -- |
| 2 | Oklahoma |
 3 |
| 3 | Southern Cal | -- |
| 4 | Florida | -- |
| 5 | California |
1 |
| 6 | West Virginia |
 4 |
| 7 | Penn State |
3 |
| 8 | Wisconsin |
1 |
| 9 | Texas |
5 |
| 10 | Rutgers |
2 |
| 11 | Nebraska | -- |
| 12 | South Carolina |
14 |
| 13 | UCLA |
3 |
| 14 | Ohio State |
1 |
| 15 | South Florida |
11 |
| 16 | Georgia Tech |
8 |
| 17 | Oregon |
9 |
| 18 | Boston College |
5 |
| 19 | Washington |
7 |
| 20 | Cincinnati |
6 |
| 21 | Arkansas |
1 |
| 22 | Louisville |
14 |
| 23 | Clemson |
3 |
| 24 | Alabama |
2 |
| 25 | Iowa |
1 |
Half-baked reasonings:
1. LSU: I'm not as impressed as the rest of the country because I knew Virginia Tech sucked all along. Still...good show.
2. Oklahoma: Damn.
3. USC: Bye week before Nebraska game a good move? Talk amongst yourselves.
4. Florida: Surely Tim Tebow isn't this good, and surely Tennessee will help prove that because I really can't stomach any more Florida championships.
5. California: Colorado State game wasn't as close as it looked, although I wasn't as impressed with Nate Longshore as I was two weeks ago.
6. West Virginia: The fact that they were held to six points for 30 minutes gives hope to little linebacking boys and girls all over the east coast.
7. Penn State: No one popped Jimmy's helmet off but you get to move up anyway.
8. Wisconsin: The Badgers get a figurative break because of their Washington State performance, and a literal break against The Citadel this weekend.
9. Texas: Still not sold, and likely won't be for four weeks.
10. Rutgers: Keep giving Ray the ball 35 times a game, says that fan of the team playing Rutgers on the last weekend of the season.
11. Nebraska: Likely still here because Riley Skinner wasn't there on Saturday, but we shall never know.
12. South Carolina: I'll make it ten if the Spurrier Under Armour commercial is never shown again...and you burn the original film of the commercial during a party at my house...and you bring dip.
13. UCLA: Good win over BYU. Is a win over BYU good?
14. Ohio State: If Troy Smith couldn't make it in the NFL then what the hell is Todd Boeckman thinking right about now?
15. South Florida: Because of the kicking game.
16. Georgia Tech: Taylor Bennett is Tee Martin and Reggie Ball is Peyton Manning...in a world where Peyton Manning sucks.
17. Oregon: Dennis Dixon stars in: "Scoring in the Big House."
18. Boston College: Without cheating, name a BC player other than Matt Ryan in 15 seconds...I'm sorry, it's actually spelled "Aponavicius."
19. Washington: God Charlie Weis is a genius.
20. Cincinnati: Be worried Big East, be very worried.
21. Arkansas: I got nothing.
22. Louisville: Beat Kentucky and you'll be back with your friends.
23. Clemson: Uh, they're fast, I don't know.
24. Alabama: Might be the last time you'll see them here all year, so stare while you can.
25. Iowa: Get up Albert Young, get way up.