Still having intermittent problems with the blog, both on my side and on my host’s side. Sneaking this in before the window of opportunity closes again.

1. Texas

2. Southern Cal

3. Penn State

4. West Virginia

5. Ohio State

6. Georgia

7. Louisiana State

8. TCU

9. Virginia Tech

10. Alabama

11. Oregon

12. UCLA

13. Notre Dame

14. Wisconsin

15. Auburn

16. Florida

17. Boston College

18. Miami

19. Texas Tech

20. Louisville

21. Florida State

22. Clemson

23. Oklahoma

24. Nebraska

25. California

1. Texas: UT gets nod over USC only because of USC’s would-be loss to Notre Dame
2. USC: Basically neck and neck with the Longhorns
3. Notre Dame: Two bad calls on final two plays cost them victory over USC
4. Georgia: SEC champ
5. LSU: SEC runner-up
6. Florida: Lost three games, but beat both SEC champ and ACC champ
7. Penn State: Only one loss, but docked for not having to play a championship game
8. Ohio State: Only losses to Texas and Penn State
9. Florida State: Yeah, four losses, but still champ of tough ACC conference
10. Virginia Tech: ACC runner-up
11. Georgia Tech: Four losses, but beat both Auburn and Miami
12. Auburn: Stumbled out of the gate and lost to SEC runner-up LSU, but beat SEC champ Georgia
13. Miami: Throttled ACC runner-up Virginia Tech
14. Alabama: Only losses to SEC runner-up LSU and number 12 Auburn
15. Oregon: Only one loss, but docked for relatively weak conference
16. West Virginia: Received a BCS berth while never cracking the top ten
17. Michigan: Beat Big 10 champ Penn State, but lost four games
18. UCLA
19. Clemson: Beat ACC champ FSU, but who didn’t?
20. South Carolina: Wins over Florida and Tennessee not as impressive in hindsight
21. TCU
22. Northwestern
23. Iowa
24. Iowa State
25. Louisville

Something really struck me while I was writing this post.

WARNING! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR SHOCKING NEWS:

The Tennessee Volunteers are not dead yet. Okay, so maybe they’re mostly dead, but as Miracle Max said in The Princess Bride, “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.”

But before I get to that, here are the top ten horses after Week Six:

Okay, so here’s what happened this past weekend. Ohio State, who lost to Penn State, and Tennessee dropped out of the top ten, and Miami consequently moved up two spots to No. 6. California dropped out after losing to UCLA, and Alabama consequently moved up behind Miami. LSU found itself back in the hunt at No. 8, and newcomers Notre Dame and Penn State entered the race at Nos. 9 and 10 respectively.

Tennessee tumbled all the way to No. 18 after losing to the Georgia Bulldogs.

Not to say the drop is unjustified at all, but really, look at their schedule:

• Lost at Florida when the Gators were ranked No. 7.
• Won at LSU when the Tigers were ranked No. 4.
• Lost against Georgia when the Bulldogs were ranked No. 4.
• Scheduled to play Alabama (currently No. 7) next and Notre Dame (currently No. 9) later.

If (and yes, it’s a big if) the Volunteers can win against Alabama and Notre Dame, they will have won three of five games against top ten opponents. Is that really the end of the world as we know it? What if Notre Dame can upset USC this weekend at South Bend? (Okay, okay, I know. If they beat USC, we haven’t got a chance against them, but dream with me, won’t you?)

Yes, Tennessee’s two losses will have been against SEC East opponents Florida and Georgia and will have cost them any shot at an SEC or even an SEC East title. And because of that, they have no chance at the Rose Bowl. But they should still be able to get back into the top ten with quality wins against the Crimson Tide and the Irish.

Of course, with the way the Vols have been playing, predicting any win is a risky proposition, but the point remains:

The Volunteers are only mostly dead.

• Week Five
• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

The Tennessee Volunteers arguably didn’t get the bump they deserved for beating the LSU Tigers last Monday night (because the win was after last week’s Coaches’ Poll), but they survived a potential let-down game against the Ole Miss Rebels.

Here are the horses after Week Five:

The Gators fall out of the top ten to number 15 after getting thumped by the Alabama Crimson Tide, who enter the race at number 10. The Gators’ loss makes the Vols’ loss to the Gators look worse, but it’s a necessary evil because the Vols have virtually no chance at the Rose Bowl without winning the SEC Championship, and they can’t do that unless the Gators lose two SEC games. The Gators losing to Bama is a good start, and they play both Georgia and LSU in the next several weeks, so it’s not out of the question. Plus, the Vols can redeem themselves by beating the Crimson Tide if Bama is still in the top ten at that time.

Again, look at UT’s schedule:

• Play Florida when the Gators are ranked, what was it, number 5?
• Play LSU when the Tigers are ranked number 4.
• Play Georgia this week when the Bulldogs are ranked number 4.
• Play Alabama and Notre Dame later, who are now numbers 10 and 12, respectively.

Potentially 5 top ten teams. Maybe another in the SEC Championship. If the Vols can come out of that schedule with only one loss, should they be ranked above even some no-loss teams with lesser schedules?

• Week Four
• Week Three
• Week Two
• Week One
• Preseason

Okay, the Tennessee Volunteers didn’t play, but there sure were some good football games this weekend. The Big Ten got spanked, with Ohio State getting torched by Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns, Michigan fumbling its way to a loss to Notre Dame, and Iowa on the other end of a route, losing big to Iowa State.
Here’s the top ten of the Coaches’ Poll:So Southern Cal and Texas stay ahead of the pack, and LSU overtakes the Volunteers and Michigan, who, having dropped the football at the goal line, drops out of the top ten. Iowa also drops out of the top ten. Georgia and Florida move ahead together, while Ohio State drops to the back after losing a close one to the Longhorns. Newcomers FSU and Louisville enter the race at numbers 8 and 10, respectively.

Just look at the Vols’ schedule: they play number 7 Florida next week and number 3 the following week. A few short weeks later, they play number 6, but at least that one’s at Neyland Stadium. Oh, and by the way, UT plays Notre Dame, which is now ranked number 10 in the AP poll, a bit later on as well, at South Bend. And even Vanderbilt (VANDERBILT!) is 2-0.

The Rocky Road is shaping up to be even bumpier than anticipated.

• Preseason
• Week One

This is my first post by WordPress to my new domain. I just spent way too much time trying to get the table and the graphics to work — like I did for Week One — and I still don’t have it figured out yet. Something about the table cells being too wide.

Anyway, for now, here’s the top ten, according to the Coaches Poll:

More later. With logos, hopefully!