Didn't you see this coming in the preseason? Photo by Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

I got something right last year, as Alabama topped my preseason AP ballot.

The Crimson Tide wasn’t a unanimous No. 1 in the final AP poll — receiving 55 of 60 first-place votes — but I didn’t have much to think about after its deconstruction of LSU in the national championship game.

Sorting out the top of the Pac-12 was more arduous, with three two-loss teams who went 1-1 against the others. Oregon gets the “tiebreaker” edge with its Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin. Stanford, which beat USC in the regular season, is next on my ballot.

The Ducks and Trojans will be near the top in everyone’s early Top 25 for 2012. Look for Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma to be right back up there, too.

Here is my final AP ballot:

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Mike Gundy gets a Gatorade shower at the end of Oklahoma State's win over Oklahoma. Photo by Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma State or Alabama?

I’m glad the AP vote doesn’t count in the BCS rankings, so I don’t have to worry about my decision being even a small factor in determining who gets to play LSU in the national title game.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t agonize over which team should be No. 2.

Oklahoma State, with its rousing victory over Oklahoma on Saturday, tipped the scales to having the “better victories.” Alabama, with an overtime home loss to LSU, has the “better loss.” The Cowboys lost on the road in double overtime at Iowa State.

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The passing of Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden is a big reason why the Cowboys are 10-0. Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images.

Things are getting clearer at the top of polls. LSU is the clear No. 1. Oklahoma State is in the passenger’s seat on the way to the national championship game.

If the 10-0 Cowboys win at Iowa State this Friday night and then in a superb Bedlam showdown at home against Oklahoma on Dec. 3, they will be headed to the title game.

This is a perfect example of why Big 12 contraction is not a bad thing; the Cowboys don’t have to navigate a league championship game that had been problematic for the conference favorite.

There are a couple of sticky points on this week’s ballot — we’ll get to this in a second — but the big question is who could Arizona State receive seven points in this week’s poll?

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Quarterback Seth Doege helped Texas Tech upset Oklahoma. Photo by Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma and Wisconsin suffered their first losses and could very well be out of the national championship discussion.

Boise State and Stanford, among others, celebrate.

There are now only eight unbeaten teams, with the maximum number at the end of the season being six.

LSU and Alabama play each other. Oklahoma State and Kansas State play each other. Undefeated Houston is not going to factor into the national championship discussion. So there could still be a five-way undefeated trainwreck at the end of the season.

The tricky question this week was what to do with Texas Tech, which won at Oklahoma on Saturday night. The Red Raiders were rated as high as 13th on one AP ballot, while 13 of the 60 voters left Tech completely off their ballots, which is ridiculous.

Tech has two losses but both were “good” losses — Texas A&M and Kansas State. Among those who failed to rank Texas Tech, here are some of the two-loss teams those voters did rank — Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Syracuse and Illinois. None has a victory as good as beating Oklahoma, and each of those team’s losses are harder to explain.

Texas Tech ended up 19th in the AP poll; I had the Red Raiders 16th.

Here is my ballot:

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LSU is still No. 1 on my ballot; the Tigers play host to Auburn this week. Photo by Crystal LoGiudice-US PRESSWIRE

The top 10 teams in the AP poll are unchanged from last week, and I didn’t make any moves in my top 10 either.

For the second consecutive week, I had Houston on my working Top 25 ballot before making another choice. The strength of schedule for the 6-0 Cougars is still too weak. In fact, if I was going to put a team from Conference USA on my ballot, it would probably be 5-1 SMU, which was a win at TCU after opening the season with a loss at Texas A&M.

Those were two of the close calls on my ballot this week. Other near misses were USC and Georgia Tech, which dropped from the unbeaten ranks with a loss to Virginia.

Unbeaten Kansas State is 12th in the AP poll and on my ballot. The Wildcats have won four in a row against solid competition — at Miami, Baylor, Missouri, at Texas Tech. The next three weeks, however, will tell the tale — Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State, Texas A&M.

The issue moving forward for South Carolina is the loss of sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore, who suffered a torn ACL on Saturday. The Gamecocks and Georgia are each 4-1 in the SEC East, and the Bulldogs have only home games remaining in the SEC — Florida, Auburn and Kentucky.

South Carolina has to play at Tennessee, at Arkansas and is home for Florida. Edge: Georgia, which would get the honor of being smacked down in the SEC title game.

Here’s my ballot:

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No changes in the top nine this week, while we eagerly await these games:

–LSU at Alabama, Nov. 5
–Oregon at Stanford, Nov. 12
–Arkansas at LSU, Nov. 25
–Oklahoma at Oklahoma State, Dec. 3

That will help separate college football’s top tier, with Arkansas — coming off quality wins vs. Texas A&M and Auburn — rounding out the Top 10.

Arkansas, after a bye, next plays Ole Miss and Vanderbilt on the road before three consecutive home games (with South Carolina being the toughest). It’s not unreasonable to think the Razorbacks will go into their regular-season finale at LSU with only that one loss to Alabama.

Stanford looks great, but so do the seven undefeated teams ahead of it … and Stanford has the weakest resume of the bunch, for now. Washington, USC, Oregon and Notre Dame loom in the second half of the season.

Six weeks in, we’re getting to the part of the season where head-to-head results are a bit harder to keep straight. Auburn has that win over South Carolina, but subsequently looked horrible at quarterback against Arkansas, suffering its second loss.

Do you stick with the head-to-head result … or more heavily weigh the ensuing event? I’m going with the ensuing event in this case.

I still have Illinois ahead of Arizona State based on the head-to-head result because there hasn’t been any subsequent game to provide reason to switch them.

Here is my AP Top 25 ballot for this week:

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Clemson players shower coach Dabo Swinney with Gatorade after their win at Virginia Tech. Photo by Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE

I meant to post this Sunday, but never got around to it …

The top tier looks nine deep, with the top six in particular posting impressive victories.
Boise State is next on my ballot because of its win at Georgia (not bad at all), and then come Stanford and Oregon. The Cardinal hasn’t played a top-flight team yet, while Oregon failed against LSU in its opener in Dallas.

I have Clemson at No. 4 (the Tigers are eighth in the AP poll), and you could make a case that the Tigers should be third based strictly on their three-game run through Auburn, Florida State and Virginia Tech.

After the first tier, you either have undefeated teams that have player so-so competition so far or that has one loss to an elite team but also has a high-quality win.

In these cases, I usually go with the team that has the higher-quality win … hence, Auburn at No. 10 (winning at South Carolina) and Arkansas at No. 11 (beating Texas A&M).

I slid 4-1 Washington onto my ballot at No. 24, giving the Pac-12 four representatives. I put Notre Dame in the last spot, making me one of seven voters (there are 60 of us) to include the Irish. Even with two losses, Notre Dame’s good wins over Michigan State and at Pitt give them better victories than those on the fringes of the Top 25.

Here is this week’s ballot:

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LSU's No. 99 -- defensive end Sam Montgomery -- probably thinks the Tigers are No. 1, too. Photo by Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

The AP media poll got it right. The USA Today coaches poll got it wrong.

LSU should be the No. 1 team in the land, and it really shouldn’t be up for debate.

The Tigers moved into the top spot in the AP poll today after their win at West Virginia, earning 42 of 60 first-place votes. Erstwhile No. 1 Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes, followed by Alabama (five) and Boise State, which picked up one first-place mention.

OK, that last part doesn’t make sense, but, on the whole, the AP voters got it right with LSU, while the coaches stuck with the Sooners, the preseason No. 1.

LSU’s resume can’t be touched, though. The Tigers have a win over Oregon in Dallas (after seeing the Ducks in person Saturday night, that must be one beastly defense to be able to slow down Oregon). A win at Mississippi State. A win at West Virginia.

I have had LSU at No. 1 since its victory over Oregon.

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I meant to post this Sunday, but got busy with other stuff. Anyway, here is my AP ballot for this week.

Oklahoma had the impressive win at Florida State, so I moved the Sooners to No. 2.

OU received 37 of 60 first-place votes, but I am one of 14 who have LSU at No. 1. I consider the Tigers’ resume — including a win over Oregon in Dallas and a victory at Mississippi State — to be (slightly) better than the win at FSU.

Alabama has a win at Penn State, and Boise State won at Georgia, but those resumes fall behind those from LSU and Oklahoma, too.

Arizona State, after its loss at Illinois, drops out of my rankings. The Devils could bounce back in with a win over visiting USC in its Pac-12 opener on Saturday.

Here is my ballot:

1. LSU
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. South Carolina
6. Oklahoma State
7. Stanford
8. Wisconsin
9. Oregon
10. Florida State
11. Texas A&M
12. Nebraska
13. Virginia Tech
14. Baylor
15. South Florida
16. West Virginia
17. Texas
18. Florida
19. Michigan
20. Clemson
21. USC
22. Arkansas
23. TCU
24. Utah
25. Iowa State

Vontaze Burfict celebrates after Missouri missed a field goal near the end of regulation. Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

Auburn and Arizona State made the two biggest moves on my ballot this week, jumping from unranked to No. 16 and No. 17, respectively.

Auburn won another thriller, defeating 16th-ranked Mississippi State 41-24. Arizona State, too, came up with a nail-biting quality victory, surviving a missed 48-yard field goal by 21st-ranked Missouri and winning 37-30 in overtime.

The Sun Devils might have been a bit lucky to win, but win they did, giving them a better victory than many at the bottom end of the rankings. West Virginia, Michigan State, Ohio State, Arkansas and Florida could very well end up being better teams that ASU, but none of those teams have been tested in the least so far.

ASU is 22nd in this week’s AP poll, its first ranking in the poll since Sept. 7, 2008.

I moved South Carolina up several spots after winning at Georgia — yet another thriller from the weekend. Filling the final spot was difficult. I went with Michigan, which won the thriller of all thrillers this weekend, 35-31 over Notre Dame. The Wolverines have the schedule to now go 5-0, with home games against Eastern Michigan, San Diego State and Minnesota up next.

I reluctantly left off TCU. The Horned Frogs rebounded from a loss at Baylor with a solid win at Air Force. As more results come in, I have little doubt that TCU will climb back into my rankings.

This early in the season, my rankings are very fluid. The scarcity of good matchups means that those teams that do have a quality victory are going to be significantly rewarded.

Here is my ballot:

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