Catching Up With College Football: Mumme's the Word

Been awhile since I posted here, but it's not for a lack of material. If anything, I blame stupid reality and it's insistence on only 24 hours in a day. BUT, one thing I wanted to pass along was this fancypants new ranking system called the Mumme Poll. According to their website, "The Mumme Poll is an ongoing attempt, jointly sponsored by two college football blogs, Get The Picture and 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, to construct a viable method to rank Division 1 college football teams without the bias and potential conflicts of interest that affect other polls, particularly the USA Today Coaches Poll."

Yes, dumbshits can still offer up ridiculous polls, but they run the risk of being excommunicated. And by excommunicated, I mean disappeared Pinochet-style. You think coaches and sportwriters have to worry about late night knocks on the door? I think not. So, MP has accountability going for it. And no, it won't solve the immediate problem of replacing the BCS cartel with something that rhymes with "payoff." But hey, it beats whining on message boards. So, without further ado, here's my first ballot, all transparent-like, and with comments as to the why and wherefore.

LD's Mumme Poll for Week 5

1. Alabama (5-0)
Best combination of undefeated, decent schedule, and consistently high-level performance in all 3 phases of the game ... with the exception of lackluster kickoff coverage. But that's nitpicking, really. Roll Tide.

2. Florida (4-0)
We know how good the Gators CAN be because we saw the 1st quarter against Kentucky. The D is fierce and you can't really complain about the special teams. That said, in the 7 other quarters against Tennessee and UK ... 6 of which featured Tebow at QB ... Florida mustered a workmanlike 33 points to their opponents' 20. Solid? Sure. Just not best team/resume in the country solid.

3. Texas (4-0)
The Horns have national championship talent and potential and the Muschamp D is badass. However, they have 1 win against a BCS team (at home) and their opponents have 0 wins against BCS teams. In fact, their next opponent, Colorado, is also winless against BCS teams. The Horns are a very good team, no doubt, but for the moment their schedule has to be held against them.

4. Virginia Tech (4-1)
That loss to Bama doesn't look so bad now, does it?

5. LSU (5-0)
Geaux Tiger ain't pretty, but facts are facts. They have 5 wins against 0 losses, 4 wins against BCS opponents, and 3 wins on the road. And to their critics who say they keep winning ugly, I say, "Would it be better that they lost ugly?" Besides, with Florida coming to town, they either win and justify their ranking or lose and plummet accordingly.

6. Miami (FL) (3-1)
Despite the one loss to (and in) Tropical Storm Tyrod, no school has 3 better wins than the Canes.

7. Cincinnati (5-0)
The Bearcats are a rich man's Boise State. Both teams struggled to beat Fresno State and throttled winless Miami (Ohio). However, Cincy destroyed its FCS opponent (Southeast Missouri State), beat their BCS opponent from Oregon on the road (Oregon State, snapping the Beavs' 26-game home winning streak in non-conference play), and added another BCS road victory for good measure (Rutgers).

8. Iowa (5-0)
How in the name of Hayden Fry is Ohio State ranked higher than Iowa??? The Hawkeyes are undefeated, won at 4-1 Penn State (always tough), and beat a decent 3-1 Arizona at home. Ohio State ... like Penn State, actually ... is 4-1, but none of their wins are remotely quality, and in their only challenging game (at home, no less) they came away with the L. Such is the power of the brand name.

9. Boise State (5-0)
Beating Oregon on the smurf turf was a good win. But, since then they have victories over winless Miami (Ohio), 1-3 Fresno State (while allowing over 500 yards of offense, including 3 TD runs of over 60 yards), 1-4 Bowling Green, and, get this, struggled to put away UC Davis, who was the "rival" of my undergrad university, Chico State. I'm not even sure Chico has a football team anymore. Broncos ... Miami (FL) you are not.

10. USC (4-1)
The Trojans are a tough nut to crack. They have a solid win at 4-1 Ohio State, but that's offset by the upset loss at 2-3 Washington. They have an average win at home against 1-4 Washington State and a ho-hum win at home against 1-3 San Jose State. The 'x' factor is Saturday's destruction of 3-2 Cal. It's a good win, in that it was on the road against a conference foe with lots of talent. However, the Trojans better hope the Bears aren't in free-fall mode or this win gets less impressive as the season goes on.

11. Oregon (4-1)
Oregon finally seems to be playing like the Oregon we thought we'd see at the start of the season. After sleep-punching, er, walking their way through the first 2 weeks, including a win over Purdue they probably didn't deserve, the Ducks dominated Utah, Cal, and Wazzu in consecutive weeks. However, the Ducks have had the fortune of playing their last 4 games at home and the jury is still out on both Utah and Cal. Those wins could end up being solid ... or not.

12. South Carolina (4-1)
Where's the love for Cocky??? They're 25 in the AP Poll, 27 in the Coaches Poll, and ranked behind Ole Miss in both, despite having beaten them head-to-head. I'm not saying the Cocks are SEC Championship material, but they are 4-1, with a good win against the Rebels, a decent win against North Carolina State, and are basically one play away from being undefeated ... a loss on the road, mind you. To be fair, I could've put Auburn, Ohio State, TCU, or a couple other teams in this slot, but I gave Cocky the nod because I think they have the best win of the bunch.