Mumme Poll: Week 6 (Ballot #2)

Please note: This week's Mumme Poll was completed on Monday, but I was unable to publish here until this morning. So, Cincinnati's win over South Florida on Thursday night will be addressed on next week's poll. Word.

First things first. There is no way in hell that Texas deserves to be higher than either Bama or Florida. This is no dig on the Horns, who I'm openly rooting for to win out ... and I'm not just saying that because I live in Austin and don't wanna hear the whining. Burnt Orange has championship bona fides. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that. But, we have to judge teams on their talent AND resume, and after 5 games the Horns' resume is pretty weak. However, should they beat OU, Mizzou, and Okie State in consecutive weeks, then that resume becomes a strength. So Texas fans, trust me when I say that if yer boys win out, they will be in the Rose Bowl ... aka VY's House ... if for no other reason than someone has to lose between Bama and Florida. Allrighty then. Onto the Top 12.

1. Alabama (6-0)
While you can certainly make a case for Florida at 1, Bama's win over Virginia Tech is better than UF's win over LSU. And please don't play the "winning at Death Valley at night" card. VT is better than LSU. Deal with it. In terms of question marks, the Tide offense needs to go through Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, by way of Greg McElroy, and then to Julio Jones, Darius Hanks, Colin Peek, etc. Run to set up the pass, not the other way around.

2. Florida (5-0)
Florida's defense and special teams are freakin ridonkulous. However, is it OK to mention the fact that Florida's offense is distinctly not ridonkulous? I get that Tim Tebow is a Christian warrior and touched by God, but the running game outside of TT is meh, there's no one remotely close to Percy Harvin in terms of production, and if Riley Cooper is your go-to WR, you don't have a go-to WR. I'm not saying the Gator offense is terrible, but I feel like there's a conspiracy of silence regarding the team's actual flaws.

3. Texas (5-0)
Texas and Florida are basically the same team, the Gators simply have better wins. Both schools have lights out D and special teams, a dominant QB that is an inordinate amount of the offense, and questions in the running game. However, even the Gators don't have an equivalent to Jordan Shipley (pictured left). Dude might be the most valuable player in all of CFB going into this weekend's game.

4. Virginia Tech (5-1)
The nation's best 1-loss team has two excellent wins at home (Miami and Boston College). The home win over Nebraska looks better on paper than it was in reality, but I'm not gonna penalize the Hokies too harshly for finding a way to win.

5. Iowa (6-0)
6. Cincinnati (5-0)
7. Boise State (5-0)

I'm grouping the 2nd tier undefeateds together because, if nothing else, they should be rewarded for not losing. I think Iowa's win at Penn State is the best of the bunch, but they also have good wins over Arizona and Michigan. Cincy has 2 good wins on the road (Oregon State and Rutgers), but not much else. Boise State's win over Oregon looks better with each passing week. Unfortunately, the rest of their schedule looks worse.

8. LSU (5-1)
9. Miami (FL) (4-1)
10. USC (4-1)
11. Oregon (5-1)
12. Ohio State (5-1)

I think the difference between 8-12 is a few plays here and there. Each of these teams has at least 1 quality win, and outside of Miami, no truly terrible losses. In fact, other than Miami they're all basically the same team. All solid D and workmanlike O. I think what sets Miami apart is that their wins over Georgia Tech and Oklahoma are better than anyone else's 2 wins, and those more or less offset the shellacking in Blacksburg. As always, next Saturday will clear some things up and muddy others all to hell. Can't hardly wait.

FYI, as a point of comparison, here are the AP and Coaches Poll rankings going into Week 7.