Here's the ballot:
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers |
 1 |
| 2 | Oklahoma Sooners |
 -1 |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 4 | Boise St. Broncos |
1 |
| 5 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
-1 |
| 6 | Stanford Cardinal |
2 |
| 7 | Wisconsin Badgers | -- |
| 8 | Florida Gators |
2 |
| 9 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
3 |
| 10 | Texas A&M Aggies |
-1 |
| 11 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
-5 |
| 12 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
-1 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -- |
| 14 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 15 | Arizona St. Sun Devils |
8 |
| 16 | South Florida Bulls |
-1 |
| 17 | Michigan Wolverines |
-1 |
| 18 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 19 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 20 | Baylor Bears |
1 |
| 21 | TCU Horned Frogs |
1 |
| 22 | Clemson Tigers | -- |
| 23 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 24 | Texas Tech Red Raiders | -- |
| 25 | Cincinnati Bearcats | -- |
| Dropouts: Florida St. Seminoles, California Golden Bears, North Carolina Tar Heels, Illinois Fighting Illini | ||
Breakdown after the jump:
1. LSU - By virtue of beating three ranked teams (Oregon, MSU at the time, and WVU), They've earned the top spot. I'd still like to see how they play Arkansas and Alabama, before I'd declare them this year's national champs, but we'll get to see that, given some time.
2. Oklahoma - Solid showing against a solid Missouri team. With A&M and Oklahoma State lying in wait down the road -- A&M in the first week of November and Oklahoma State in the first few days of December -- this is probably the team in the top 3 that's most ripe for an upset.
3. Alabama - As has been the case to this point, it's simply a matter of schedule considered alongside the long-term prospects of their offense. Though they looked like the Saban-coached Alabama that we've come to know, and though Arkansas didn't do themselves any favors, one can't help but wonder if the attrition of an SEC West schedule will catch up with them.
4. Boise State - With Kellen Moore piloting this team, all they need to do is to keep winning. They've looked solid in every win, and one can't help but wonder if this won't be the case, through and including a BCS game in January.
5. Oklahoma State - Dropped a spot due to their abysmal first half against a solid Texas A&M team. Their explosiveness on offense was complemented by a defense that generated turnovers. Their talent is enough to take them deep into the meat of their conference schedule; the question is if it will be enough to take them through.
6. Stanford - Benefited from Arkansas' loss and an arguably better showing in terms of quality wins (not that there are many to be had at this point.
7. Wisconsin - Has looked unstoppable against bad teams and looked great against mediocre teams. With their conference schedule ahead, it should be easier to assess Wisconsin's long-term prospects.
8. Florida - Although Kentucky is a bad team, seeing the way in which Florida crushed them was reminiscent of every other dominant game they've had against Kentucky. With the state of affairs in the SEC East, it's easy to imagine Florida ending atop the heap.
9. Georgia Tech - Although many would argue that a close win over North Carolina is hardly the quality of win that could set them apart from the rest of the pack, it's good enough for a very down ACC, which features Wake Forest in second place in the Atlantic division, and Duke sitting at second in the Coastal.
10. Texas A&M - Dropped only one spot, by virtue of a team ahead of them losing (Arkansas), and a brave showing against Oklahoma State. The second-half implosion against Oklahoma State is reason enough for some pollsters to drop them; but the first half is enough to convince this one not to drop them too far. Look for this team to rebound and keep the Big XII interesting.
Skipping around a bit, now:
11. Arkansas - Dropped five spots for showing signs of life and ability to compete in the SEC West, while still looking bad against a tough Alabama team. Consider this team down following the loss, but by no means out.
12. Nebraska - Dropped for reasons similar to Wisconsin.
15. Arizona State - They were dropped quite drastically for losing to Illinois, and they're having their rank restored, to a certain extent, due to a solid start and thoroughly dominating fourth quarter against USC.
16, 17. South Florida, Michigan - Dropped one spot each, in order to accommodate Arizona State's rise. Justified by virtue of believing that either of these teams would lose to Arizona State.
22. Clemson Tigers - The nailbiter against Florida State represents a quality win. When viewed as part of an 4-0 start, they've made their way into the Top 25. History shows that it's not usually the first half of the schedule that sees Clemson self-destructing, so it will be interesting to see how they navigate an ACC schedule filled potential trap games and solid (in the context of the ACC) matchups against contendors.
23. Kansas State - Much like the legitimate pollsters, this placement may be the result of overvaluing some early season sparring. But, considering that nobody got down on Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska, Alabama, or Virginia Tech for taking it a bit easy in the non-conference schedule, it only seems fair to reward Kansas State for their unbeaten record thus far.
24. Texas Tech - It wasn't pretty, but Tech's win over New Mexico was enough to keep them unbeaten -- which, in turn, is enough to move them up into the Top 25.
25. Cincinnati - Although they have a loss to their record, their crushing of North Carolina State last Thursday was enough to make me think that they'd give a lot of the bigger teams a handful, were they to square off.
Feel free to sound off in the comments below.