Editor’s note: Joe Giglio is one of 60 AP voters.
After Southern California’s road loss to Stanford, we’d almost be better off letting Alabama and LSU have a best-of-3 series and end the BCS charade for this season.
The games must go on, though, and maybe there’s a surprise out there. Who knows, with the Trojans’ stumble, maybe Stanford or Oregon can emerge from the Pac-12? Or maybe, gasp, an ACC team can run the table and face the Alabama-LSU winner in the BCS title game?
The problem for Florida State (8) and Clemson (7), who will meet this week in Tallahassee, is that their national hopes are contingent on the success of their annual SEC foes (Florida and South Carolina, respectively).
That’s a long way down the road, and as they used to say in these parts during a certain postseason tournament, “there’s a lot of hockey left.”
As for the actual ballot, Stanford jumps in at No. 10 and so does Notre Dame at No. 11, after the Irish beat Michigan State. Like I said in the preseason, once the games start, the ballot is fluid and I’m not afraid to jump teams when the situation warrants.
Hence, Virginia Tech’s exit, from No. 13 to out of the poll, after an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh, which began the season with losses to Youngstown State and Cincinnati.
Louisville (22) and Arizona (24) also debut. The Wildcats replace Oregon State, who was off this week, because Arizona’s win over Oklahoma State was more impressive than Oregon State’s over a struggling Wisconsin team, which has a severe Russell Wilson hangover.
jgiglio@newsobserver.com or twitter.com/jwgiglio
