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Hustle Belt is a blog that represents the Mid-American Conference. So really, it only makes sense that I should highly consider placing MAC teams in the our BlogPoll Top 25 both to interest our readership and - most important - acknowledge that there at least four conference teams that warrant some sort of consideration.
So that's what we've done. There's no change in the top six, but in the back half of the top-25 you'll see three teams - Ohio, Toledo and Northern Illinois - in this week's poll. This could very well be a one-time only trial. We'll see. More after the poll.
Hustle Belt Ballot - Week 8
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -- |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks | -- |
| 3 | Kansas St. Wildcats | -- |
| 4 | Florida Gators | -- |
| 5 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
| 6 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 7 | Florida St. Seminoles |
 1 |
| 8 | Clemson Tigers |
1 |
| 9 | Oregon St. Beavers |
1 |
| 10 | Oklahoma Sooners |
2 |
| 11 | USC Trojans |
4 |
| 12 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
 -5 |
| 13 | Georgia Bulldogs |
1 |
| 14 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs |
3 |
| 15 | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
4 |
| 16 | Texas A&M Aggies |
2 |
| 17 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
-6 |
| 18 | Louisville Cardinals |
-2 |
| 19 | Ohio Bobcats |
1 |
| 20 | Stanford Cardinal |
1 |
| 21 | Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
1 |
| 22 | Texas Longhorns |
3 |
| 23 | Toledo Rockets | -- |
| 24 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
| 25 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-1 |
| Dropouts: West Virginia Mountaineers, Cincinnati Bearcats | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
- First, the MAC. Ohio moves up one spot in our BlogPoll to No. 19. Two other teams, Toledo and Northern Illinois are 23rd and 24th this week. There is a strong notion within MAC fandom that Toledo and NIU (and quite possibly Kent State) are all better than Ohio.
- The top six remain the same. Dropping Oregon appears to be the sexy pick among BlogPoll voters but I'm not budging. The Ducks could've easily hung 100 on both Arizona State and Arkansas State (and maybe a couple others) if it really wanted to. It's still 'Bama-Oregon on the road to the BCS national title.
- If putting three MAC teams in the top 25 was shady, you're probably wondering how Texas A&M moved up two spots despite losing. Look, the Aggies are really good. They gave LSU a game - and almost won - and appear to be better than both Ohio State and Louisville. As for Ohio State dropping, the Buckeyes haven't looked worthy of a top-10 or top-15 ranking the past two weeks. So they drop. I don't think OSU would beat Texas A&M.
Share your thoughts below.