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I attended the Florida-Florida State game on Saturday, and the experience of watching two elite programs play at Doak Campbell Stadium was amazing. I got to see a good game, plus both teams actually scored points. Who knew?
It's time to evaluate Florida here. I've kept the Gators down in the top 10 for pretty much the entire season, mainly because they muck it up and win ugly. But it's time to face facts here - Florida's resume is not only the best in the SEC, it may be the best in the country. It's beaten Texas A&M, LSU, South Carolina and Florida State. There is no other team that can come close to that. Yes, they mucked it up against Louisiana-Lafayette and Jacksonville State, but Notre Dame hasn't been punished for its close losses, so why should Florida?
Of course, the transitive property isn't kind to the Gators as they lost to Georgia, who also only has one loss. But Georgia's schedule is weak sauce. The only other ranked team Georgia played is South Carolina and the Gamecocks thumped them 35-7. A TEAM THAT LOSES A GAME BY 28 POINTS SHOULD NOT BE IN THE NATIONAL TITLE GAME. I know you're saying Alabama over Florida, but if we're looking at straight resumes, Florida trumps 'Bama.
In relation to the Mid-American Conference, Northern Illinois and Kent State are still in our top 25. And most important, a third team - Ball State - enters the fray at No. 25.
Hustle Belt Ballot - Week 13
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- |
| 2 | Florida Gators |
 4 |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 -1 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
-1 |
| 5 | Kansas St. Wildcats |
-1 |
| 6 | Georgia Bulldogs |
-1 |
| 7 | LSU Tigers | -- |
| 8 | Texas A&M Aggies |
3 |
| 9 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
3 |
| 10 | South Carolina Gamecocks | -- |
| 11 | Stanford Cardinal |
2 |
| 12 | Oklahoma Sooners |
2 |
| 13 | Florida St. Seminoles |
-5 |
| 14 | Clemson Tigers |
-5 |
| 15 | Northern Illinois Huskies | -- |
| 16 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | -- |
| 17 | Kent St. Golden Flashes | -- |
| 18 | Oregon St. Beavers |
2 |
| 19 | Toledo Rockets |
2 |
| 20 | UCLA Bruins |
-2 |
| 21 | Utah State Aggies |
2 |
| 22 | Louisville Cardinals |
-3 |
| 23 | San Jose St. Spartans | -- |
| 24 | Northwestern Wildcats | -- |
| 25 | Ball St. Cardinals | -- |
| Dropouts: Texas Longhorns, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Some thoughts.
- Why choose Ball State at No. 25? (Full disclosure: I possess a bachelor's and master's degree from Ball State). The Cardinals are 9-3, and their three losses - Clemson, Northern Illinois and Kent State - have a combined record of 32-4. I think Ball State fans would really, really like that Kent State game back, a 45-43 loss where Kent State hit a 25-yard field goal with five seconds left for the win.
- Northern Illinois is 15th and Kent State is 17th, the same two spots they were in last week.
- Along with Ball State, two newcomers into our top 25 poll this week are San Jose State (23) and Northwestern (24).
- Slowly coming around on Ohio State at No. 9. I know that popular opinion says that if you go undefeated in a BCS conference, you deserve to be in national title contention, but I still don't think OSU would beat any of the eight teams I have in front of them.