The Eyes Have It?

Homerism can't remember a time when the college football pollsters have taken more heat than they have this season. While the arguments are the same as always, the chorus of complaints seems louder than ever before.

The problem is that every time people start bitching about college football's polls, they fail to acknowledge an immutable truth: they are based on opinion. Even if you try to structure your ranking system around some kind of standard criteria for all teams--particularly at this early point in the season--at some level you're using the eye test.

So, if you want my eye test rankings reflecting who I think would beat whom the majority of the time, here you go:

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. LSU
8. Ohio State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Oregon

Why would I rank them this way? I have no clue. It's how these teams look to me. I could try to rationalize it, but I'm sure it would be riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions.

Even though I like to think that I can rank teams based on the resume approach, it all has to start somewhere. That somewhere is the preconceived notions of team strength. After all, how is it possible to view one win as an accomplishment and another as par for the course without assuming that one is a more difficult test than the other?

We may have a better idea later in the season when we have more to go on. The best advice for teams that are unhappy with where they're ranked would be to win their games, which is the tried and true method of climbing up the rankings.

Blatant Homerism Power Poll: Week Four

1. Alabama
2. Houston
3. Iowa
4. Cincinnati
5. Boise State
6. TCU
7. LSU
8. Auburn
9. Florida
10. South Florida