The Official Pitch Right Ballot

Here is the rough draft of my ballot that has been submitted to The Blog Poll:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Notre Dame	25
2	Ohio State	24
3	Texas	23
4	Southern Cal	22
5	Miami (Florida)	21
6	Louisville	20
7	Auburn	19
8	Florida	18
9	Florida State	17
10	Iowa	16
11	West Virginia	15
12	Cal	14
13	Georgia	13
14	Virginia Tech	12
15	Arizona State	11
16	Nebraska	10
17	Michigan	9
18	Louisiana State	8
19	Utah	7
20	Oklahoma	6
21	Texas Tech	5
22	Purdue	4
23	Boston College	3
24	TCU	2
25	Navy	1

A few notes and explanations:

First and foremost, Navy at 25th is not just a "hometown" vote, ala Spurrier voting Duke at #25. The vote for Navy is indicative of the potential this team has to crack the Top 25 this year. As the most experienced team in the NCAA coming off an 8-4 record with a Bowl Win, why shouldn't they be featured in the preseason Top 25? Just for the record, as of 10:21 Friday, Navy has received two 25th place votes (mine and Maize n Brew's) and one 20th place vote (Bruce Ciskie's). Navy's evolving Week 1 vote distribution.

The top 5 teams could of all been ranked at #1, but I happen to like Notre Dame the most out of those choices so went ahead and plugged the Irish in first. But trust me, I won't be the only one. This vote is more a testament to the faith I have in Coach Weis at improving that defense then anything else. I could sit here all day and talk about ND, Texas, USC, tOSU, and Miami, but then again you've probably read the arguments for and against each team a dozen times already.

Louisville is a better overall team then West Virginia, and gets my vote to win the Big East.

Arizona State is a #15, and I gave no love to Oregon. This one came down to the talent level at QB for Arizona State and the hideous uniforms the Ducks wear. Plus I'm sick of all the west-coast whining that goes on about how everyone disrespects the Ducks.

Oklahoma slipped to 20th after the whole Bomar scandal.

Purdue is at 22nd, and earns my vote for "Surprise Team of the Year." Word out of West Lafayette is that QB Curtis Painter has really gotten a grasp on the offense, and they return one of the best Wide Receiving corps in the Big 10.

That's all for now, although I would very much appreciate any input you all have. This is still a rough draft, and I can always be persuaded to move some teams around. You can view the ballots of all Blog Poll members hyah.