Why college polls need rules and regulations. Or better yet, do away with them completely.

This is an example of a real AP Poll ballot from @DougLesmerises: Link: http://t.co/K94YxTF53p Pic: pic.twitter.com/r0toVDWAG3
— The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo) September 9, 2013

The above is a tweet I came across via The SEC Logo (@SEC_Logo).  Yes, that is an actual vote cast by an AP member for the ranking of college football teams.  I personally have no problem with this ranking, as long as it is viewed from the perspective of who is playing the "best" football as of right now and not a prediction of who will win the BCS title.  I can agree that Clemson has played some really good football the first two weekends.  They beat a Georgia team that looked really good against South Carolina.  Alabama did not look all that impressive against Virginia Tech.  Hell, I would suggest that Alabama be ranked behind Oregon, Georgia, and Louisville if we are basing it purely on quality of football played this season to date.  However, that is my main point. What are these polls actually based on?  In a vast majority of the votes, Alabama is ranked #1 overall.  And rightly so, given it's from the perspective of the reigning champ hasn't been beaten yet.  And therein lies the problem.  Too many people cast votes based on such a wide variety of criteria. With the millions upon millions of dollars that are up for grabs, ultimately based on these types of votes, there needs to be more rules in place to set guidelines on voting criteria.  Even with the playoffs coming to college football next season, the AP and USA Today polls can still play a major role in influencing the selection committee.  Can you imagine the backlash the selection committee would receive if they were to by pass a unanimous #4 ranked team in both AP and USA Today polls for any other team?  I don't even want to imagine what would happen if a by-passed team were ranked higher than #4.  Riots may break out across the country.

All in all, I think the point I'm trying to make is that the NCAA would be wise to make some sort of official statement in the off season declaring these polls invalid and of no importance in selecting playoff teams.  And they should make that statement multiple times.  OR....   they could attempt to impose rules and/or guidelines in voting for AP and USA Today members.  But in my opinion, trying to tell the media what to do is like trying to tell a spoiled child no.  So the former of the two ideas is probably the best course of action.

In the end, transparency in selection criteria will do the selection committee wonders in the eye of the public.  If the teams and the public know what it takes to make the playoffs ahead of time, then that will greatly minimize the controversy come selection time.

ESPN's latest SEC power rankings released

"Don't sleep on these Tigers. They're undervalued, but were very impressive in their 37-27 victory over a ranked TCU team in their own backyard." - Edward Aschoff

LSU is the biggest winner in the latest power ranking poll from ESPN. They climbed 3 spots up to number 3 for the week.  Looking forward to seeing where the Tigers will be ranked in the AP and USA Today polls for this week.

Some thoughts on the upcoming Bama game.

First off, I think this game will be a lot closer than many believe it will be. For LSU to be a 9-10 point underdog at home is a little ridiculous in my opinion. Especially for a night game. I'm sure by now everyone is aware of the impressive record Les Miles has at home for a night game. But for more examples of why that spread is too large, just look to recent history. 2008, one of the worst LSU football teams since the 90's. It took Alabama overtime to finally put away LSU. 2009, Alabama's championship team still struggled with a mediocre LSU football team. This has become a very heated rivalry game. And in these types of games, anything can happen. That's why I say to jump all over spreads of more than 6.5 - 7.5.  Seems like easy money to me. But enough about the spread, let's move on to the game itself.

For LSU to win this game, I think they need to play more disciplined football. They are getting way too many penalties per game, and a lot of these penalties are of the 10+ yardage variety. Not good for the field position battle. And speaking of field position battle, LSU will need the Brad Wing of old tomorrow night. And I'm not just talking about booming punts, because he's been kicking those routinely this year as well. What I'm talking about is the type of punt that goes 40-55 yards and checks up at the 5 yard line. The kind of punts that pin the opponent deep in their own territory.  Now aside from minimal to no penalties and pin point accuracy in the punting game the only other thing LSU will need to win is a decent 3rd down conversion rate. If LSU can pick up a couple first downs every possession then they will eventually win the field position battle which will result in points.

The reason for such simple keys to victory for LSU is easy, the defense. This defensive unit is far better than anything Alabama has faced all year and then some. The only team that remotely plays defense that Alabama has played so far is Mississippi State. And Moo St is only classified as a defense by numbers alone. Numbers that were racked up by playing against the likes of Jackson St., South Alabama, and so on.  The only real offense that they have faced is, well, Alabama. So needless to say Alabama has yet to be tested.  The front four of LSU will contain the run forcing Alabama into obvious passing down/distances. LSU for the season is allowing 1 yard per rush before contact. The SEC average is 2.4 yards before contact. Kevin Minter has a lot to do with that statistic. Between him and Anthony Johnson the Alabama run game will struggle to get started. And let's face it, McCarron is not a mobile quarterback so don't be surprised when the dynamic duo of Mingo and Montgomery have their ears pinned back going after him.

Having said all that, that same could be applied to Alabama's defense against LSU's offense. This could easily turn in to a punt-fest if both offenses have trouble converting on 3rd downs.

But it's a night game, in Death Valley. The crowd will be hysterical from start to finish. The pregame festivities I'm sure have already kicked off, and will only continue to pick up steam as game time approaches.

I'll take the home crowd advantage and say that LSU keeps the penalties down, picks up crucial third downs, and gets some great punting from Brad Wing.

LSU 21 - Alabama 13  

Also, AP #1 teams have faced a top-20 opponent on the road after a home win 9 times. They are 2-7. And yes that includes the Alabama loss to South Carolina two years ago. I like those numbers as well.

Why does the AP continue to reward cheaters?

The NCAA found USC guilty of major infractions in 2004 and 2005, in other words they cheated and got caught. The BCS had no problem stripping USC of its title in 2004, it was a unanimous vote.  So why does the AP insist on keeping USC as its proclaimed champion of that season? I'm not saying that USC wasn't the best team that season, they very likely were. What I am saying is, when you cheat and get caught you typically get punished and you certainly don't get rewarded. Unless of course you work for the AP. This sort of action is what got the AP poll removed from the BCS rankings.  This is not the first time the AP has rewarded a college football program guilty of cheating,  they did it back in 1974 with Oklahoma and there are probably other instances that occurred as well. I just don't feel like doing any more research at the moment. This is a very dangerous precedent the AP has set for itself.  It doesn't matter if you cheat and get caught, just win all the games. That's the only thing that matters.  In fact, if you win by a large enough margin some will almost forget that you played those games with a professional athlete on your team as seen by the five writers in this article.  At the very least the AP should vacate the title from 2004, showing that they won't reward teams for cheating. They should probably take a step further and declare Auburn and Utah co-champions since both finished the season undefeated and neither were caught cheating.  Every day the AP refuses to acknowledge the corrupt behavior at USC, I can only assume that the AP itself is also corrupt.