Now that week three has added a bit of context to some wacky early-season results, the Voodoo Five ballot is starting to gel. Andrew and I agreed almost across the board this week, with only two teams landing in the "receiving votes" category. As always, check out the final SB Nation poll here.
1. BYU (30)
2. East Carolina (27)
3. Northern Illinois (25)
4. Marshall (24)
5. Cincinnati (23)
6. Boise State (18)
7. Nevada (16)
8. Navy (14)
9. Memphis (12)
10. C. Florida (10)
11 (tie). UTEP (8)
11 (tie). San Diego State (8)
13. Temple (5)
14 (tie). UTSA (4)
14 (tie). UAB (4)
14 (tie). Old Dominion (4)
14 (tie). Colorado State (4)
Also receiving votes: Louisiana Tech (3), UL-Monroe (1)
- BYU is still our unanimous number one, but they could get left out of a big-money bowl even if they stay there. Andrew made a good point about the Cougars and their unique dilemma in the first year of the playoff era:
"Here's the weird thing about BYU: they aren't eligible for the Group of 5 spot in the access bowls, they can only get in as an at-large if the committee ranks them high enough. They would probably have to get into the top 10.
It's not exactly easy to say how high BYU would have to be. If all the Power 5 conference champs are in the top 10, and the SEC has two other teams in the top 10, then BYU would have to be ranked eighth or ninth to get one of the at-large spots.
However, if there's a Power 5 champion outside of the top 10, or if there's an ACC team in the playoffs, which moves the ACC #2 team to the Orange Bowl, then BYU would have to be higher, probably sixth or seventh."
- With BYU not eligible, East Carolina is our favorite for the Group of 5 New Year's Day bowl slot. With the Pirates-- who just upset Virginia Tech on the road-- as well as Cincinnati and C. Florida, the American is still in pretty decent shape at the top.
- Memphis is ahead of C. Florida.
- A year after stinking up the joint with a 4-8 record in his first year at Louisiana Tech, Skip Holtz has the Bulldogs receiving votes in the poll after blowout wins over Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas. Tech plays Northwestern State this week, so there's a solid chance that the Fighting Holtzes will be off to a 3-1 start to the season. This is the worst bullet point ever.