Poll dancing, week 9: I believe some apologies are in order.

I apologize to you, the reader, for incompetently composed BlogPoll and SEC Power Poll ballots based on what little information I can remember through the haze of nearly a half a bottle of George Dickel No. 12 during the Cocktail Party game on Saturday. But y'all are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to people to whom I owe apologies, a group that includes, though is not exclusive to, my mom and dad; all three of our dogs; Holly; the Georgia coaching staff; any of the little kids who came to our house for Halloween candy; Mrs. Wilkes from down the street; that cop in the Tahoe on Macon Road; all of the employees working the third shift at Denny's; and the entire Northside High School girls' volleyball team. I, uh, didn't know it was hanging out like that.

And I apologize.

Games watched: East Carolina-Memphis, a little bit of South Florida-West Virginia, flipped back and forth between Iowa-Indiana and Auburn-Ole Miss, Florida-Georgia, Tennessee-South Carolina.



The next five: Brigham Young, Tennessee, South Florida, Wisconsin, Utah.

Dropped out: Utah (21), West Virginia (24).

· The top three get reshuffled once again, with Florida (who finally rediscovered their offense, at Georgia's expense, of course) and Alabama (who had a bye but only looked so-so in their previous game, against Tennessee) swapping places. Texas, who decimated Oklahoma State in Stillwater, holds on to #2.

· I have a feeling Boise State and Oregon are going to be tied to each other for the rest of the season in consecutive slots, as Oregon's rapid ascent continues to make Boise's dominating win over them on opening Thursday look that much more impressive. No matter how high the Ducks rise, I can't in good conscience put the Broncos below them.



· Southern Cal probably deserved to drop more than three spots for getting the dog beaten out of them by that Oregon team, but let's face it, there's a huge dropoff once you're outside the top 10. Bad as the Trojans looked in Eugene, would you put them below LSU or Houston at this point? I obviously wouldn't. (Still, I have to laugh at the above picture, which apparently depicts Death coming for USC's Rose Bowl hopes.)

· Only two of the two teams who drop out of my ballot actually lost, but Utah took forever to put away a lousy Wyoming team at home; West Virginia, meanwhile, did the courtesy of losing to a South Florida team that's usually spending this part of the season tanking their way right out of the top 25 themselves.

· In their places go Texas Tech, who stomped what was supposedly a good Kansas team (but may not be anymore), and Auburn, who got back on the side of the angels by pounding an Ole Miss squad that was supposedly bouncing back.

And the SEC Power Poll ballot:



1. Florida -- Yeah, they're a great team, and Brandon Spikes can go die in a train derailment. Sorry, was that me being a sore loser? Please let me show you where to shove -- er, send your complaints.

2. Alabama -- Got jumped while they were on their bye week, which is probably unfair, but their passing game needs to show some major improvement against LSU this week.

3. LSU -- If they were looking ahead to Alabama while playing Tulane on Saturday, I must've missed it. They're going to give the Tide everything they can handle.

4. Auburn -- Got a big game by the offense when they most desperately needed one. Looks like the Chizik/Malzahn doubters who all of a sudden burst forth from the woodwork may have to keep quiet for another couple weeks.



5. Tennessee -- The defense remains top-notch despite a barrage of injuries, even Crompton is looking good . . . has Kiffykins righted this ship a whole lot more quickly than any of us realized?

6. Ole Miss -- I'm done trying to figure them out. Can we just send them their Music City Bowl invite already and be done with it?

7. Georgia -- The offense can't stop turning the ball over, the defense can't stop anybody, and the coaching staff's idea of a bye-week adjustment is black helmets. Good Lord, I'm actually looking forward to the start of basketball season.

8. Arkansas -- Blowing out Eastern Michigan isn't enough to make up for the turd you laid on the field against Ole Miss, Hogs.

9. South Carolina -- Thanks, 'Cocks. It's nice to know Mark Richt isn't the only SEC coach against whom Lane Kiffin is undefeated.



10. Mississippi State -- They've got exactly two more SEC wins than I predicted they'd get this season, and they're only two wins from bowl eligibility. Can anyone say with absolute confidence that the Bizarro Bulldogs aren't going to beat Arkansas and Ole Miss to close out the season?

11. Kentucky -- They've got Eastern Kentucky and Vandy the next two weeks, so there are your six wins, but I wouldn't count on any more than that.

12. Vanderbilt -- Finally discovered an offense. Too bad the coupon was only good for the first half against Georgia Tech.