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Before I get to my ballot for this week, I'm going to rant a bit about two conferences that are making my voting life very difficult.

Yeah, I'm talking about you, SEC and PAC-10.

The SEC is insane. Other than LSU on one end and Ole Miss on the other, the other 10 teams are just impossible to predict. A simple demonstration: Tennessee lost to Florida by 39, but the Gators lost by 12 to Georgia, who lost by 21 to ... Tennessee, which lost by 24 to Alabama, which lost at home to ... Georgia, which lost at home to South Carolina, which lost to ... Vanderbilt?

I could go on, but you see what I'm getting at. In a conference where everyone can seemingly beat everyone else, how do you really know who's any good. Is this a conference of unparalleled depth? Or just unremitting mediocrity. I honestly just don't know any more. I will tell you that my doubts about the SEC are starting to increase. If Alabama keeps rolling, how do we explain its loss to Florida State? If Tennessee wins the SEC East, what do we make of the Vols loss to Cal?

Speaking of Cal, I was up at 2 a.m. this morning watching the Bears get rolled by Arizona State because I really needed to see the Sun Devils play and if you want to watch big PAC-10 games, you frequently must forego sleep on the East Coast. Something has to give. Either the PAC-10 needs to stop coming up with top-notch teams that don't start their games until 10 p.m. EST, or my wife needs to get up with the kids on Sunday morning. The former option is much more likely, sadly.

But enough angst. On to the ballot. Again the format is My current ranking/My ranking last week and (the national AP poll released this afternoon).

1/2 Ohio State (1) - Hey, you can't be a good AP voter if you're not flexible. My chief reason for not putting the Buckeyes at No. 1 before was that I felt I needed more proof. Whipping Penn State soundly in a night game at Happy Valley was proof enough.

2/1 LSU (2) - Please don't feel I'm penalizing the Tigers, LSU fans, because I'm really just rewarding the Buckeyes. However, part of my argument for the Tigers - best team in the best conference - is starting to sag a bit as my doubts about the SEC increase.

3/3 Oregon (4) - The Ducks impressed me again. This time they actually won with their defense. Next up is a huge game with Arizona State. I haven't checked on the game time, but I'm assuming it's 10 p.m. EST. No, wait it's 6:45 !!! Woo hoo!!!!

4/5 Boston College (2) - I spent 56 minutes of the Thursday night game thinking "Hey BC fans, guess your team still can't win the game. Maybe it's not all Tom O'Brien's fault!" Then Matt Ryan turned into superhero Matty Ice. A great win, but I'm still having a hard time shaking those previous 56 minutes. I really thought long and hard about putting Arizona State in this spot ...

5/9 Arizona State (6) - ... and I would have except BC's win came on the road and Arizona State beat Cal at home. But what a performance. The Sun Devils scored the game's final 24 points and did it with precision passing from Rudy Carpenter as well as a power running game and a swarming defense, two things I didn't know they had. Color me impressed.

6/6 West Virginia (7) - Speaking of impressed, have you been watching what the Mountaineers have been doing lately? A week after mauling a Miss State team that now owns road wins at Auburn and Kentucky, the Mountaineers rolled into New Jersey and rolled over Rutgers - a week after the Scarlet Knights knocked off South Florida. Unfortunately for West Virginia, there was really no place to move them ...

7/4 Oklahoma (5) - ... just ask the Sooners. They ended up getting bumped down three spots on a bye week. Let's just call it a delayed penalty for sleepwalking past Iowa State.

8/10 Kansas (8) - I gotta admit I'm still a little clueless about the Jayhawks. Do I have a really good reason for why they're not up there with the other unbeatens in the top five? No, not really. But don't worry, KU. If you win impressively in the regular-season finale against Missouri, you'll be rewarded. Just be patient.

9/12 Missouri (9) - Quietly the Big 12 is pushing the PAC-10 and the SEC. Missouri, KU and Oklahoma all in the top nine. Plus K-State and Coloradio are no pushovers. Wait, am I really saying that the Big 12 North is superior to the South? Yes, yes I am.

10/19 Georgia (10) - Man, that was impressive work against the Gators. Tell me again how these guys got rolled by Tennessee?

11/17 Alabama (17) - Somewhere, Jeff Carlton is rolling his eyes. I'm not wild about having the Crimson Tide here. It's really an indication of just how nuts things are here in the AP Poll from week to week.

12/22 Wake Forest (21) - I kept staring at the screen this morning to see if I'd really just put the Deacs at No. 12. But I'm telling you, this week if you won impressively (which the Deacs did) you had an opportunity to move up. There were that many teams dropping down at the same time.

13/20 Michigan (15) - Yes, this is the same Wolverines team that lost to an App State squad that is currently in the middle of the Southern Conference standings. At least, that's what I've been told.

14/7 Florida (18) - Typical SEC team. Just when I felt I had a feel for the Gators, they threw me a curveball. If Tebow's shoulder gets worse, watch out.

15/11 Virginia Tech (11) - After watching Tech's D befuddle BC for almost the entire game, I can't help but wonder - how good could this team be with any sort of offense?

16/13 USC (13) - I sat here at the computer for five minutes and I've got nothing much to say about the Trojans. The Dynasty has definitely taken a downturn.

17/18 Texas (14) - I'm just not very impressed by the Longhorns. Three point win over Nebraska? Wow.

18/25 Auburn (19) - Remember when none of us could figure out how Auburn lost at home to Mississippi State? Well, maybe it wasn't such a stunning loss after all.

19/NR Clemson (25) - Be concerned Tigers. You've just posted an impressive win over Maryland and reentered the national rankings. This is usually the time when you suffer an inexplicable loss.

20/NR Tennessee (24) - I'm ranking a team that has lost one game by 39 points and another by 24. Yep, this has been one crazy season.

21/NR Hawaii (12) - I finally came around to the idea of the Warriors in the top 25. Being undefeated in this insane season means something, even if it's against no competition. I have no idea how the rest of my pollsters contributed to rank these guys at No. 12.

22/NR UConn (16) - Remember back in the preseason, when we all thought UConn might be the team that Duke had its best shot at beating? Boy were we stupid.

23/8 South Florida (20) - I was there for you Bulls. I believed in you before no one else did. I even voted you No. 1!! I feel so betrayed.

24/14 South Carolina (23) - Here's how weird the SEC is. Two weeks ago, the Gamecocks were a threat to play in the conference title game. Now, they really could finish 6-6.

25/NR Wisconsin (NR) - The spot that I gave the Badgers in my poll went to Boise State in the national poll. I thought long and hard about the Broncos here. Well, not that hard. It is the No. 25 spot.