Gators begin this season where they finished the last: on top

Some snarkier e-mailers read my column last week about attempting to obtain coaches poll ballots through public records requests and fired back, wondering why I don't reveal my own ballot. I do, right here in the weekly Power Rankings.

This year, I've taken over SI.com's Associated Press Poll vote so Stewart Mandel can spend more time interviewing buxom premium-cable starlets. (How awesome is it that East Bound and Down star Katy Mixon is genuinely pumped about John Chavis' arrival at LSU?) Most weeks, the Power Rankings will be identical to the AP ballot I send on Sunday morning. If a starting quarterback's spleen explodes on a Sunday night, I may make an adjustment, but I'll let you know when that happens.

It happened this week. In my defense, the first AP poll was due Aug. 3. That's 74 years in Internet time. A knee injury ended Virginia Tech tailback Darren Evans' season. A cracked bone turned USC's Aaron Corp into a second-teamer and true freshman Matt Barkley into a full-blown national curiosity. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy banned his players from interviews with all but "friends of the program," a classic pucker move that probably has Georgia coach Mark Richt tenting his fingers and chuckling like a James Bond villain. Some of the news caused rankings tweaks. Some did not.

Fortunately, teams finally will take the field for real on Thursday, and I can turn my out-and-out guesses into educated ones. I'm also more than happy to consider your suggestions, whether you submit them through the e-mail widget on this page or on Twitter. Check back every week to see if I followed your sage advice or if I struck out on my own.

No records request required.

NCAA Football Power Rankings

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