Maize n Brew is getting in the BlogPoll game this year. I will be filling out a ballot weekly. I'll be counting on you all to tell me how stupid I am give me advice on where I may have screwed up. Ballot below:

Justifications and musings after the jump...

• The top three are the top three. They are everyone's top three. I pushed USC to the top because I believe the Trojans are the most complete team. Alabama has a few questions to answer, but is probably the deepest team. LSU drops to three because of quarterback concerns.
• The next three are all teams I think are good enough to win the national title, but I need more evidence to justify a top three spot. For Oklahoma and FSU that means not choking against some middle of the pack conference foe. For Oregon it is replacing Darron Thomas and LaMichael James' production.
• The next three (I swear, I'm not doing this three's thing on purpose) are all great defensive teams with varying levels of offensive competency. Championship level defense is good for the top ten, at least until we get a taste of the offenses.
• The next four teams (see? told you) are all offensive powers with questions, but ultimately top ten potential. I'm most comfortable with West Virginia and Wisconsin. I probably talked myself out of Michigan a little more than most because I spend too much time thinking about the team which keeps its faults in the front of my mind when doing this.
• The rest of the poll is rounded out with a collection of teams that are all going to be very good, but we just don't know much of anything until they play the games. At least we get those soon. I think Virginia Tech, Texas, and Notre Dame are all teams that could make a top ten push sometime this season.

Be sure to tell me what I messed up in the comments.