Usually the BlogPoll is posted earlier than Thursday morning. This week was not one of those weeks, but you'll find it and reasoning after the jump. The Favorite Spartan Athlete Bracket (nope, I haven't forgot about, even if it takes me until 2015 to finish) will return in the next Linking Laconically. For now though, links!
New York Giants' Greg Jones could get start at MLB on Sunday - ESPN New York Thanks to Perry, the Torn ACL-ephant migrating from West Lafayette to the Meadowlands, Greg Jones will most likely start on Sunday against the Redskins. The article is a very good read, which breaks down what Jones's responsibilities will be in calling the defenses.
Michigan State depth chart changes: Fou Fonoti in left tackle mix | MLive.com In short -- Jared McGaha is backing up Skyler Burkland at right tackle, and Fou Fonoti is now backing up Dan France at left tackle. Left tackle might be a bit in flux this season, but I'd rather have MSU try and find a possible solution than to stick with something that doesn't work.
Owls soar into East Lansing seeking upset of 17th-ranked Spartans - latimes.com It's Howard Schnellenberger's last rodeo, and the positive of FAU's 41-3 loss to Florida last week was that Florida Atlantic had three interceptions. The negatives? About everything else.
Michigan State coach wants to see Nick Hill flourish as a kick returner | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Nick Hill is now the starting kick returner, mainly to get him more ball touches and experiences. It's kind of hard to do it in the offense because of that Cerberus deal the Spartans have at running back.
9/11 Memories - MICHIGAN STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE
Steve Grinczel is now working for Michigan State Athletics, and he's been doing a great job, especially in this piece which explains how a few Spartans dealt with 9/11. It must have been awfully harrowing for Kirk Cousins; his mother is a flight attendant and was in the air that morning.
BlogPoll after the jump:
The Only Colors Ballot - Week 2
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU Tigers |
 2 |
| 2 | Boise St. Broncos |
2 |
| 3 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
 -2 |
| 4 | Virginia Tech Hokies |
-2 |
| 5 | Oklahoma Sooners |
1 |
| 6 | Stanford Cardinal |
2 |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies |
2 |
| 8 | Oregon Ducks |
-3 |
| 9 | Florida St. Seminoles |
1 |
| 10 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
1 |
| 11 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
1 |
| 12 | Wisconsin Badgers |
1 |
| 13 | Arkansas Razorbacks |
1 |
| 14 | Ohio St. Buckeyes |
2 |
| 15 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |
4 |
| 16 | Penn St. Nittany Lions |
5 |
| 17 | Michigan St. Spartans | -- |
| 18 | Baylor Bears | -- |
| 19 | West Virginia Mountaineers |
3 |
| 20 | Texas Longhorns |
3 |
| 21 | TCU Horned Frogs |
-14 |
| 22 | Arizona St. Sun Devils | -- |
| 23 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | -- |
| 24 | Northwestern Wildcats | -- |
| 25 | Air Force Falcons | -- |
| Dropouts: Georgia Bulldogs, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, USC Trojans, Washington Huskies | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "
Notes:
- LSU and Boise State move to 1-2 due to their wins over Oregon and Georgia respectively. Nothing against Alabama or Virginia Tech, but the Tigers and Broncos had the better wins this week.
- Oregon only moves down a few spots for losing to a top-5 team at a semi-neutral site tilted towards LSU.
- I couldn't move Michigan State up last week after a lackluster performance last week, but I couldn't really move them down either. I moved Oklahoma State and Penn State ahead by virtue of their dominant wins.
- Baylor moves up to 19th after their victory over TCU. I was tempted to move them higher, but I'm not sure if that performance was a fluke.
- I'm going to give TCU one more chance next week. After that, they're gone.
- Not getting a second chance: Georgia (Boise'd!), Notre Dame (turnovertastic, but will be in next week if they beat Michigan), USC (looked sluggish against a bottom-tier Big Ten team), and Washington (looked sluggish against a bottom-tier D-1 team).
- IN! The aforementioned Baylor, Arizona State (probably should have had them earlier), Mississippi State (ditto), and Northwestern (away win against a BCS opponent with a back-up quarterback).
- Air Force stays in because of a gut feeling. Which could be as off as splitting kings.