My AP Top 25 ballot for Nov. 27

This stuff is easy at this time of year. When I get most of the criticism for voting the way I do in the Associated Press' football Top 25 is when it means the least, which is early in the year.

I always tell people these things will work themselves out. We'll see how everyone does against quality competition and how they do over the long haul of 12 games. And we do.

But the reason I put my votes up here weekly in the first half of the season and tend to forget as the season grows late is because they don't do very good business late in the year. Everybody knows who should be No. 1 and No. 2.

I will have you know, however, that I put LSU No. 1 after the first week of the regular season. The Tigers handled Oregon convincingly in Arlington, Texas. And Oregon is good.

That was on the first weekend of September. Here we are now near the end of November. Where does the time go? My ballot:

1. LSU

2. Alabama

3. Oklahoma State

4. Stanford

5. Virginia Tech

6. Houston

7. USC

8. Oregon

9. Wisconsin

10. Arkansas

11. Oklahoma

12. Kansas State

13. Michigan State

14. Michigan

15. Georgia

16. South Carolina

17. Boise State

18. TCU

19. Nebraska

20. Baylor

21. Penn State

22. West Virginia

23. Clemson

24. Southern Mississippi

25. Arkansas State