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sirgippy Ballot for 2016 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 29, 2016, 12:17 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Hand-adjusted prediction based upon national title likelihood. 5dimes Live Lines (http://www.5dimes.eu/livelines/livelines.aspx) used as reference.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Even with the difficulty that repeating a title game berth represents, I think Alabama and Clemson are the best situated to make it to the playoffs and win.
2 Clemson Tigers
3 Florida State Seminoles I'm relatively up on FSU. Unlike Michigan, I think FSU has the tools needed to make the playoff and potentially win it.
4 LSU Tigers
5 Oklahoma Sooners
6 Stanford Cardinal
7 Tennessee Volunteers Like ok, sure, this is a bit up there for a team who hasn't won ten games in almost a decade. But what else are you going to do? They're well positioned this year if everything clicks. I wouldn't be shocked by another year of 8-4, but their ceiling seems to warrant them being up here.
8 Ohio State Buckeyes I've got Ohio State down here because I think it's likely Oklahoma comes out on top against them and I'm not sure they've got it in them this year to be the wrecking ball they'd need to be to get back into the playoffs. They'd almost certainly need to run the table, and I just think it's unlikely they'll repeat the magic of the 2014 season.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10 TCU Horned Frogs
11 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia has always had the tools, just never made over the hump. I'm a teensy bit higher on them than most likely because I always thought Richt underachieved his recruiting a bit and they could potentially get a first year new head coach bump. I'm not saying they will, but the possibility of it leaves me slightly higher on UGA.
12 Michigan Wolverines Since I'm rating odds of *winning* the national title, not just making a playoff berth, Michigan falls down here. I think there's a very good chance they make the playoffs this year, but I don't think they'll fare well when/if they do.
13 Washington Huskies I'm in on Washington. Maybe faith in Peterson will turn out to be unfounded, but the signs are all there.
14 Oregon Ducks Maybe I'm being overly skeptical, but I don't trust the post-Kelly Oregon regime as much as others seem to. Last year's QB saga combined with their awful defense doesn't instill confidence. I'll revise my tune here if they come out strong, but otherwise I'm not willing to give the vote of confidence.
15 Florida Gators
16 USC Trojans The LA schools have been in a rut of perennial underachieving and so I'm a tad bit low on them. I don't really expect much to change under Helton aside from maybe a little bit of added stability.
17 Houston Cougars
18 UCLA Bruins
19 Michigan State Spartans
20 Ole Miss Rebels I don't get their preseason ranking this year. Like, I think they'll be fine, but why are they being ranked like they're going to be even better than ever?
21 Auburn Tigers Call me a homer if you must, but this really isn't that much of a stretch.
22 Louisville Cardinals I don't quite understand the Louisville hype, or at least not to the extent they seem to get. I do have them alone in a the ACC's second tier, but that's not saying much.
23 Oklahoma State Cowboys
24 Texas A&M Aggies
25 Baylor Bears

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