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atchemey Ballot for 2016 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 6, 2016, 7:32 p.m.

Overall Rationale: At this point, I'm still heavily reliant on expectations of where teams will be. This is partially what I saw, partially what I expect, and partially a hybrid of the two based on a mental range of expectations. Eg: LSU and Ole Miss were favored early by me, IFF they performed as I expected them to. They disappointed my expectations by a huge margin in their opening games, so both dropped precipitously from 11 and 10, respectively. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide That was a beat-down which approximated the nutstomp.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes They performed at the upper end of my expectations for them against a patsy. That means they stay pat...But Clemson underwhelmed.
3 Houston Cougars They are the real deal. I'm a Tom Herman believer after the last two years. No phase of the game could absolutely be described as "weak" against the Sooners, which is rare in a first game.
4 Clemson Tigers Clemson looked sloppy at times, and let Auburn hang around for too long. Ultimately, they still are one of the 1-0 teams with an FBS win and a TON of talent, but their performance was somewhat tenuous.
5 Stanford Cardinal See Clemson, but with slightly less talent at QB. McCaffery is the best APB in the NCAA, and I love to watch him play.
6 Florida State Seminoles Miss didn't have an answer for them in the second half, and they were very opportunistic on defense. I wonder how much of this is $wag Kelly being a paper tiger, but I'm hesitant to put them any lower.
7 Washington Huskies They showed how strong they were against a lackluster Rutgers. They are a favorite to win the PAC North for a good reason, and I expect good things to follow.
8 Michigan Wolverines Their performance showed why Cal is not a great team this year. They put up gaudy numbers against a Hawaii team that doesn't have a DL to speak of. Expect similar results against a pair of miserable UCF and Colorado squads.
9 Iowa Hawkeyes Boring game, nothing special, but I'm betting on them until there is good reason to do otherwise.
10 TCU Horned Frogs They let their FCS opponent around too long, but never looked out-classed.
11 Tennessee Volunteers On the other hand, Tennessee was dominated at times by App State - they won on a miracle play that was probably called wrong on the field. I'm disappointed, but this is just evidence that we should all take a step back before crowning them CFB-elect.
12 Louisville Cardinals Big numbers, bad team, I'm not a believer yet.
13 Wisconsin Badgers They will almost certainly fall, but after their LSU performance, they deserve some significant boost. They were sloppy, but damn can their kicker play from distance with ease.
14 Georgia Bulldogs Float.
15 Michigan State Spartans We didn't take care of business cleanly, but the game wasn't ever really in doubt, no matter what my nervous gut pretended. The DL will be running gassers, and CB Darien Hicks needs to turn his head around to play the ball, but the new guys mostly did well. The OL needs work, but it wasn't a terrible performance. Tyler O'Connor is more than serviceable, and was a pleasant surprise with a good statline. Ultimately, I didn't move us up, so much as just kept us floating with other teams around us.
16 Nebraska Cornhuskers They will run bad front-7s over, repeatedly.
17 Texas A&M Aggies UCLA isn't a good team, it seems, but A&M isn't either...Still, a P5 win gets them up here.
18 Oklahoma Sooners They were outclassed in every way by Houston. In a vacuum, they drop out of the 25, but you can't deny their talent. Unless they lose to OSU in a couple weeks, this is their low-water mark.
19 Miami Hurricanes Welcome Mark Richt to the world of blowouts. Brad Kaaya looked polished, noticeably improved from last year. 
20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ouch. They still have major talent, and should rise with time, particularly as they abandon Zaire at QB. Expect Kizer to help them beat a lot of teams - hopefully not my Spartans, but smart money is on them.
21 Texas Longhorns They overperformed my expectations, and I bet they fall to 2/3rds of Cal (not good), OKState, and OU...Until then, a tempered optimism should surround them.
22 Utah Utes Kyle Whittingham is a solid coach. They are a Mannheim Steamroller - always accelerating and eventually bowling over all in their way. Their secondary was stifling.
23 Ole Miss Rebels They had no answers for FSU for much of the second half, and were lost. I'm not high on Chad Kelly, and I think they underperform season expectations. They have a lot of talent, and won't do much with it.
24 Oregon Ducks Ironically, see TCU's explanation. Prukop is no Adams, much less a Mariota, but they are serviceable.
25 BYU Cougars A P5 win, but lots of mistakes were made, and Arizona isn't good. That said, Anu Solomon is good, and he didn't really work out against their secondary.

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