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T-Thugs Ballot for 2016 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 26, 2016, 9:40 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide The defending national champs stay on top of my poll. Their victory over Ole Miss got a little better this week. The USC win doesn't look like much, though.
2 Louisville Cardinals The Louisville win over Florida State may still be the most impressive win of the season. FSU's defense looked a bit shaky this week, but they do have a win over Ole Miss. 
3 Stanford Cardinal Stanford is 3-0 and is yet to play a non power 5 opponent. They have wins over Kansas State, UCLA, and USC. USC is not very good, but this is still a much better win than playing some FCS opponent. I'm not sure this Cardinal team is quite as good as last year's juggernaut, but their accomplishments so far as pretty impressive. They have a huge matchup with Washington this weekend.
4 Texas A&M Aggies The Aggies are 4-0 and three of their wins are over UCLA, Auburn, and Arkansas. They should roll South Carolina next week and set up a big showdown with Tennessee. 
5 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin looked dominant at Michigan State. They also have a win over LSU. Although, LSU losing to Auburn makes that win a little less impressive and Michigan State's win over ND doesn't really mean much. I still think wins over Michigan State and LSU are a solid top 2 wins for a 4-0 team. A win over Michigan next week would possibly make Wisconsin the #1 team. 
6 Clemson Tigers Clemson is undefeated with wins over Auburn (looking a bit better this week) and Georgia Tech (3-1). looked a little bit shaky in their first two games. 
7 Michigan Wolverines Well shit. This pains me. Their win over Colorado is actually a decent win? Who would have thought it. Also they beat the shit out of Penn State. They get their first really big test next week against Wisconsin, though. 
8 Tennessee Volunteers I don't really think this team is quite this good. However, they are 4-0 with wins over Florida (3-1) and Virginia Tech (3-1). 
9 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State has looked dominant in their games, but their best win is over 1-2 Oklahoma. I probably won't raise the Buckeyes in my poll the next couple weeks since they play Rutgers and Indiana but they will get a chance to move up after the play Wisconsin. 
10 Nebraska Cornhuskers I think this may be a little high for the Huskers, but they are 4-0 with wins over Oregon and Northwestern. They should pretty easily roll to 7-0 (not that this necessarily means they are good) before playing Wisconsin. 
11 Washington Huskies The Huskies are 4-0 with wins over 2 power 5 opponents. They get their first real test this coming weekend against Stanford. A win could bump them up near the top 5. 
12 Arizona State Sun Devils 4-0 with wins over Texas Tech and California. Their offense is pretty explosive, but I'm not sure if they have any defense. They have a big three week stretch with USC, UCLA, and Colorado that should give us a better picture of where they really stand. 
13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons This is too high, but the Demon Deacons are 4-0 with wins over Indiana (2-1) and Duke (2-2 with a win over Notre Dame). There are better teams that I have ranked a little lower, but they will move into a better position and jump Wake as the season goes and the resumes fill out. It's not completely unreasonable to think Wake could be 6-0 heading into a matchup with Florida State. 
14 West Virginia Mountaineers 3-0 with wins over Missouri and BYU. 
15 Utah Utes 4-0 with wins over BYU and USC. Utah will likely move to 7-0 before their tough finish. 
16 Boise State Broncos Boise is 3-0 with wins over Oregon State and Washington State. 
17 Florida State Seminoles Florida State is my top 1 loss team. I think they'll continue to move up in the poll. They got beat down by Louisville, but their win over Ole Miss looks better today since the Rebels pounded Georgia.
18 Western Michigan Broncos 4-0 with wins over 2 power 5 opponents (Northwestern and Illinois). They will quickly start dropping now since other teams are beginning their conference schedules and Western Michigan's schedule just gets worse and worse. 
19 Baylor Bears The bears are 4-0 and got a nice win over Oklahoma State. 
20 San Diego State Aztecs 3-0 with a win over Cal.
21 Colorado Buffaloes What is going on? The buffs might be good? They got a solid win over Oregon. Their only loss is to Michigan in a game they were winning and lost their starting QB. They should beat Oregon State this weekend before going on the road to USC. 
22 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota is 3-0. I couldn't bring myself to put them above Colorado since Minnesota squeaked out a win over mutual opponent Colorado State and CU pounded those guys. 
23 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss is weird. I'm not sure I like ranking a 2 loss team in my poll this early, but both their losses are to good opponents, they looked very tough in their game against Alabama, and they pounded Georgia. I wanted to put Georgia in my poll but have a hard time putting them above Ole Miss, so here the rebels are.
24 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia stays ranked after getting stomped by Ole Miss due to their solid win over North Carolina.
25 Miami Hurricanes 3-0 but haven't played anyone.

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