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beerslingerjay Ballot for 2017 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 20, 2017, 12:52 p.m.

Overall Rationale: With not much to go on besides 2016 results and what teams have returning, this poll is largely looking at how I expect the full 2017 season to play out.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Another re-load season. Players we haven't even heard of yet will be first-rounders in the draft. No reason to assume they aren't the best team in America again.
2 Florida State Seminoles Pretty much everyone coming back, and Francois is only going to be better.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Last year was supposed to be a down year, and they made it to the playoff. Expect OSU to be within the top 4 throughout the season.
4 USC Trojans Darnold is legit and is surrounded by weapons. They'll put up 40+ points every game this year (especially since they don't have to open with Bama this year)
5 Washington Huskies I doubted the hype for them last year and believed Tennessee's. Not going to be burned again. Anxious to see who Browning targets now that John Ross is gone. 
6 Penn State Nittany Lions Best RB in CFB makes McSorley's job that much easier. I may hate James Franklin, but I'll be damned if he isn't doing good work.
7 Wisconsin Badgers They may be big and boring, but Wisconsin always ends up in the Top 10 by year's end.
8 Oklahoma State Cowboys They're going to put up so many points, and by rule, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
9 Oklahoma Sooners No shade intended by ranking OU one spot below OSU. I'm pretty sure Baker Mayfield is older than their new coach. Losses to their top RB and WR worry me, as well as the spontaneous new coach. Anyway, they're Oklahoma, and they'll be fine.
10 Clemson Tigers A lot of turnover from the National Championship team, but a solid big men on both sides of the line will make the transition a lot easier for new faces at the skill positions.
11 Michigan Wolverines They don't have much coming back, but they also didn't have much when Harbaugh took over. After the recruiting he's done the last few years, I expect a small dropoff.
12 Louisville Cardinals EEEEEEeeeeveryone sleepin' on Louisville. It's like you people don't remember this team has the best player in CFB playing QB for them.
13 Florida Gators How will Florida manage to stumble into the SEC championship game this year? Tune in and find out as Jimmy Mac, the shark attack, goes for another trip to the house that Dr. Pepper built.
14 Auburn Tigers Gus Malzahn has been on the hot seat so long that he ceases to feel anything anymore. The most dangerous men are those that no longer have anything to lose. Auburn could be scary this year.
15 LSU Tigers Continuing my list of SEC teams that could either go to the playoff or finish unranked, Coach Benchpress fall upwards into the head coaching position of LSU. Derrius Guice is the truth. I hear he'll be going by "Leonard Fivenette" by the end of the year.
16 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia, hands down, has the most talented roster in the SEC East, but I've heard this story before (*cough* 2016 Vols), which is why Florida is ranked a couple positions higher.
17 USF Bulls USF probably won't lose a game this year. Even so, they won't break the Top 10, cuz "muh Strength of Schedules."
18 Kansas State Wildcats KSU had a quiet 9-win season last year and is returning pretty much all of their key contributors. They'll be thorns in the side of OU and OSU in the Big 12.
19 Miami Hurricanes They're not called the "Hurrican'ts," so I expect that Miami Hurri-can get it done.
20 Virginia Tech Hokies Fuente will continue to prove he is the correct guy for Tech and compete for another appearance in the ACC Championship game. They'll need to replace a lot on Offense, but as this is Fuente's forte, he'll prove to create a couple more studs.
21 Washington State Cougars The Washington State Fighting Leaches will again be fun to watch, and I hope they can royally fuck up some promising seasons for other PAC 12 contenders.
22 Stanford Cardinal See reasoning for #21, as Stanford's season will be royally fucked by Washington State late in the year.
23 West Virginia Mountaineers Defense is a question mark for 2017, but new addition Will Grier will help give them enough cushion to win games. 
24 Tennessee Volunteers A lot of people see this season as a do-or-die season for Butch Jones, so we'll see what Tennessee can put together when everyone's attention is on Georgia and Florida to top the SEC East.
25 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt doesn't play Clemson, Louisville, or Florida State this year. They do have to play Penn State and Oklahoma State in their second and third games of the season, respectively. Even if they start out 1-3, their only real in-conference threats are Va Tech and Miami at the end of the year. They very possibly could be competing for an ACC championship going into the final two weeks.

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