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Arsenal7X Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2017, 9:10 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Given that the first few ballots of the season are always really fluid, I decided to reward the teams who took care of business against teams that they were supposed to take care of business against. We always hold it against teams when they don't perform to expectations so I figured this week, in the top 10 at least, I would reward the teams who did live up to the hype. For example, USC struggled against a relatively unknown quantity in WMU so I dropped them a bit. They play Stanford next week so they have every opportunity to jump back up in the rankings.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Ho hum just another double digit victory against a top 10 team. Honestly the victory showed that Bama is, once again, the best team in the country but they aren't unbeatable. For now, and for the foreseeable future, the number one spot on the ballot is Bama's.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes A plucky Indiana team gave them fits for about 2.5 quarters but the staff made some incredible adjustments at half time which allowed the incredible athleticism of the Buckeyes to take over. For my money, the Meyer/Schiano/Wilson triumvirate is the best combination of HC/DC/OC in the country, and with the talent at their disposal, this team can go really far. Putting up 600 yards against what was a top 30 defense last year is no small feat.
3 Clemson Tigers The biggest question mark I had going into the season for them was how they were going to replace Deshaun Watson. Kelly Bryant looked the part against what is probably the worst team in the MAC but the offense did enough to bolster my confidence in them and bump them up into the Bama/OSU territory atop the college football world. Big test next week as they host Auburn.
4 Penn State Nittany Lions This offense is just nuts. I know Akron isn't the best competition but they took care of business and then some. They have the best offensive player in the country in Barkley and a whole host of weapons around him. Next week, they host Pitt who just gave up 400+ yards through the air against an FCS team (albeit a very good one) so things could get ugly in Happy Valley.
5 Oklahoma Sooners Baker Mayfield went 19/20 with the one incompletion coming on a questionable no-PI call when Mayfield chucked it deep late in the second quarter. He's going to need all of that accuracy and efficiency on Saturday as the Sooners travel to Columbus to take on Ohio State. Also side note: I was at the UTEP game and Norman is a cool place to watch a football game.
6 Wisconsin Badgers It was very generous of them to give Utah State a 10 point head start but the Aggies would've needed six times that to overcome the 2nd/3rd/4th quarter Badger onslaught. It took a while to get going, but the Wisconsin offense looked good and the defense looked stout as usual. I jumped them over U Dub and USC for the week because of their ability to put away lesser competition. They probably won't stay here for long as I still think Washington and Southern Cal are marginally better teams. 59-point runs are fun, aren't they, Wisconsin?
7 Washington Huskies Look, Rutgers might be improved, but Washington should have handled them a bit better than they did. Dropping them 3 spots is probably harsh, but like I said, the first few polls of the season are really fluid so the Huskies have all the chance in the world to jump back up.
8 USC Trojans Some questions in the front seven popped up against a good Western Michigan team. Normally that wouldn't be that much of an issue this early in the season but the Trojans host Stanford next week. Ronald Jones and Darnold looked solid and I'm not too worried about this team going forward. They could take a lump or two against the Cardinal but they're stil the odds-on favorite to win the South.
9 Oklahoma State Cowboys This might be the best offense in the country. I don't really have anything to add to this because while this game was going on I was busy stressing about why Ohio State was losing to Indiana.
10 Michigan Wolverines Florida's offense is worse than my high school's but Michigan still bludgeoned them to death and it was pretty funny to watch. The defense is scary and the offense is good enough. Improved QB play and redzone offense could turn them into title contenders not just in the Big Ten, but in the national picture as well.
11 Stanford Cardinal Oh my god poor Rice.
12 LSU Tigers BYU didn't cross the 50 against them and they seem to have found a more efficient way to do the offense thing. That makes them scary.
13 Auburn Tigers Auburn is the last team in the top 25 that I see with a legitimate shot at the national title. There seems to be a huge gap between numbers 1-14 and the rest of the country so far in terms of not only talent, but coaching and execution as well. The Tigers took care of business against Georgia Southern and travel to Clemson for what would be the game of the week for basically any other week. A win could catapult them into the top 10 or even top 5.
14 Florida State Seminoles Every Saturday night I write a provisional ballot in my notes then edit it the next morning. On Saturday night after the Alabama loss, I only dropped FSU to number 7, in front of Washington and USC, because I felt they showed enough in the game in Atlanta to still warrant a very high rating. There's no shame in losing to Alabama. And after all, it was only their special teams that looked particularly anything-other-than-good. Sunday morning rolled around and I learned that Francois would be out for the season. Horrible news for the Noles and, honestly, for college football as a whole. I couldn't keep them in the top 10 after losing one of their most important players, unfortunately.
15 Miami Hurricanes Breaking in a new quarterback is hard, but Miami seemed to hit somewhat of a stride albeit against Bethune-Cookman. They'll have one more week before they get tested against FSU's elite defense.
16 Kansas State Wildcats They did good and idk what else to say.
17 Virginia Tech Hokies Probably played in the best game in the weekend if it weren't for the other game in the exact same time slot on Sunday. Josh Jackson looks like the real deal and the defense looked good enough against a good West Virginia offense.
18 Louisville Cardinals Man apart from Lamar Jackson, this team isn't very good. But they still have Lamar Jackson.
19 Georgia Bulldogs Jacob Eason is ded but they have another highly recruited QB up next in Jake Fromm State Farm.
20 Boise State Broncos I was really impressed with their defense against a very good Troy offense. Probably the best G5 team. Again. Man Boise is cool.
21 Maryland Terrapins lmfao Texas y'all suck. Good job, Maryland. They looked more physical and athletic than one of the most talented teams in the country, by recruiting metrics at least.
22 South Carolina Gamecocks Might not have been the better team on the field against NCSU but they got the W which is all that matters. Deebo Samuel is a dude.
23 TCU Horned Frogs Honestly I'm running out of teams I think are deserving of being ranked so I'll put TCU in here because I have faith in Gary Patterson.
24 UCLA Bruins L M F A O A & M
25 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Was gonna rank the winner of GT/Tennessee here but I watched that game and LOL NOPE. Notre Dame it is.

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