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Bill3ffinMurray Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2017, 10:14 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide The offense didn't look sharp against #3 Florida State, but the defense shined and the Tide rolled to a quality win against the Noles to open the season. Can't place them anywhere else besides at the top. 
2 Ohio State Buckeyes A sluggish start on the road against the Hoosiers had me thinking that Ohio State was going to succumb to the Chaos God. Nevertheless, the Hoosiers ran out of steam and the Buckeyes rallied to open the season 1-0. No sense dropping them for staying close at halftime on the road against a competitive Indiana team. 
3 Oklahoma Sooners It's easier to shine against UTEP than other opponents (e.g., Alabama), but Oklahoma was ultra efficient against the Miners. A loss by the Noles means the Sooners occupy the 3rd spot on the poll, setting up another intriguing early season matchup against Ohio State on Saturday. 
4 Penn State Nittany Lions Can you believe that it was just less than a season ago that James Franklin was on the chopping block? The Nittany Lions have done nothing but win since then, and in their annual matchup against Akron, Penn State - like Oklahoma - was ultra efficient en route to a 52-0 over the Zips. Penn State looks the part of a legit contender this year, but their schedule is dark and full of terrors. 
5 Clemson Tigers The defending national champs move up to #5 in the rankings behind a solid performance against Kent State. No better way to ease in a new QB than by playing a weaker opponent (sorry Kent State fans).. A fascinating matchup against #16 Auburn looms large. 
6 USC Trojans 49-31 against Western Michigan might have been closer than most Trojan fans were expecting on Saturday, and Sam Darnold didn't turn in his best performance. But the Trojans rallied and pulled away from the resilient Broncos at the end and losses by other teams ahead of them means that USC can only move up. 
7 Stanford Cardinal Probably higher than most people will have Stanford - I fought myself over where Florida State should fall after their loss to Alabama - but a dominant win over Rice in Week 0 leads me to believe that Stanford will be a tough out in the Pac-12 this year. 
8 Florida State Seminoles The offense sputtered. The defense starred. The special teams lived up to its name. The 24-7 score is extremely misleading, as Bama wasn't able to do much offensively, a big credit to Florida State's defense. The Noles defense will have to remain strong throughout the year; the loss of Deondre Francois is going to hurt. 
9 Washington Huskies It's never easy to go on the road and win, no matter where you play, even Piscataway. Rutgers even installed a hot tub on top of their student section to encourage a bigger crowd! The defending Pac-12 champs struggled with the Scarlet Knights early, but showed their quality in the end as they pulled away to the 16-point victory. The Huskies should continue to improve as the season goes on, and they should be the frontrunner in the Pac-12 North. 
10 Michigan Wolverines Physically dominant against #6 Florida, the Wolverines showed that they are more than capable of moving past the tremendous losses they incurred during the offseason. By far one of the more impressive wins in Week 1. They'll face tougher tests later in the season, but this is the right start to the 2017-18 season for Jim Harbaugh. Just don't wear all maize again, please. 
11 Wisconsin Badgers Michigan leap-frogged Wisconsin in my rankings because of a more quality win, but Wisconsin looked scary after falling behind 10-0 to Utah State. The Badgers rallied for 59 unanswered points en route to a 59-10 victory. Like just about everyone else, the schedule will get tougher, but the Badgers look up to the challenge.  
12 LSU Tigers Dat wa sum goo foobaw, foobaw, foobaw! LSU looked dominant blanking BYU to open the season under permanent head coach Ed Orgeron. Hopefully that trend will continue, I'd love to see a tight race in the SEC West between Bama, Auburn, and LSU. 
13 Oklahoma State Cowboys So it looks like I undervalued Oklahoma State to start the year, and chances are I'll be undervaluing them in this poll as well. My "problem" with Oklahoma State lies in the fact that they don't play defense and just hope they can outscore their opponents; most of the time they can. I don't think that's sustainable, so despite a 59-24 win against Tulsa, I'm placing the Pokes behind Michigan, Wisconsin, and LSU because those three teams play much better defense than Oklahoma State. 
14 Louisville Cardinals Hard to drop a team for winning against a P5 opponent, especially a Purdue team that came to play. One of the more surprising results of Week 1 saw Louisville scrape by the Boilermakers. A good showing for the Cardinals offense powered by returning Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. 
15 Miami Hurricanes The Hurricanes won and dropped 5 spots. Huh? Well all the teams that moved ahead of them played better opponents and looked better in those games than the Canes did in their game against Bethune-Cookman. It's early, so Miami has plenty of chance to reclaim their top 10 ranking. 
16 Auburn Tigers I thought Auburn was overrated in the preseason poll and I think they'll be overrated in the AP poll released this week. They won, they looked good against Georgia Southern, so they move up. A real test against #5 Clemson is up next. 
17 TCU Horned Frogs You know how difficult it is to cover a 59 point spread? Well TCU managed just that against Jackson State, winning 63-0. A win, so a move up in the poll. 
18 Kansas State Wildcats As with TCU and Auburn, Kansas State won, so they should move up. As a Husker fan, I admire what Bill Snyder has done and what he means to Kansas State. It'd be great if the Wildcats and Huskers could matchup one more time. 
19 Georgia Bulldogs I think Georgia, like Auburn, were overrated in the preseason poll. But they quickly dispatched the Mountaineers looking to claim the scalp of another Top 25 team. Can't fault a team for winning (sorry Miami). 
20 Virginia Tech Hokies One of the better wins, and one of the better games of Week 1 saw the Hokies take care of the Mountaineers, 31-24. Justin Fuente has turned Virginia Tech back into an ACC contender. 
21 Tennessee Volunteers Thrilling win over Georgia Tech, the Champions of Life deserve to move up. 
22 Florida Gators Awful. The typical Florida team reared its head against Michigan, scoring 14 points on defense, but just 3 points on offense. Florida will not be a contender in the SEC or in the playoff picture so long as they continue to field an anemic offense. 
23 Oregon Ducks As a Nebraska alum and fan, I must admit that Oregon dropping 77 points and 703 yards of offense against Southern Utah, coupled with Nebraska's defensive performance against Arkansas State has me worried for next week's contest. However, I'm ranking Oregon #23 to hopefully recreate the good vibes of last seasons matchup which saw an unranked Nebraska upset then #23 Oregon. 
24 Maryland Terrapins It's early in the season, so these last two spots will go to teams which I thought had the most impressive wins in the season. I think polls should be less sticky early in the season - it's simply not fair that a team who beats a ranked opponent on the road won't see themselves in the rankings because they started the year at #80. Maryland shocked Texas in Tom Herman's curtain raiser. 
25 South Carolina Gamecocks NC State was the favorite, but the Gamecocks came away with the win. Good for Will Muschamp. 

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