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BosskOnASegway Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2017, 1:21 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I had long explanations, but they got lost when the browse crashed.  I will try to refill them out.  This is a human poll until week 4 or 5 when my computer model has enough data.Some schools among those considered (this list is no comprehensive since I lost my first pass notes): Maryland, Iowa, Nebraska, Oregon, San Diego State, Florida, West Virginia, Notre Dame, TCU. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Obvious, their defense was absolutely dominate.  Their offense looked a little lack luster but their defense and special teams will more than cover for it.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Despite a slow start against Indiana, they still managed to win big and cover the spread.  I have questions regarding the secondary as Indiana's massive wide receivers caused them fits, but I expect this will be resolved as the season progresses.  Huge test next week at Oklahoma will make or break this assessment.
3 Clemson Tigers Coming into the season, the only thing keeping me from returning Clemson to the #1 spot in my mind was questions at QB.  They have been answered at least on some level in my mind, but we will see if it sticks next week.
4 Penn State Nittany Lions They rose as teams above them fell, their performance was exactly as expected against lower opponents.  The first test is next week, I expect a commanding victory over Pitt or Penn State will be corrected downward.
5 Oklahoma Sooners They rose as teams above them fell, their performance was exactly as expected against lower opponents.   As with Penn State, the test comes next week,  I will be looking for Oklahoma to exploit OSU's secondary and move the ball against a defense that appeared to have some significant holes in the secondary.
6 USC Trojans Western Michigan lost much and more last season, yet USC struggled.  I had doubts about the hype behind USC and the Darnold.  These doubts were not abated by the uninspired performance, but neither were these doubts full substantiated. 
7 Oklahoma State Cowboys I didn't watch this game too closely, but OkState did what they were supposed to and outside one questionable quarter (2nd) did so in commanding fashion.
8 Florida State Seminoles The offense could never get going and gave away the ball far too much, but their defense was absolutely impregnable at times.  Fatigue due to the lack offense and high pressure situations gradually wore them down though.   Originally this team was going to stay at #5, but the injury forced me to move them down due to doubts about the offense going forward.
9 Michigan Wolverines Was Florida's offense truly anemic or is Michigan's defense the cream of the crop?  The first half the offense struggled with turnovers, but in the second half the got going.  Michigan looked like the top tier program we have come to expect under Harbaugh.
10 Washington Huskies An early struggle against Rutgers, caused doubts early, but the second half absolved them.  They will have to prevent recurrences of that first half team if they want to repeat in the PAC and make another playoff run.
11 Wisconsin Badgers It seemed to be the story of the week, bad first half, good second half.  The Badgers got the job done, but like many schools will need to improve upon their consistency.
12 Auburn Tigers I didn't watch this game, but the highlights it looks like things went about exactly as expected.  Next week they will be the center of attention.
13 LSU Tigers BYU is bad, LSU beat them badly.  I really didn't learn anything from this game aside from the play calling looked at a glance much improved over the last few years.
14 Stanford Cardinal Idle since Rice, we look to see a lot of questions answered in the upcoming Stanford USC game.
15 Georgia Bulldogs Fromm for Heisman?  Honestly, Georgia looked like the only team on the field many plays, I am not sure what to make of it.  App State is normally pretty good, maybe they aren't this year?  Or maybe Georgia is much better than I anticipated,  Notre Dame next week, I expect a double digit win.
16 Miami Hurricanes I always seem to over rate The U since I grew up during their peak years.  I always find my self asking are they back?  This past week answered none of my questions and added a few new ones.  
17 Virginia Tech Hokies Exciting game, solid play, a few more big plays given up than I would like to have seen but Fuente seems to have VT running like a well oiled machine.  I am expecting an ACC championship and a play off berth in the next few years, but I don't think this is the year.  Still too many small deficiencies.
18 Washington State Cougars Beating Montana State says nothing to me...This spot just felt right.
19 Kansas State Wildcats See the above comments about WSU.
20 USF Bulls USF needs to beat Stony Brook by more than 14 if they want to stay ranked.  This game did not instill confidence in me.  Without a controlling win against UConn, expect USF to drop out.
21 Tennessee Volunteers LUL GT...Tennessee looked bad, really, really bad at times, but still managed to make plays when it counted and get a win.  Good drive Tennessee is really good, bad drive Tennessee is  really bad.  I guess like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get, and we will have to unwrap a few more to really get a feel for what this Tennessee team is comprised of.
22 Louisville Cardinals Is Purdue good? No, probably not.  Is Louisville good?  No probably not, but they won and they have the reigning Heisman champion so they stay. Their defense is bottom tier and their offense is one dimensional.  Lamar Jackson isn't going to be good enough to bail them out against even average teams. I almost expect a lose at UNC, but we shall see.
23 Navy Midshipmen RIP Lane Kiffin-FAU hype, 9/1 8:00 PM to 9/1 9:00 PM.  Really just a gut feeling here and below but its early in the season so I am okay with only a true top 22.
24 Colorado Buffaloes Colorado was good last year, I felt they were being slept on against this year,  I am willing to give them the benefit.  Any signs of faltering next week and they will  be gone again.
25 Michigan State Spartans This really is more a feeling and emotional pick.  My wife loves State and I have confidence last year was a fluke and this should be a return to the previous status quo.   Any signs of faltering next week and they will  be gone again.

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