Back to poll results >>

Cobainism Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2017, 11:14 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Here's my preseason poll: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/33105/

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide If you wanna beat the Tide, you need your A++ game on offense, defense, and special teams. Saban's pact with the devil stipulates he can't recruit decent kickers, but it sure as hell doesn't say anything about recruiting elite kick blockers
2 Ohio State Buckeyes OSU struggled early with the Hoosiers, but I believe it had to do with Urban trying to lock away the playbook from Oklahoma next week. But like any great head coach, Urban made appropriate halftime adjustments (a foreign concept to Kevin Sumlin) and his team dominated in the second half.
3 Oklahoma Sooners No quips and qualms about the OU's performance vs. Eddie Guerrero's hometown college last week. QB Baker Mayfield continues to commandeer one of the best offenses in the country. #2 vs #3 in Columbus next week, it will be an amazing game. Boomer Sooner!
4 Penn State Nittany Lions No quips and qualms about PSU's performance vs. LeBron's hometown college last week. OC Joe Morehead and RB Saquon Barkley continue to work their magic. The Nittany Lions are the real deal, can't wait for the whiteout game!
5 Clemson Tigers Third time's the charm, no quips and qualms about Clemson's performance vs. our Dark Lord's alma mater. QB Kelly Bryant exhibited no jitters as he was on point all afternoon with his receivers. Look out for true freshman RB Travis Etienne to burst into the national spotlight vs. rival Auburn next week
6 USC Trojans The Trojans ultimately won their game vs. the Fleckless Broncos, but it wasn't pretty. It's hard to win a national championship if the defense gives up that many yards to a MAC team, and if the wide receivers drop that many passes. QB Sam Darnold and company needs to rebound quickly if they want to win vs Stanford next week.
7 Michigan Wolverines I know folks might take umbrage to this ranking, but a blowout win in every aspect but on the scoreboard (thanks to QB Wilton Speight forgetting Michigan was not wearing blue uniforms) vs. a ranked P5 teams carries a hell lot more weight than beating Tulsa, Utah State, or Rutgers. Despite losing 10 starters on defense, DC Don Brown continues to show why he's the best in the business, as his youngsters hindered Florida's air attack and eliminated the run game. Speight absolutely needs to stop overthrowing the football if Michigan wants to win the B1G, because otherwise the talent of future stars like WR Tarik Black and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones will be wasted . Finally, K Quinn Nordin, aka Harbaugh's sleepover buddy, is my new crush.
8 Oklahoma State Cowboys The best offense in college football continued to sparkle as Heisman-hopeful QB Mason Rudolph had a field day with his elite wide receivers. Can't wait to see how all-star WR James Washington fares in Big 12 play
9 Washington Huskies Are the Huskies a contender or pretender? Their yawn-inducing OOC will delay that answer for the next few weeks until they meet Colorado on September 23. The long flight to New Jersey may have affected QB Jake Browning and the offensive line's sluggish start, but ultimately UW came out on top by two touchdowns vs. Rutgers. Look out for LB Azeem Victor as returns from his suspension for violating team rules.
10 LSU Tigers HC Ed Orgeron must be chanting Cajun carols as his Tigers didn't let BYU's offense cross midfield. Perhaps more importantly, LSU fans are giddy over a QB that, wait for it, makes accurate throws! Can the Bayou Bengals be a legitimate threat to the Bama Juggernaut this season?
11 Wisconsin Badgers The Badgers inexplicably trailed 10-0 to a subpar MWC team at one point, but the offense bursted out in the second half, led by star TE Troy Fumagalli. Joey Freshwater his Last Chance U buddies visit Madison next week
12 Florida State Seminoles I know, I know...losing to the #1 team as the #3 team should not warrant a significant dropoff in a normal situation. The difference here is that this isn't a normal situation at all, with star QB and leader Deondre Francois out for the season due to a knee injury. Backup QB James Blackman might very well be the next Jameis Winston, but we don't know that at all right now. We'll all see his performance vs ULM next week, followed by a huge matchup vs. rival Miami the following Saturday. Blackman is athletic and has a strong arm, but there are questions regarding his mechanics, such as his footwork. His ectomorphic 6'5" 185 lbs frame is worrisome, especially with FSU's offensive line issues. Despite the myriad of talent on the roster, I'm not convinced that the Noles will be a serious playoff contender from hereonforth, hence the # 12 ranking. Jimbo is one of the best in the business, so I wouldn't be surprised if he proves me wrong
13 Auburn Tigers The SEC's other Tigers rolled over Georgia Southern in Week 1. The defense did an excellent job preparing and executing their scheme vs. GSU's triple option attack. Hyped up QB Jarrett Stidham had an okay day, going 14-24 with 2 TDs and 1 INT. He will need to improve upon those stats if Auburn wants to beat the ACC's Tigers in Death Valley next weekend. 
14 Stanford Cardinal Stanford dominated in every facet of the game vs. Rice. I wish a better matchup was chosen for our fellow Australian CFB fans. But perhaps it wouldn't have mattered since everyone around the world was focused on the Mayweather-McGregor fight that night. We'll see who Stanford really is in their matchup vs. USC next week.
15 Miami Hurricanes Miami needs to amp up its discipline if it wants to finally break its losing streak vs. FSU in Week 3. Against FCS Bethune-Cookman, the U had way too many penalties, so-so accuracy in the passing game, and loose press coverage on defense (especially since Arkansas State, their next opponent, loves to throw the ball). The Hurricanes have the athletes and tangibles to win the conference, let's see HC Mark Richt put everything together
16 Louisville Cardinals Purdue HC  showed why Boilmaker fans are finally excited about football again, as his squad elevated their game above their actual talent level vs. the Cardinals. Yes, Louisville won, but they have issues they need to fix ASAP -- penalties and failing to protect the football. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner QB Lamar Jackson had a good day; watch him have a field day vs North Carolina's defense next week
17 Virginia Tech Hokies The Hokies jump up on the polls as they beat a ranked rival West Virginia on Sunday night. Overshadowed by UCLA QB Josh Rosen's epic comeback vs Texas A&M, VT also had an impressive performance in their nail-biting victory. QB Josh Jackson, the first freshman QB to start a season opener for the Gobblers since Mike Vick in 1999, had a nice day both running and throwing the football. I can't wait to see him develop throughout the season under HC Justin Fuente. Bonus points for no turnovers!
18 Georgia Bulldogs App State couldn't repeat The Horror on its 10th anniversary, as Georgia rolled to a 31-10 victory. After QB Jason Eason limped off the field with an injury, QB Jake Fromm steadied the ship well. RBs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel had great days running the football, both almost reaching reaching 100 yards each. Next week's matchup vs Notre Dame will be a fun one, no matter how how ridiculously overpriced the tickets are. 
19 Kansas State Wildcats QB Jason Ertz is emerging as one of the most exciting young QBs in the country, as he had a field day in the season opener vs. Central Arkansas. However, the defense giving up 421 yards to an FCS team is concerning, especially if KSU wants to beat Oklahoma and Oklahoma State for the Big 12 crown
20 Florida Gators The curse of Tebow continues. Despite being one of the easiest, if not the easiest recruiting job in the country, Florida still cannot find decent QB play. It's a shame because McElwain's squad is otherwise very talented on both sides of the game. The Gators will an opportunity to clear up their kinks vs FCS Northern Colorado next week, before playing rival Tennessee (insert Butch Jones coachspeak phrase) the following Saturday
21 Washington State Cougars The Rapture is upon us, the Cougs didn't coug it in an FCS season opener! QB Luke Falk completed his first 20 passes, impressive even in an Air Raid offense. The defense also a great day, shutting out pesky Montana State at home. Wazzu is definitely a Top 25 team this season.
22 TCU Horned Frogs TCU was all over Jackson State, as HC Gary Patterson notched the 150th victory of his fantastic career. Getting #151 will be harder, as the Horned Frog's matchup vs Arkansas next week will gauge how good this TCU team really is in the young season
23 Colorado Buffaloes It's a shame that Texas ended up ranked in the preseason polls, but not Colorado. This team continues to rise to the occasion under HC Mike McIntyre, as the defense shut down rival Colorado State (who scored 62 points vs P5 Oregon State the week prior) in a packed Denver stadium. QB Steven Montez might be the real deal as well. It's just too bad that the refs wanted to play in the game as well...
24 USF Bulls The Bulls are 2-0, but it's been an ugly 2-0 for Charlie Strong's squad. Star QB Quinton Flowers really needs to improve his game (accuracy and progressions) if South Florida wants to play a NY6 game this season
25 Notre Dame Fighting Irish By many advanced statistical metrics, the Irish were considered to be very unlucky last season, so they probably won't go 4-8 again. QB Brandon Wimbush had a nice season opener, throwing 2 TDs. However, some of his passes (3 by my count) could have easily been picked off by Temple's defense. Notre Dame should be bowl-eligible this year, but is that enough to save HC Brian Kelly's job? Maybe their fans will blame "academics" again, even though they still have 4-star recruits all over the field.

Back to poll results >>