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Extra_Excrement Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2017, 6:54 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I just want to preface my poll with this. I understand that it's early season and that a team's identity in the first few weeks usually completely changes as the season goes on. Injuries happen, new players step up to achieve star status, and players generally get over their jitters. Great teams can look more vulnerable at this time of year. I'm not one to punish a team for winning an "ugly game" unless it's an absolutely horrendous performance (i.e. Auburn - Jacksonville State or Georgia - Nicolls State). With all of that said, I lowered the rankings of some teams that won their games in week one. This is mostly because I was uncomfortable with parts of my ballot after I submitted it. Sure, teams like USC didn't perform up to expectations but I've already covered that there are many factors that could be affecting that. The real reason I'm dropping a few of victorious teams is that I was uncomfortable with ranking them that high in the first place. Also I'm sorry about all of my grammar/spelling errors and notes that don't make too much sense. I can't edit my reasons on my phone and I don't know why so I'm afraid you'll have to deal with it this week.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Do I really have to have a reason for ranking Alabama this high? They were coming into the season #1 and they defeated FSU in a top-5 matchup. They're staying put.I will point out that they need to capitalize on opportunities more on offense. Not every team will turnover the ball so many times in their own territory. Maybe this just speaks more to how great FSU's defense was.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes It was starting to lookalike 2007 again with #2 down to Indiana in the third quarter. However, in classic Ohio State fashion they pulled away after keeping it close for nearly 75% of the game. Even with Indiana's one-handed magician catches, they were unable to upset the Buckeyes. Dobbins looked incredible and Weber's return will certainly add to a run-game that already looks dominant. 
3 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State had one of the more dominant games of week one. Shutting out an FBS opponent is impressive no matter it is. I'm not sure if Penn State can pull off consecutive victories over OSU but if anyone can stop the Buckeyes short of the playoffs it's Penn State.
4 Clemson Tigers Clemson's chances at a third straight ACC title increased after the FSU - Alabama game. Bryant seem to be a solid QB after one game but we'll see how he performs against tougher defenses (VT and FSU). Speaking of defense, Clemson's is what will truly win them games. I'm a Wilkins fan.
5 USC Trojans USC's performance against Western Michigan was less than stellar but they're still frontrunners for the Pac-12. A lot of the hype for Darnold fizzled out but I have confidence that he'll bounce back.
6 Oklahoma State Cowboys I, as well as many other r/cfb users, am high on OkSt this season. Mason Rudolph will put up big numbers (partly because he's good and partly because of Big-12 defense). Their game against Oklahoma will decide the best of the Big-12 as both teams are likely to be undefeated in conference at that point.
7 Washington Huskies Do not sleep on Petersen and the Huskies. USC may be the Pac-12 favorite but Washington is right behind them. Browning returns to make a run for the Heisman. His job is certainly easier with Gaskin coming back too. Their defense might not live up to last year's performance but I think they'll remain as one of the best in the west.
8 Florida State Seminoles Dropping FSU too much would be criminole (sorry). They lost to the best team in the country. I don't think dropping them too much is the right thing to do. Their defense is stout and at times their offense was rolling over Alabama. Akers looked solid. Unfortunately, their offense took a hit when Francois went down. With him out for the season, there are big question marks surrounding their offense. Luckily for Blackman most ACC defense won't give him as much trouble as Alabama.If FSU can fix their special teams I think they still have a solid shot.
9 Wisconsin Badgers Similarly to Ohio State, USC, and Washington, Wisconsin was having trouble early with an opponent that they're clearly better than. That didn't last long as the Badgers went on a 59-0 streak to end the game. Wisconsin is clearly the favorite for the B1G - West.
10 Oklahoma Sooners Baker Mayfield deserves all the hype he gets but I'm not too sold on the team as a whole yet. Ohio State's vaunted "basic defense" gave the Sooners fits last year. With Mixon, Westbrook, and Perine gone we'll see if Riley can get the offense prepared for a huge week two matchup. The Buckeyes showed weakness in their secondary so I expect Mayfield to try to expose that.
11 Michigan Wolverines Michigan lost a ton of players but I expect Harbaugh to coach his team well enough into possibly a top 10 finish. Speight needs to be more consistent if Michigan wants a shot at the B1G title or at defeating their rivals for the first time in years. You can't gift most teams 14 points and expect to comeback. It's a good thing that Florida's offense only scored three points on their own. Still, another win over Florida (the likely SEC East Champion) is an achievement.
12 Auburn Tigers Auburn's defense will likely be their strong-point down the road. Similarly to their last few seasons, their offense is worth questioning. The fans seem to believe in Stidham. Their offense will almost certainly be an improvement over last season's barring injuries and Malzahn's QB games. The Tigers/War Eagles are poised to finish second in the SEC West.
13 LSU Tigers LSU finally knows what it's like to keep the other team from crossing midfield. The offense seems to be leagues better than this time last year and Etling + Guice will continue to perform well. As I said earlier, shutting out any FBS program is impressive but shutting out BYU is even more impressive.
14 Stanford Cardinal Stanford won in a blowout game over a team that could quite possibly finish in the bottom 10. I'm glad that I didn't pay to watch this game  live. Sorry Australia! It's kind of silly how their next game is against USC. I'm reserving judgment on Stanford until this matchup. If Stanford wins, expect the polls to trebuchet (superior to catapult) them into the top 10.
15 Virginia Tech Hokies Jackson was impressive in a big win over the Mountaineers. Either Tom Brady has extremely soothing words or Jackson is really as good as he looks. The offense still seems to be efficient even with the loss of Evans, Ford, and Hodges. I expected nothing less from Fuente. However, I would like to see some more protection for the QB. That and better pass-rushing. It seemed like Grier got almost no pressure after the first quarter.
16 Georgia Bulldogs The Bulldogs looked solid in a win over App State (likely Sun Belt Champions). App State returned plenty of starters on both sides of the ball yet would've gotten shutout if not for Mountaineer MVP Ramsey. Most UGA fans knew that the defense would be the strongest part of the team but expectations were still very high for the offense. In Chaney's second year, he gets to work with Eason, Michel, Chubb, Nauta, and many other talented players. Unfortunately, Eason's injury adds uncertainty to the mix. The offensive line looks slightly improved so Chubb and Michel should have more fun than last year. The week two game against ND will tell us how poised Jake Fromm truly is.
17 Miami Hurricanes Mark Richt has always been a solid recruiter and now we get to see him perform with some of his own recruits. Richt has brought life into the program but the ACC is no joke. Miami could make the ACCCG or just as easily succumb to #CoastalChaos.
18 Kansas State Wildcats Bill Snyder is a wizard. Kansas State is still riding the momentum after last season and have the potential to make a run for the Big 12. Jesse Ertz had his best game as QB for the Wildcats.
19 Louisville Cardinals They nearly stumbled against Purdue but they still have the talent to win some big games and maybe upset one of FSU and Clemson. Fumbling twice deep in Purdue territory, numerous penalties, and losing Jaire Alexander certainly didn't help. Fortunately is sounds like Alexander avoided a major injury. I feel like people have already forgotten about Lamar Jackson? When you have a clutch QB you can squeak out of ugly games and still have a shot at winning bigger ones.
20 West Virginia Mountaineers Grier still has it. He lit up VT's defense and that was with some deep-ball accuracy issues. If he connected a few of those bombs then WVU could've won by multiple scores. The Mountaineers also failed to convert a critical 4th down in the first half that could've completely changed the game. I expect this offense to have no trouble with most of the Big 12. The defense was able to get plenty of pressure on Jackson. If they keep that kind of pressure up they're likely to end up with many turnovers in their favor in the future.
21 TCU Horned Frogs After a disastrous weekend for the state of Texas, TCU gets to sit back and relax. Laugh all you want at those other teams, Horned Frogs! You guys handled your game with ease and reserve the right to own the title of Best Team in Texas.
22 USF Bulls USF is really the only team that I punished for their first two performances. I was on the hype train long before the season started. What's not to be excited about? Flowers is very talented and Strong could potentially bring P5 head coaching experience into USF. That excitement was before watching their last two games. I can forgive a slow start against San Jose State but beating Stonybrook by two scores is nothing to feel comfortable about. I'm still picking USF to win their conference and reach a NY6 bowl but they really need to start playing better and faster for all 60 minutes. A slow start against some of the other American teams is a sure-fire way to lose.
23 Colorado Buffaloes I wasn't very confident in placing Colorado in my week one ballot. Honestly, I was considering placing Utah in their spot. Colorado State looked good against the Beavers and I figured that Colorado would lose to the Rams. I was wrong. Losing Sefo may not matter too much since they didn't even have him playing all of last year. After their game against Colorado State, twitter and r/cfb alike cried the tears of Ref-ball victims. Controversy aside, they still beat Bobo's CSU team. Winter is coming but the Buffs are cozy in the top 25 for now. No need to pay the gas bill because Texas's dumpster fire is supplying enough heat to keep the ranked teams content.
24 Florida Gators I know that the gators will somehow drop 35 points on Georgia in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Aside from that one potential performance, their offense is a reason to give other SEC East schools hope. They couldn't score, they couldn't run, and although their defense is good they won't be able to bail the whole team out of losses this year. McElwain needs to deliver on his offensive promises or things will get worse for the SEC East favorites.
25 Washington State Cougars Luke Falk leads the Cougars into their third consecutive year of being ranked in the AP poll. Unfortunately they haven't finished out the seasons ranked. I think they'll drop games to Washington, USC, and Stanford but I wouldn't be too shocked if they beat at least one of those teams. I think they beat Boise St in week two to have a nice start to their season.

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