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hokies220 Ballot for 2017 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 4, 2017, 11:44 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I'm sure I'll be on the controversial list so here's a few things about my grading criteria.It's early in the season and the majority of teams have only played one game. If a team has lost their only game, it doesn't matter who beat them, I won't rank them. If 100% of the data available at this point in the season is a loss then that's that.If a team's only win is against FCS then I won't rank them yet.Until we have more games played I have to make certain assumptions about teams because there's not enough that's known yet.A P5 team beating a P5 team is bestA G5 team beating a P5 team is nextA P5 team beating a G5 team is nextA G5 team beating a G5 team is nextSo. Each P5 that won a game against a P5 opponent in week 1 is ranked. (12 teams) Other teams that are assumed to be good that played well against either assumed to be decent G5 teams or showed utter dominance against G5 teams are mixed in.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Each week I will make my top 4 who I would put in the playoff if it started right now. Bama looked like the same Bama
2 Michigan Wolverines I value their win over Florida, albeit a half suspended Florida, higher than Ohio State over Indiana. Note, my top four will always be four teams from different conferences barring extreme circumstances.
3 Oklahoma State Cowboys I think Tulsa is a better win than OU > UTEP even though both were utterly dominant.
4 Virginia Tech Hokies I'm probably going to get hammered for homerism for this, but I think the win over WVU was a better win than Washington/Cal/Clemson had. My poll is very reactionary early on and this will change as VT plays an FCS team in week 2. 
5 LSU Tigers Defense was terrifying and they'd be my first team out right now simply because I believe FSU is much better than BYU.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Indiana torched them through the air and they had a bit of a slow start, but they took off in the second half in a big way and already have a conference win.
7 Oklahoma Sooners Just utterly demolished UTEP which was expected and might not tell us too much, but week two at the Shoe will.
8 Penn State Nittany Lions Everything seemed to work well and they destroyed what is likely a middle of the pack MAC team.
9 Washington Huskies Struggled a little on the road against what is either a much improved Rutgers team, or this is a big cause for concern. Won comfortably though and the defense did well.
10 Maryland Terrapins Went on the road and punched a (likely) very overrated Texas team in the mouth repeatedly. Won by 10, but easily could've been more as Texas scored 14 non offensive points. The Terp defense could be good, and the offense seemed just fine. Still very reactionary I know.
11 Clemson Tigers Only this far down because of my perceived weakness of Kent State. Otherwise everything looked great on both sides of the ball.
12 Wisconsin Badgers Really slow start, but turned it on in the second half. 
13 UCLA Bruins Holy comeback, Batman. That run defense was atrocious, but Rosen lit it the fuck up on offense. Even if they are overrated here they deserve it after that second half.
14 Georgia Bulldogs I, along with probably many others, expected App State to make this a closer game and UGA looked great.
15 Colorado Buffaloes Might be overselling CSU, but that Buffs defense looked fantastic regardless.
16 Stanford Cardinal Killed Rice. Love run ball good. 
17 California Golden Bears Went to the opposite coast for an early game as the underdog and won. And really looked pretty good at times. If they could've scored off the turnovers it would've been a blowout.
18 Tennessee Volunteers I was high on GT before and maybe that's my bad. Dormady to Callaway looks deadly though and they ended up winning a game they trailed throughout. We'll see whether the run defense is that bad or whether it was just GT's unique offense that tore through them.
19 Louisville Cardinals Well Lamar Jackson is still amazing. The rest of the team maybe not so much. 
20 Boise State Broncos Troy returned a lot of starters and many, including me, favored them to win the Sunbelt. Then Boise held them to ~200 yards and 13 points so the defense should be a big benefit in the MW this year.
21 USC Trojans WMU was fantastic last year, and still has talent on the roster. But if you're supposed to be a top five team you shouldn't have a close game at home against them.
22 Auburn Tigers Defense looked godly, but it was Georgia Southern. 
23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Perhaps Temple really slides back without Rhule and ND is just overrated as they often are. I considered putting Vanderbilt here as well.
24 South Carolina Gamecocks Close win at a neutral site, but they looked better than most people expected. 
25 Navy Midshipmen Giving Navy the nod here over USF because they didn't struggle, and just as a tiny bit of compensation for those that stayed there until 2AM in Kiffin's rain delay debut.

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