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Bukowskified Ballot for 2017 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 17, 2017, 10:23 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Bama gets the nod for number 1 with one of the top wins so far over Florida State. Their schedule this season is shaping up to look fairly easy (for a national title contender), so undefeated should be the goal here.
2 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma takes the number 2 spot with a week 2 win over Ohio State. Baker Mayfield should be able to take Oklahoma to an undefeated season at this rate, which would lock in a number 1 or 2 ranking.
3 Clemson Tigers Clemson got narrowly edged out by Oklahoma but will settle in the playoff race at number 3. Kudos to Dabo and the boys for picking up two wins over ranked opponents early, but lack of offensive production against Auburn shows that this might not be the same offense as the playoff winners last year. Still sitting in good shape moving forward with UL in their rearview mirror.
4 Michigan Wolverines Number 4 was a tough call. Michigan, USC, Penn St, and Washington all are very close and none really have a key win to hang their hat on yet. Michigan gets the nod for a dominate defensive performance against Florida in week 1.
5 USC Trojans USC just barely falls behind Michigan to the number 5 spot. An early win over Stanford will probably look better at the end of the year than Michigan's win over Florida, but a narrow victory over a struggling Texas team just pulls them down. A conference winner in the P5 is going to get left out of the playoff, and right now its looking like the PAC-12 is going to get snubbed.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State gets the number 6 spot over Washington with dominating performances so far. No notable teams played so far, but all the players can do is beat the team on the field and they have done by a combined total of 141-14.
7 Washington Huskies Washington looks the part at number 7, but have the same issue as Penn State in not playing anyone good yet. Conference play in the PAC-12 isn't going to do them any favors with impressive wins, so they will need to continue dominating
8 Oklahoma State Cowboys Filling out the bottom 3 spots in the top 10 are another close 3 teams. Oklahoma State will edge out Ohio State, and Wisconsin for the number 8 spot. Ok State has shown great offense so far, and picked up a decent win over Pitt. They are on the outside looking in for the playoff race, but a win over Oklahoma would put them in the driver's seat.
9 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State just barely missed out to Oklahoma St, due to their loss last week to Oklahoma. This team looks like they will head into a week 9 match up against Penn State with only the Oklahoma loss, but will need to win out to be in the playoff conversation.
10 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin has walked through three victories so far into the number 10 spot. No real chances for a signature win until they play Michigan late in the season, so they will need to continue dominating to stay high in the rankings.
11 Florida State Seminoles Hurricanes have kept the Noles off the field since their week 1 loss to Alabama. It's hard to rank them since we have a sample size of one, and they lost a playmaker at QB. We will know how good this team really is in a few weeks.
12 Georgia Bulldogs The SEC East is Georgia's to lose after Tennessee's loss to Florida this weekend. An emotional win over Notre Dame did nothing to slow the Dawgs down this week. Mississippi State looks to be a good challenge this week, to see how good this team really is.
13 Virginia Tech Hokies A big win for the state of Virginia in week 1 followed by dominating defense gives Virginia Tech the number 13 spot. They will get another scrub game before getting a chance to play with the big boys against Clemson.
14 Washington State Cougars Washington State jumps to number 14 after raining down 6  passing TDs last week. Expect to see a shootout in a few weeks against USC.
15 Louisville Cardinals Louisville stays in the top 15 with the number 15 spot after a loss to Clemson. Jackson will still get to shine the rest of the season, and this team will get a chance to climb the rankings with a game against Florida State in a few weeks.
16 TCU Horned Frogs TCU keeps climbing to number 16 with a win over SMU. The offense kept piling on points after falling down early. Next week we will see how good this team is against Oklahoma State.
17 Miami Hurricanes Miami is another tough team to rank since they have been sidelined due to weather for two weeks. They will get a warmup game before starting ACC play, when we will get to learn about the Canes.
18 Mississippi State Bulldogs Huge win for the Bulldogs over LSU gets this team to number 18. The next two weeks against Georgia and Auburn will give this team a chance to jump up in to the top 15 or higher if they can continue to compete.
19 LSU Tigers LSU drops down to number 19 after getting held to 7 points in Starksville. We learned from Miles that not having a QB play just won't get the job done. The offense needs to figure something out before traveling to Florida in a few weeks.
20 West Virginia Mountaineers The offense has stepped it up since the week 1 loss to Virginia Tech, but East Carolina and Delaware State aren't going to impress anyone this year. WVU should get a shot to climb with a game against TCU in three weeks.
21 Oregon Ducks Oregon's offense continues to look good as they grab the number 21 spot. They will need to show the ability to stop good teams before they can start climbing.
22 California Golden Bears They haven't been pretty, but props to Cal for getting two OOC P5 wins this early in the season. They get a chance to upset USC next, but will be a big underdog at home.
23 Florida Gators Florida and Georgia will again be battling it out for the SEC East thanks to a Hail Mary against Tennessee. After two games it is clear that Florida has a major problem on the offensive side of the ball. Without answers on that side of the ball, they will be on upset alert against Kentucky.
24 San Diego State Aztecs Undefeated with two OOC P5 wins gets the Aztecs a spot in my top 25. Even undefeated the Aztecs will struggle to stay in the rankings, but they get the spot this week.
25 Kentucky Wildcats Filling out the top 25 is Kentucky at number 25. Technically they are in the driver's seat of their destiny in the SEC Easy, but expect offensive struggles against Florida.

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