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stripes361 Ballot for 2017 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2017, 7:44 p.m.

Overall Rationale: At this point in the season, enough games have been played for me to go back and look at a team's body of work, moving it up or down based on performance. Therefore, teams such as USC, Miami, and LSU took hits to their rankings despite wins based on consistently shaky work. Florida dropped out of the rankings entirely, even after a 1-point win against Kentucky. The one thing that "resume voters" will object to in my rankings more than dropping teams after wins is the inclusion of Florida State at #17. If your philosophy of rankings dictates that wins and losses have to be a top priority, then there is no rationale I can offer you other than that my philosophy is fundamentally different. These rankings are meant to be predictive and I would bet on Florida State in a neutral-site game against any of the teams listed below them. That being said, the onus is on them to justify this ranking next week against Wake Forest. I will be following their performance carefully.

Rank Team Reason
1 Oklahoma Sooners The Sooners had their first shaky performance of the season against Baylor. Keeping them at #1 for now on the basis of their strong previous performances but their defense needs to show improvement during the heart of conference play to stay there.
2 Clemson Tigers Clemson could be a worthy #1 right now as well. It will be interesting to see whether their offense will perform at a high level against Virginia Tech this weekend. I'd like to see them improve over their stagnant performance against Auburn.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama returned to dominant form last weekend after a couple of lackluster weeks. If Saban is getting them into midseason form, they might roll unopposed through the SEC West.
4 Washington Huskies Washington had one of the best wins of the weekend, crushing a solid Colorado team 37-10 on the road. The loss of Chico McClatcher could prove to be quite damaging, though.
5 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State barely survived a tough challenge from Iowa. They did, however, dominate the game statistically, with a 579-273 advantage in total yards and a 29-11 edge in first downs.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State's defense looked great against UNLV, despite the 21 points showing for the Rebels on the final scoreline. However, the opponent was so bad that it is hard to draw any conclusions from this outcome.
7 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia has a road win against a Notre Dame squad which has crept into my Top 20 and now a masterclass against a Mississippi State squad that I had ranked 10th last week. That's as good a pair of performances as anyone has. If the Bulldogs can continue to get good QB play, they are a playoff-caliber team.
8 Wisconsin Badgers Nothing much to say after a bye week. The Badgers get their first real test of the season this Saturday against Northwestern.
9 TCU Horned Frogs TCU had an impressive road win against Oklahoma State this week. If they have any playoff aspirations, they will need to keep it up as they have one of the most daunting slate of road games in FBS this year.
10 USC Trojans USC turned in their third shaky performance in four games. They got up for the big one against Stanford but have struggled to perform at their peak against Western Michigan, Texas, and Cal. A soft schedule may be saving them thus far.
11 Michigan Wolverines Michigan performed just how I expected: great defense, unintimidating offense. Wouldn't be surprised to see Harbaugh's team remain in this section of the rankings all year. They consistently beat the teams they should and struggle against elite competition.
12 Washington State Cougars Washington State has risen to #12 somewhat through attrition. They have also faced a very weak schedule thus far. Even with the high ranking, I'm skeptical over whether they will keep up with USC on Saturday. A strong defensive showing could solidify them as a Top 15 team.
13 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech has feasted on cupcakes ever since their opening win against West Virginia. The Clemson game will tell us a lot about how much Josh Jackson and the Hokies' offense has actually progressed this year. I project them to struggle for long stretches but for Jackson to show nice flashes of playmaking ability.
14 Auburn Tigers Auburn finally posted a convincing win this week, albeit against a very bad Missouri team. The defense will do fine in SEC play but can the Tigers continue to put up points?
15 Oklahoma State Cowboys I started the Cowboys at #21 in my initial poll because of my concerns with their defense. The TCU game seems to have justified my concerns. The Cowboys need to prove that they can play on both sides of the ball during Big XII play before they will garner any Top 10 consideration from me.
16 Louisville Cardinals Lamar Jackson averaged 13.6 yards per pass attempt on Saturday but it did come against Kent State. The defense finally held a team without a touchdown after allowing 28+ points in each of its first three games. Can they continue to perform on that side of the ball or was this simply an anomaly?
17 Florida State Seminoles If this were a resume poll, Florida State would not be anywhere near my rankings. As it stands, their poor performance against NC State dropped them from 8th to 17th in my poll this week. Another loss to Wake would probably drop them from the rankings entirely. James Blackman did perform well, though, in his first career start.
18 Miami Hurricanes Miami drops three spots after a shaky win against Toledo. The Rockets have a great offense which could make a lot of P5 defenses look bad so this may well be a blip on the radar. That said, I am not buying Miami's defensive prowess until they can prove it on the field.
19 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Michigan State is not as great a win this year as their "brand" would indicate but Notre Dame is two points away from a 4-0 start with wins against several solid opponents. They've looked dominant in their three wins. Overall, this is a highly talented team that has the potential to put together a very good season.
20 Mississippi State Bulldogs It's hard to tell whether the LSU game or the Georgia one is a better indicator of Dan Mullen's squad. Most likely, the truth is in the middle. I still believe in their talent and think they have the ability to beat anyone in the SEC.
21 Duke Blue Devils Duke took care of business against UNC. They weren't great but showed ability on both sides of the ball in a fiery rivalry game. I'm not a huge believer in their "talent level" but David Cutcliffe is making the most of what he has right now. Duke would struggle against the elite but will compete with everyone else that they play.
22 Stanford Cardinal The Cardinal sneak back into my rankings, even jumping JMU and LSU, on the strength of an explosive offensive performance against UCLA. Their defense gave up 595 yards in 23 minutes of play while their pass game is still less than formidable but Bryce Love is the real deal.
23 James Madison Dukes JMU was in a dogfight with Maine this week. Not a good look for an FCS team trying to prove that they're on a different level from their Colonial compatriots. JMU is not in a position to stay ranked just by winning every week. They're going to need to be impressive as well.
24 LSU Tigers LSU looked unconvincing against Syracuse. Had Florida and Oregon played better this week, they would have dropped from the rankings entirely. Tigers' fans are still waiting for Ed Orgeron to deliver a convincing win.
25 NC State Wolfpack Road games in college football are tough and the Wolfpack delivered on Saturday. Based solely on that performance, they could have been ranked much higher. However, their only other tough game was a loss to South Carolina. This may be a case of FSU being vastly overrated without Deondre Francois or a case of NC State playing above their heads for one night. Their looming Thursday night contest against Louisville to kick off the October slate will tell us more.

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