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T-Thugs Ballot for 2017 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2017, 8:32 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers Reigning champs struggled early, but finished with a big win. I still feel like wins over Auburn and Louisville are the most impressive combo of wins. Also, Clemson still is the champ.
2 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama looked completely dominant over what I thought was a pretty good Vanderbilt team. I might have moved Alabama to number 1 this week, but Florida State got beat again and that win seems a little less impressive.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Just laid a beatdown on Mississippi State, a week after Miss St crushed LSU. Also, their win over Notre Dame is looking more impressive after ND dominated Michigan State. 
4 Oklahoma Sooners Their win over Ohio State will hold a lot of weight all year. The rest of their schedule so far really isn't worth mentioning, though. Struggled a little bit with Baylor this weekend. I still have them very high, though. 
5 Michigan Wolverines Somehow, Florida keeps winning. That puts Michigan's win over Florida as a solid win. This weekend, they beat a Purdue team that is significantly better than they were last year (although still Purdue).
6 USC Trojans Win over Cal this weekend was pretty solid. Also have a win over Stanford. Big game against Washington State this weekend. 
7 TCU Horned Frogs Really big win over Oklahoma State this weekend. That win puts them in a big position for Big 12 and playoff contention. Also have wins over SMU and Arkansas. 
8 Washington Huskies Washington looked completely dominant on the road over Colorado. Also have a win over Rutgers. They should have an easy win this week over Oregon State before jumping into the heart of their schedule. 
9 San Diego State Aztecs Wins over Stanford and Arizona State. Both wins looks better this week after their victories over Oregon and Stanford. I think SDSU will slowly slide down my rankings in the coming weeks since everyone is playing conference schedules now. 
10 Penn State Nittany Lions They weren't super impressive in their win over Iowa, but they have been dominant in their other games, and pulling out a win in a tough road atmosphere is always big. They should be 6-0 heading into their games against Michigan and Ohio State. 
11 Virginia Tech Hokies Win over West Virginia keeps them here. A win over Clemson this week would send them way up the rankings. 
12 Duke Blue Devils None of their opponents are especially impressive, but they are 4-0 and 3 of their 4 wins are against P5 teams. Won on the road at NC this weekend. Huge matchup next week against Miami. 
13 Florida Gators Florida pulled off another win. Also, kudos to Florida for being 2-1 while only playing p5 teams. Got a solid win over Kentucky this weekend. Gators are currently my top 1 loss team. 
14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Went to East Lansing and absolutely dominated the Spartans this weekend. I have ND on top of teams like Louisville and Ohio State since I think this win is better than their wins. The quality of their losses are similar. 
15 Louisville Cardinals Only loss is to Clemson. I would have them above ND, but their win over North Carolina means very little as UNC is 1-3. Their win over Purdue was okay, but I'm counting ND's win over Michigan State as better.
16 USF Bulls Bulls completely dominated Temple. The bulls are a scoring machine, but their schedule lacks quality opponents. 
17 Washington State Cougars Wassu is undefeated, but lacks some of the quality wins. They have a huge matchup with USC this coming weekend. A win their could jump them up the rankings. 
18 Utah Utes Undefeated. Lacking quality wins. They have a week off before playing Stanford and USC. 
19 Mississippi State Bulldogs They got crushed by Ohio State this week, but they still have a really impressive win over LSU. 
20 Auburn Tigers Lost a really close game to Clemson. They lack real quality in their wins, though, so I don't have them higher yet. They play Mississippi State nest weekend, and the winner should move up in my poll a decent amount.
21 Ohio State Buckeyes Only loss is to Oklahoma. They haven't really beaten anyone impressive, though. I think they are better than this, but I'm waiting to move them up until they get wins over quality teams. 
22 Minnesota Golden Gophers Much like Washington State, lacks the quality in wins but they are currently undefeated. Matchup with Maryland next week. 
23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Undefeated, lacking quality wins. They play Florida State next week. 
24 Wisconsin Badgers Undefeated, but haven't really played anyone. 
25 NC State Wolfpack I couldn't figure out what to do with NC state. They have a pretty bad loss to South Carolina, but they did go on the road and beat Florida State. I'm using that win as my basis for putting them here. 

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