Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 20, 2018, 9:45 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Pre-season rankings were based off of last years total wins.  The team with the highest number of wins gets first, everyone else gets placed based on where I felt the team was this year.  Since this is pre-season and will have NO bearing on my regular season votes, this was an opportunity to give last year's great teams a shout out.  What you will not find in these rankings:  Teams ranked based off of what players they got, what media outlets think they will do or what fans want them to do.  This pre-season poll strictly rewards on field performance and since there were 26 teams that got double digit wins, one of those teams has to be left out.  Sorry Army.

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	UCF Knights	Only undefeated team of 2017.  They were 13-0 and earned preseason top marks because of it. 
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	13-1
3	Wisconsin Badgers	13-1
4	Georgia Bulldogs	13-2
5	Clemson Tigers	12-2
6	Oklahoma Sooners	12-2
7	Ohio State Buckeyes	12-2
8	Penn State Nittany Lions	11-2
9	Boise State Broncos	11-3 (Go Broncos!)
10	Troy Trojans	11-2 
11	TCU Horned Frogs	11-3
12	USC Trojans	11-3
13	FAU Owls	11-3
14	Toledo Rockets	11-3
15	Washington Huskies	10-3
16	Auburn Tigers	10-4
17	San Diego State Aztecs	10-3
18	Fresno State Bulldogs	10-4
19	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	10-3
20	Oklahoma State Cowboys	10-3
21	Michigan State Spartans	10-3
22	Memphis Tigers	10-3
23	Miami Hurricanes	10-3
24	USF Bulls	10-2
25	Northwestern Wildcats	10-3

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	UCF Knights	2.47
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	0.00
3	Wisconsin Badgers	0.30
4	Georgia Bulldogs	0.00
5	Clemson Tigers	-1.40
6	Oklahoma Sooners	0.00
7	Ohio State Buckeyes	0.00
8	Penn State Nittany Lions	0.00
9	Boise State Broncos	2.75
10	Troy Trojans	15.04
11	TCU Horned Frogs	0.42
12	USC Trojans	0.15
13	FAU Owls	5.71
14	Toledo Rockets	11.11
15	Washington Huskies	-1.62
16	Auburn Tigers	-1.50
17	San Diego State Aztecs	8.03
18	Fresno State Bulldogs	7.10
19	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	-0.92
20	Oklahoma State Cowboys	0.00
21	Michigan State Spartans	-1.54
22	Memphis Tigers	2.94
23	Miami Hurricanes	-2.37
24	USF Bulls	0.87
25	Northwestern Wildcats	0.00

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
Michigan Wolverines	1.72
Stanford Cardinal	2.13
West Virginia Mountaineers	0.62
Mississippi State Bulldogs	0.68
Virginia Tech Hokies	0.75
Florida State Seminoles	0.51
LSU Tigers	0.32
Texas Longhorns	0.00

Total Score: 72.96