Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 4, 2018, 7:52 a.m.

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	Nick Saban is a scary man, with scary players. Until they stumble, Alabama will always get early season #1 from me.
2	Clemson Tigers	Loaded D-line and weak Florida schools means that Clemson should have no problem winning the conference. The only trouble here is deciding between the QB that got them to the playoffs last year or someone who might be even better.
3	Georgia Bulldogs
4	Oklahoma Sooners	Either FAU really regressed, or Oklahoma is going to be VERY good this year
5	Auburn Tigers	At this point, Auburn looks to have the best single win on their resume. The defense looks completely stacked, and Stidham learned how to not take 11 sacks in week 1.
6	Ohio State Buckeyes	Coaching controversies or not, this team has good coordinators and good players. It shows in an easy week 1.
7	Wisconsin Badgers
8	LSU Tigers	Either Miami regressed, or LSU is dominant. Time will tell, but for now LSU gets the benefit of the doubt.
9	West Virginia Mountaineers	It was only Tennessee, but I can see where the hype about Will Grier and Co. is coming from.
10	USC Trojans
11	TCU Horned Frogs
12	Stanford Cardinal
13	Boise State Broncos	Troy has been quietly very good for a few years now. Boise State may have undone all of that progress in one game.
14	Washington Huskies	The only team in my top 25 with a loss. I decided to still rank them because I don't think the game forces me to change any of my priors. Washington played Auburn close. They still have good odds of winning the PAC-12. The defense and Myles Gaskin both showed flashes. Nothing about a 5-point loss to a top 5/10 team (in what was essentially an Auburn home game) should cause us to say Washington is unworthy of ranking. By the way, I was at this game and Washington fans were lovely.
15	UCF Knights
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	Bud Foster does it again.
17	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
18	Oklahoma State Cowboys
19	Iowa Hawkeyes
20	Mississippi State Bulldogs
21	Oregon Ducks
22	Northwestern Wildcats
23	Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors	The whole team in the country to go 2-0. The Colorado State win looks less good now, but a win over Navy is always respectable.
24	Toledo Rockets
25	Memphis Tigers

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	0.00
2	Clemson Tigers	0.00
3	Georgia Bulldogs	0.00
4	Oklahoma Sooners	0.00
5	Auburn Tigers	0.00
6	Ohio State Buckeyes	0.00
7	Wisconsin Badgers	0.00
8	LSU Tigers	0.09
9	West Virginia Mountaineers	0.30
10	USC Trojans	0.64
11	TCU Horned Frogs	0.39
12	Stanford Cardinal	0.00
13	Boise State Broncos	0.73
14	Washington Huskies	0.00
15	UCF Knights	0.00
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	0.00
17	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	-2.31
18	Oklahoma State Cowboys	0.33
19	Iowa Hawkeyes	2.51
20	Mississippi State Bulldogs	0.00
21	Oregon Ducks	0.00
22	Northwestern Wildcats	0.00
23	Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors	0.00
24	Toledo Rockets	1.03
25	Memphis Tigers	0.00

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
Penn State Nittany Lions	1.47
Michigan State Spartans	1.24
Michigan Wolverines	0.39
Miami Hurricanes	0.16

Total Score: 11.59