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moistats_ Ballot for 2018 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 4, 2018, 1:13 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Primarily based on result of week 1 match with rigor considered, talent and coaching experience, future schedule, projections of playoffs and conference champions, and polls of week one

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama clearly showed that they are national championship contenders in a neutral-site game against Louisville. The Crimson Tide took the No. 1 spot of my poll since this win looks much stronger than Clemson's home win against Furman, an FCS team. As of now, Clemson is the biggest threat to Alabama since they have slightly more talent.
2 Clemson Tigers Clemson was my preseason No. 1 pick because of their coaching experience, level of talent, and a doable schedule to go to the playoffs. However, due to Alabama having a much stronger win, they decreased to No. 2. If Clemson blows out Texas A&M away next week, they should ride back to being No. 1.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame was one of my most controversial choices in my preseason poll. However, ESPN projected that Notre Dame has the third best chance of making to the playoffs, and being favored for all regular season games. In conjunction with their future schedule being very likable and loads of talent to play, Notre Dame is indeed a dark horse for the playoffs.
4 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin rounded off the top 4 due to their strong win against WKU, a blowout to say the least. The defense was top-notch and their offense was moving the ball quickly. There is so much talent and experience to show from this team that anything below NY6 may be disappointing. My only gripe is their weak OOC schedule, so we'll have to wait until the Big Ten to see what's really up with the Badgers.
5 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia is the only other controversial top 10 pick last week, and rightfully so. This is an unfamiliar spot for the Mountaineers. However, their win against Tennessee looked very dominant to say the least. If Will Grier was the only factor to this team, they would be in the mid-10s. However, that is not the case with this team.
6 USC Trojans USC immediately stole Washington's spot for the Pac-12 champion. This was because I chose them as the runner-up to Washington last week, so I moved them up along with Stanford. The match against UNLV got to a rough start, but the Trojans were able to combat the Rebels in a fine fashion. The result currently sealed the deal for me, but next week against Stanford will be the true test.
7 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma thrashed the fuck out of FAU. I still think it's a complete toss-up between them and West Virginia.
8 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia is stronk, H8 H8 H8. Nothing too notable happened, so they will remain around at the same spot.
9 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State obliterated Oregon State in a better fashion than I expected. The Buckeyes gained my respect for their execution without Urban Meyer.  They are easily my runner-up pick in the Big Ten, for now.
10 Stanford Cardinal Stanford looked very strong against San Diego State. Also, Costello looked respectable in the most valuable position in American football. Arcega, Love, and others could lead Stanford to a very successful year than most people expect. The match against USC next week will determine my Pac-12 pick in the next week.
11 Miami Hurricanes Miami was frustrating to watch to say the least. The Hurricanes threw around loads of talent. Do I still think they can win the ACC Coastal? Yes.
12 Boise State Broncos The performance against Troy only supported my preseason pick of being the G5 representative in the NY6 bowls. However, is Troy really that strong of a team? The Broncos will probably stay around here until the Oklahoma State match in Stillwater.
13 Auburn Tigers Auburn looked fucking hot.
14 TCU Horned Frogs There's not much to say here since it was a dominant win albeit the opponent being an FCS team. It's too early to call where this team really is.
15 Michigan Wolverines Michigan came really close to Notre Dame. However, a loss is a loss and it does not look good right now when the vast majority of top-25 teams are 1-0. Michigan will slowly have to make it up until their match at Northwestern.
16 Washington Huskies See MiamiThe reason why the Huskies dropped harder is because the Pac-12 has much better teams.
17 Michigan State Spartans Ugly win to say the least, but a W is a W
18 Penn State Nittany Lions See Michigan State
19 Memphis Tigers Memphis looked like the team I expected them to be, and I quote "Personally, I ranked Memphis as the 2nd best G5 team as a runner-up to Boise State. Memphis has a good amount of young talent, such as White (QB), Henderson (RB), and Tate (OL). Memphis will be in games that consists of high scores. They will host UCF as well, and the only other team I can see be a threat is Temple for the American championship. They have the schedule to be "G5 champions" and an excellent coach. My only problem is that with first-year coaches, you don't know what the hell they are going to bring in. Hence why I have no first-year head coaches with their respective teams ranked. The Applewhite transition for Houston was...surprising"
20 LSU Tigers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqfzUwJqqZo
21 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech dominated Florida State. However, is Florida State back? No. It's still a respectable win for them to steal one of the spots of two previous teams in my poll last week.
22 Northwestern Wildcats That Purdue win looks strong enough for them to survive my movement in the 20's of my poll. People already said how powerful Northwestern can be so I don't need to say anything. The match against Duke will probably decide who gets to stay in my poll next week.
23 Duke Blue Devils and I quote: "Duke has the exact same situation as Boston College, where they both have loads of talent in spite of a difficult brand to sell. As you can see here, Duke has a running-back, a wide-receiver, and a quarterback all on award watch-list nominations. In addition, Cutcliffe carried this university to a consistent, good football organization. Cutcliffe's tenure at Duke seem to have a specific pace, particularly the first two years with rebuilding, and the last two with executing. Given Duke's doable schedule, with the toughest opponents being at Northwestern and at Clemson, I expect them to do really good this year."
24 North Texas Mean Green WOW how come no one is talking about their win against SMU? The Mean Green is 6-31-1 all-time against the Mustangs after this win away. Shit! They looked a more respectable team than FAU did, for now. These were one of the G5 teams I considered in my top three because of Littrell and the amount of talent this team has. Arkansas, watch out.
25 Boston College Eagles Rounds off the top 25 and pasts Utah as well as Oklahoma State, since they pounded an FBS team instead of an FCS team

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