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VerySeriousBanana Ballot for 2018 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 16, 2018, 10:08 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Teams exiting my poll: #13 Hawaii, #18 TCU, #19 Boise State, #24 Arizona State, and #25 Oregon. Teams entering my poll: #21 Oklahoma State, #22 Syracuse, #23 California, #24 Duke, and #25 Buffalo.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Bama dominated Ole Miss, except for the first play from scrimmage. They remain my clear #1.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia's beatdown of my Blue Raiders was expected. They're a solid #2 in my book.
3 Clemson Tigers Clemson beat Georgia Southern and despite some shakiness remain a top tier team in my book.
4 Penn State Nittany Lions The Nittany Lions have shaken the first week's jitters and looked dominant since then. I think I may be underrating Penn State. I'll have a chance to see them in person at the end of the year, and if they beat OSU, I think they could be #2 or higher at that time.
5 Ohio State Buckeyes A huge win over TCU is enough to bump up the Buckeyes a few spots in my poll. Though it was a close win, OSU certainly looked like the better team during it.
6 LSU Tigers The win over Auburn shows that LSU is one of the best teams in the country this year. Now, will they keep winning? I'm going to say yes, they will.
7 Oklahoma Sooners The game at Iowa State always seems to cause problems for the Sooners. Though it wasn't a loss, it almost was. The top ten teams in my poll are all (except Alabama) very close together, so their struggles against a now 0-2 team drop them just enough to fall a few spots.
8 Stanford Cardinal Stanford also struggled against - against an FCS opponent. They drop a few spots for this reason but remain a quality team to me.
9 Auburn Tigers The loss to LSU wasn't as bad as it could've been. Losing to a Top 10 team on a late FG doesn't drop the Tigers very far.
10 Virginia Tech Hokies No comment.
11 Washington Huskies Defense is the Huskies' calling card this week. Offensively they looked... not so great.
12 Miami Hurricanes Miami back to winning against FBS teams in a dominant win over Toledo on the road. Extra points for traveling to northwest Ohio for the game.
13 Mississippi State Bulldogs Another dominant win for the Bulldogs. Not much to say here.
14 West Virginia Mountaineers No comment.
15 North Texas Mean Green Total annihilation of another team this week. And who was it? The Arkansas Razorbacks. Not as impressive a win as it might seem, but the way in which UNT did it was. The Mean Green dominated every phase of the game.
16 Boston College Eagles The Eagles beat a quality Wake Forest team on the road and played from ahead for the entire game. Resilience in a close game is a good sign for BC. I think they're underrated here.
17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Really? Almost lost to Vanderbilt this week after nearly losing to Ball State... who got crushed by the Hoosiers... Not feeling good about ND. They've got chances to change my mind, but the Irish haven't done anything other than squeak to wins lately.
18 UCF Knights No comment.
19 Michigan Wolverines A win over SMU moves the Wolverines up in my poll. It would've been more, if the win had been more dominant. I've still got questions about how good UofM is this year.
20 Wisconsin Badgers A loss to BYU hurts. It hurts even more given that the game was a home game in Camp Randall Stadium. Not promising for the Big Ten West if this is the best they have to offer.
21 Oklahoma State Cowboys Cowboys leap into my poll after dominating Boise State at home. I think the Pokes could easily compete for the Big 12 title this year, especially if they can catch Oklahoma during an off week like ISU nearly did.
22 Syracuse Orange Syracuse's beatdown of Florida State was a sight to behold. I think the Orange may not be ready to knock Clemson off their ledge quite yet, but they seem to be heading in that direction.
23 California Golden Bears Cal's win on the road at BYU is looking more impressive. Their game was domination against Idaho State. They seem to be the second-best team in California so far this year.
24 Duke Blue Devils Not too much to say here. Duke just keeps on winning, and winning in surprisingly dominant fashion. Their game at Baylor wasn't even close.
25 Buffalo Bulls Buffalo's win over Eastern Michigan means the Bulls remain undefeated. The real question is how they'll look at Rutgers this weekend. I'm thinking I may head to the game and see them myself.

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