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GenialGiant Ballot for 2018 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 24, 2018, 5:49 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I considered switching to a hybrid ballot this week, but I'm working on a new computer model (which uses scores instead of wins as its observations) and didn't think I'd be able to get that version ready in time, so I'm putting that off until next week (or possibly the week after). When I do introduce the model, I'll be pretty generous with my tolerances to start, but will slowly shrink them over time. For this week's poll, I had a bit of difficulty with 21 and on, but I think I'm happy with the overall result. First N Out - Buffalo, North Texas, and Oregon

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama looks close to unstoppable this season after another rout.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia defeated previously-unranked Missouri and maintains its second-place positions.
3 Clemson Tigers Clemson looked good in their win over GT, but Ohio State is challenging their position.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State has looked great up until now, but they'll face their hardest challenge so far when they travel to Penn State.
5 LSU Tigers LSU didn't look as good as they could have in their win over Louisiana Tech, but they still hold on to a spot in the top five.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State had a bit of a slow start against Illinois, especially on defense, but the Lions put the Illini away for good mid-way through the third quarter and now await a visit from the Buckeyes.
7 Stanford Cardinal A late comeback fueled Stanford's win over a decent Oregon team as the Cardinal remain undefeated.
8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish A new quarterback and a return to top 10 form for Notre Dame after a couple substandard weeks.
9 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma needed overtime to save them from a loss to Army; the Sooners may have preferred the game to have not been televised at all.
10 Auburn Tigers Auburn, the highest-ranked one-loss team, claims the last spot in the top 10 after defeating woe-begotten Arkansas.
11 Washington Huskies Washington held Herm and the Sun totally not Devils at bay and continue their slow climb after an early-season letdown.
12 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia defeated an over-matched Kansas State and sees a decent jump following the losses of several teams above them.
13 Miami Hurricanes Miami's win over FIU was far more dominant than the final score indicates; they rise in part due to this and also because of three losses above them.
14 Wisconsin Badgers Kinnick at night is never easy, but the Badgers managed to put together a win, complete with a garbage time touchdown to seal the deal.
15 Duke Blue Devils Duke beat up on an FCS foe and remain undefeated as they enter conference play.
16 Syracuse Orange Perhaps surprisingly, Syracuse enters their game against Clemson tied for first in the ACC with the Tigers, as the Orange look to repeat last year's upset performance.
17 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky defeated a very good Mississippi State squad and moves to 4-0, officially entering my poll for the first time this season.
18 UCF Knights UCF has the misfortune of playing some mediocre to wretched teams, so they don't see a huge jump here despite their win over FAU.
19 BYU Cougars BYU still holds one of the better wins this season and continues to slowly climb in the rankings.
20 Texas Longhorns Well I'll be; I didn't rank the Longhorns in the preseason, but I am now, following a win over TCU.
21 Michigan Wolverines I'm still not sold on the Michigan hype (this is only the second week I've had them in my top 25), but they've been putting up convincing wins, so back on the list they go.
22 Texas Tech Red Raiders Despite an early-season loss to Ole Miss, Texas Tech has been getting it done against progressively more difficult opponents; we'll see if they can continue that against West Virginia.
23 Oklahoma State Cowboys I was high on Oklahoma State, and I'm not willing to outright dismiss them, but their loss to Texas Tech knocks them down quite a bit.
24 Mississippi State Bulldogs Moorhead and his Bulldogs finally stumbled, losing to Kentucky and falling in the process.
25 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa didn't manage to get it done against division rival Wisconsin, but much of the game was closer than the final score indicates and the Hawkeyes cling to the final spot in my poll.

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