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moistats_ Ballot for 2018 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 8, 2018, 9:12 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Dropped: Stanford, Auburn, Syracuse, and Missouri. Replaced with: Florida, Washington State, Iowa, and Duke. Primarily based on results of previous weeks with rigor considered, talent and coaching experience, future schedule, projections of playoffs and conference champions, and standing of the previous polls. This includes teams under a first-year head coach as well as with no limit on G5 teams. Notre Dame, the outliers, and my projected champion/runner-up get the top 10 spots at least.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama blew out their opponent for the 6th consecutive time, a feat I'm sure most teams can't say. It doesn't take much to look as to why Alabama is clearly No. 1.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State performed well on national television, and climbed away from Indiana's typical scare in the first half. There isn't much to say other than Ohio State getting closer to Alabama's level. To be fair, Alabama has yet to play at a ranked opponent.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Fighting Irish finally got it together for sure, with their performance at an intimidating crowd being superior. This doesn't typically surprise me since Notre Dame has the characteristics of a CFP team; Notre Dame is complete.
4 Clemson Tigers Clemson convinced me to put them back in the T4 with their massacre against Wake Forest. The Tigers now look much stronger than West Virginia. Also, the next two teams are those that I'm still skeptical of putting in the T4. 
5 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia didn't blow out Kansas at home which convinced me enough to put them out of the T4 for now. However, I still think they are the Big 12 champion as I said in the beginning of the season. The next match should be well-prepped for, otherwise Iowa State will pull off a huge upset in a heartbeat. Texas is a close second!
6 Washington Huskies With Stanford's loss against Utah, Washington should have the Pac-12 North Division title locked. However, the Oregon Ducks will be their only tough opponent to face for the crown. Washington State might be one as well but they're quirky. 
7 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia looked really strong against Vanderbilt yet again. The match at LSU may be a time where they can finally show off more.
8 Texas Longhorns Texas finally got it together, and it is clear from their statement win against Oklahoma. Their past few wins made me disregard their loss against Maryland nearly completely. It's to the extent that I think they could beat Miami, Wisconsin, and Colorado. Get me on the AP Poll bandwagon!
9 Miami Hurricanes I'm not too confident of Miami pulling it off in the NY6 even though their defense is stellar. The Hurricanes seem to have the Coastal locked, however it seems like the NY6 is their peak. I have mixed feelings, but they performed better than Wisconsin and Colorado so far.
10 Wisconsin Badgers I can't grasp the fact that BYU beat Wisconsin, especially with the loads of talent that they have. It's a win against Nebraska, yay. I think they will lose against Michigan but it's not like there are any other better candidates in the West... -.-
11 Colorado Buffaloes Their rigor of schedule and the fact that they never won against USC in school history...yeah I'll be praying they pull it off but just in case that they don't, 11 it is.
12 UCF Knights UCF has been hot, for what, nearly 2 years now? Their only non-blowout was against FAU by NFL standards, but 20 points? Might as well be one. The Knights are clearly the NY6 contenders for the G5 bid. We may have to keep our eye on the UCF-Cincy-USF trifecta though. Moving on!
13 Michigan Wolverines Given the thrashing against Maryland, it's pretty clear that Michigan is a superior team, while Notre Dame is a one-of-a-kind team. Even then, Michigan lost by a touchdown against Notre Dame at their place. I think Michigan is a sleeper for the East, with their only tough opponent being Ohio State.
14 Oklahoma Sooners Wow that was an awesome game, however the Sooners need to make it up later on in the schedule because Texas and West Virginia are really strong teams in contention for the Big 12 title.
15 Penn State Nittany Lions Even though nothing happened with Penn State, a lot of teams in the mid 10's of my poll in the last week lost. Yay for avoiding the chaos! Even more yay for more work!
16 NC State Wolfpack NC State is one of the few remaining undefeated teams, with wins against relatively good teams. I think NC State has the best chance to beat Clemson, maybe that will be the Clemson'd match?
17 Oregon Ducks The massacre at California earned my respect for Oregon to the extent that I comfortably put them in the mid 10's. Also, just in case they pull it off against Washington, it'll look less crazy when I push them up in the top 6.
18 Cincinnati Bearcats Okay, Cincinnati is at least blowing out their opponents and have a bit more talent than USF. This seals the deal for me between those two, who are both a step down below of UCF.
19 Kentucky Wildcats I actually will not penalize Kentucky too much. The Wildcats were super close of defeating Texas A&M, and they clearly had the parts to pull off the win. Kentucky should have ran Snell, and that probably would have sealed it. At least they can work on their issues against Vanderbilt.
20 Florida Gators I was so close of putting Florida in the top 25 last week, but for some reason I thought Missouri was a stronger team. That win was awesome! I don't need to say more.
21 LSU Tigers While the loss at Florida was heartbreaking, I do recognize that LSU's run in the beginning was not a fluke. The blowout against Miami and other notable wins caused me to let the Tigers stay in my poll. We'll see how this plays out against Georgia, and this is the perfect spot for that situation. LSU is the only team outside of Oklahoma who lost but stayed in my poll, because ONE loss can be understandable.
22 Washington State Cougars Alright, it is seriously time to put Washington State in. I did not watch the game against USC, but I heard it was controversial to say the least. They dominated the rest of their opponents (more so against SJSU than Oregon did, mind you). I think this is a clear case that the difference between a win and a loss against an opponent is negligible, like Kentucky's against Texas A&M. The Cougars are the sleeper pick for the North, count it.
23 Iowa Hawkeyes It was a really good win against Minnesota, and I think Iowa will have a great season, just not exactly NY6 bound. The Hawkeyes are one of the few one-loss teams in the nation.
24 USF Bulls Ya'll are only here because of an undefeated record. Please convince me more to put you back in the top!
25 Duke Blue Devils Duke is the last one-loss team in this poll. In other words, I included all one-loss teams in this poll. I think my point still stands in the preseason about Duke being a much better team than people think. They have loads of talent and an experienced coach. Also, they will come off a bye into the rest of their ACC schedule. I think it's safe to say that they should win the rest besides Miami and Clemson.

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