Back to poll results >>

crownebeach Ballot for 2019 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 3, 2019, 2:50 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Week 2 is the worst, hardest poll because the quality of Week 1 opponent varies so widely, so I will stay conservative and avoid overreaction if I can. General notes: 1) Not a resume ranking. In theory, I am ranking the teams based on their overall quality relative to the field, not on their results to date. 2) I am skeptical of total-points computer methods, in part because I consider fumble recoveries pure dumb luck. 3) As in the preseason poll, I prioritize balanced performances: glaring yards-per-play disparities or neglecting one side of the ball will hurt you.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide
2 Clemson Tigers
3 LSU Tigers
4 Georgia Bulldogs
5 Ohio State Buckeyes
6 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma didn't look this good last year until about Week 8. Key stat: 13.8 yards per pass. Not per completion, per *attempt.*
7 Florida Gators
8 Michigan Wolverines
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
10 Oregon Ducks For one glorious half, Oregon absolutely pushed Auburn around -- the Ducks *dominated* field position, and the Tigers needed a crazy series of breaks (that baffling fumble...) just to survive to the half. Oregon was the better team and I'm sticking with that, but they're on thin ice going forward.
11 Auburn Tigers Biggest riser, up ten spots. Yell at me if you want, but don't get cocky: they were lucky not to trail 28-3, and I highly doubt they could have punched themselves off the ropes at that point. Although Oregon exposed major vulnerabilities -- 13/31 with two picks...yikes -- the running game looked phenomenal, and I am officially elevating Auburn to conference contender.
12 Washington Huskies
13 Michigan State Spartans I probably should drop Michigan St for the same reasons I dropped Utah, but as a reward for the best defensive performance of Week 1, I'm going to give the Spartans a mulligan. Just give me *something* this week, Salem.
14 Oklahoma State Cowboys
15 Texas Longhorns
16 Utah Utes The Holy War could be a minor wake-up call. The defense was good but not as overwhelming as predicted, and the passing game was simply awful. Zack Moss was a bright spot and there is plenty of time for Utah to get right, but they didn't look like serious conference contenders in Week 1.
17 Iowa Hawkeyes
18 Texas A&M Aggies
19 Penn State Nittany Lions I'm not going to quibble too much about a 79-7 win, but Sean Clifford wasn't super efficient for a guy playing FCS Idaho. I think this team's identity will still be mostly built around defense and field position.
20 Boise State Broncos
21 UCF Knights
22 Stanford Cardinal Outplayed Northwestern in every way, but the running game did not look much improved from last year, and...injuries. Uh, if K.J. Costello is not good to go in time for UCF in Orlando, I am going to DEFCON 2.
23 Memphis Tigers
24 Wisconsin Badgers South Florida might just be bad, but I am treating Wisconsin as #back until I get solid evidence to the contrary.
25 Washington State Cougars I still have questions about Wazzu, but of all the candidates for this spot, they looked the most put-together by far. Anthony Gordon is probably going to have 6,000 passing yards by the time the Cougs face a decent defense.

Back to poll results >>