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iliketoupvotepuns Ballot for 2019 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 3, 2019, 7:16 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Used eye test and advanced analytics primarily. I will provide reasoning for team placements someone might find out of the ordinary.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide With the suspensions, it took a quarter for the Tide to get rolling, but the last three quarters looked like Alabama being Alabama. I think Alabama this year is slightly better than Clemson talent wise, although significantly less likely to make the playoffs.
2 Clemson Tigers Clemson wrecked Geoff Collins opener, to nobodies surprise. Even against a team that has a long transition ahead of them, Clemson showed why they are elite. Etienne in particular looked incredible. Clemson did look like they were a touch weaker on defense, but that is to be expected considering the playmakers they lost from last years team.
3 Georgia Bulldogs
4 Oklahoma Sooners It looks like Lincoln Riley has done it again with Jalen Hurts. While we will find out, they are the clear favorites in their conference(again).
5 Ohio State Buckeyes Too talented to keep out of the top 5 until there is a good reason to drop them. Highest blue chip ratio of any team(including Alabama and Clemson) and still the team to beat in what might be the strongest conference top to bottom this year.
6 LSU Tigers I was not cautious to put LSU too high in preseason, because Joe Burrow was a tale of two QBs in the first and second halves of last season. After their win last week, I feel a little more confident about them and moved them up a spot. They get a chance to potentially crack the top 5 against Texas, and with a seemingly improved offense going up against a largely new Texas defense, I expect them to win. Regardless, this next game will define the LSU Tigers more than any other game this season outside of their annual Alabama matchup.
7 Michigan Wolverines
8 Washington Huskies Chris Petersen is an elite coach and the Huskies are good enough to run the table. I don't expect the Huskies to do so, and think they will just miss the playoffs, making them a top 10 team. I'm pretty high on them, and think they have enough chances in the PAC 12 North to prove themselves.
9 Florida Gators Florida looked a bit rusty, but avoided an upset from their rival. Franks had a decent day throwing the ball, and Florida was uncharacteristically bad running the ball. I expect Mullen to find a way to run the ball through his scheme, and if franks can stay at least decent they will do fine.
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
11 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State's biggest question mark going into this season was their offense post Trace McSorely. It was only Idaho, but the Nittany Lion's made a statement by putting up 79 points. While that first game hasn't adjusted my view of them too much, it definitely makes me wonder if there is a chance for Penn State to finally break through, win their conference, and make the playoffs this year.
12 Texas Longhorns I've had Texas ranked a few spots below where others have had them for a while, and advanced analytics, such as S&P+, has been some of the reason why. The fact they have had to replace nearly their entire defense is another reason. LA Tech really moved the football well against Texas, which definitely leaves the defensive question marks still open. Texas is a legitimate contender for the Big 12 title with Ehlinger, but until more questions get answered I am hesitant to put them in the top 10. Luckily, they have their shot at proving themselves this week against LSU.
13 Utah Utes
14 Texas A&M Aggies
15 Auburn Tigers People are over-ranking Auburn in my view post Oregon win. Oregon had preseason hype, and while there was reason for that, Auburn(who I had unranked in preseason) beat them in classic Auburn style: barely. While Auburn's run defense looked elite, no other aspect of their game looked spectacular. Bo Nix was by no means a powerhouse for Auburn(13 of 31 passing with 2 TDs and 2 INTs), but he at least looked like he wasn't just some typical wide eyed true freshman. A team solidly in the top 20 and barely in the top 15 seems about right until they answer more questions.
16 Oregon Ducks Oregon passed the ball well, but couldn't establish a ground game against what should be one of the best run defenses in the nation. While the loss is disappointing for the Ducks and the Pac 12, Oregon looked like they were just about every bit as good as Auburn and the cards just didn't go their way. I will slot them one under the Tigers for now.
17 Wisconsin Badgers Is Wisconsin back? After a 49-0 rout of USF, the Badgers look more like the Wisconsin of two years ago than the Wisconsin of last year. Assuming the removal of Hornibrook was addition by subtraction, their plodding offense and stifling defense could lead them back to the Big 10 championship game.
18 Iowa Hawkeyes I think I was a little too high on Iowa before, so I dropped them down a few spots. Nevertheless, they are a Big 10 West contender. Maybe even a conference contender if the cards fall right.
19 Boise State Broncos Boise State answered some questions about their freshman QB and defense all in one week. In my eyes, they are definitely in the running for being the best G5 team this year. Unfortunately, their schedule is just too weak for us to know how good for a while.
20 UCF Knights UCF looked good beating up the Sisters of the Poor. While UCF is more talented than potentially any other team on their roster, we won't really know how good they are until they face Stanford, Pitt, and Cincinnati later this year. Which is kind of sad that that is the best three teams they will face all year, inevitably leaving them out of the playoffs again.
21 TCU Horned Frogs I think Gary Patterson will make TCU's defense more and more dangerous as the season goes on. If the defense can improve too, they are a dark horse in the Big 12 race.
22 Stanford Cardinal Stanford has a tough schedule this year, but they managed to grind out a win in classic David Shaw style against Northwestern. USC is up next.
23 Virginia Cavaliers #7in7. Do it for the memes, Cavs.
24 Washington State Cougars
25 Michigan State Spartans

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