Ballot Type: Hybrid
Submitted: Sept. 16, 2019, 7:13 p.m.
Overall Rationale: My poll is a hybrid. I take the results of a computer poll of my own creation and split the teams into tiers based on where it makes sense to break the values. I then look at just the teams within the tiers and re-rank within them based on my observations and feelings of the teams.Computer poll has a preseason component and a performance-based component. I phase the preseason component out as the season goes along. For this week, the preseason component is still 55% of the overall calculation.
Rank | Team | Reason |
---|---|---|
1 | Clemson Tigers | 1/2 in Tier A: Not the sole team in the top tier for the first time this season as Alabama joins them. Still keeping Clemson at the top for now though. |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 2/2 in Tier A: As much as it would be fun to see Bama-Clemson V, I really hope some other team can challenge them. |
3 | Georgia Bulldogs | 1/1 in Tier Ba: Georgia definitely has the best chance of knocking off the Tide in the SEC. Only team in tier. |
4 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 1/1 in Tier Bb: Ohio State humming right along. I'm sure their inexplicable multiple TD loss to a middling team will be along at some point though. |
5 | LSU Tigers | 1/1 in Tier Bc: Only team in Tier |
6 | Auburn Tigers | 1/2 in Tier C: Having actually played three games and with the best win between the two (Oregon), I'm taking Auburn ahead of Notre Dame in this tier. |
7 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 2/2 in Tier C: See reasoning given for Auburn above |
8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 1/3 in Tier D: My computer seems to finally be catching up to the conventional wisdom for Oklahoma. Easy choice for first in this tier. |
9 | Florida Gators | 2/3 in Tier D: Sucks that they lost Franks for the season, but had promising play from Trask in the comeback over Kentucky. Not sure this is a Top 10 team, but my computer likes them so far. |
10 | Michigan Wolverines | 3/3 in Tier D: Like with Florida, not sure they're a Top 10 team, but my computer is a fan. They're below Florida for now, but have a chance to make a statement against Wisconsin |
11 | Oregon Ducks | 1/2 in Tier E: Easy to pick them ahead of the other team in this tier |
12 | Michigan State Spartans | 2/2 in Tier E: Guessing this will be the team that causes the most head-scratching from my ballot. Have looked rough on offense and of course had that disappointing loss to Arizona State. The best I can figure is that they are bolstered by their preseason component (still 55%), which has them #7 overall. Even so, the performance ranking has them 29th for reasons that appear to have to do with the strength of their defense and relatively high strength of schedule (15th). |
13 | UCF Knights | 1/5 in Tier F: Another undefeated regular season looks possible, if not probable. Was dominant against Stanford. |
14 | Wisconsin Badgers | 2/5 in Tier F: Still unscored upon thanks to a Bye last week. Big game against Michigan. |
15 | Utah Utes | 3/5 in Tier F: Have looked pretty good against lesser competition |
16 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 4/5 in Tier F: Same reason as given for Utah |
17 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 5/5 in Tier F: Defense looks good, but struggled to against Pitt. They badly miss Trace McSorley. |
18 | Kansas State Wildcats | 1/5 in Tier G: Quality win over Mississippi State |
19 | Texas Longhorns | 2/5 in Tier G: Only loss was by 1 TD to LSU |
20 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 3/5 in Tier G |
21 | Washington State Cougars | 4/5 in Tier G |
22 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 5/5 in Tier G: Great start, and they've earned a spot in the rankings, but I'm not buying them yet. At the bottom of this Tier. |
23 | Texas A&M Aggies | 1/7 in Tier H: Only loss was to #1 Clemson. Have otherwise dominated lesser competition. |
24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 2/7 in Tier H: Hard fought victory against Florida State. Undefeated start puts them in the rankings |
25 | Memphis Tigers | 3/7 in Tier H: 3-0 start with a win over Ole Miss and 2 blowouts over lesser opponents. Beat out TCU (4/7) and Boise St. (5/7). TCU was more a victim of only having played two games. Boise State's comeback win over FSU doesn't look that impressive and they also struggled at home against Marshall. Other teams in Tier H that were considered were Mississippi State (6/7) and Washington (7/7) |
Teams Ranked:
Rank | Team | Unusualness |
---|---|---|
1 | Clemson Tigers | 0.00 |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 0.00 |
3 | Georgia Bulldogs | 0.00 |
4 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 0.00 |
5 | LSU Tigers | 0.00 |
6 | Auburn Tigers | 0.16 |
7 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0.00 |
8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 0.00 |
9 | Florida Gators | 0.13 |
10 | Michigan Wolverines | 0.17 |
11 | Oregon Ducks | 0.84 |
12 | Michigan State Spartans | 12.86 |
13 | UCF Knights | 0.00 |
14 | Wisconsin Badgers | 0.00 |
15 | Utah Utes | -0.37 |
16 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 2.05 |
17 | Penn State Nittany Lions | -0.19 |
18 | Kansas State Wildcats | 0.34 |
19 | Texas Longhorns | -0.16 |
20 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 0.00 |
21 | Washington State Cougars | 0.00 |
22 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 0.00 |
23 | Texas A&M Aggies | -0.34 |
24 | Virginia Cavaliers | -0.09 |
25 | Memphis Tigers | 0.00 |
Omissions:
Team | Unusualness |
---|---|
Boise State Broncos | 0.97 |
California Golden Bears | 0.15 |
Arizona State Sun Devils | 0.01 |
Washington Huskies | 0.24 |
Total Score: 19.05