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TheJeemTeam Ballot for 2019 Week 4

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)

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