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crimsonlaw Ballot for 2019 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 23, 2019, 1:26 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I try to factor in how good a team is playing, how strong their resume is, and what I expect out of a team.  Nothing scientific and probably nothing close to correct.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers Champs stay on top until they lose. Clemson doesn't look like they are in danger of losing this spot for a while.
2 LSU Tigers These Tigers have been on fire. They are looking like your SEC champs this year.
3 Auburn Tigers I'm a Bama fan so I hate Auburn. That being said, you can't deny what they've done so far. Beating Oregon and Texas A&M, neither of which were home games, is damn impressive. 
4 Georgia Bulldogs Big win over Notre Dame. The Irish looked much better than I expected, but Georgia was the better team. Your future SEC East champs should skate through October without being seriously challenged.
5 Wisconsin Badgers Wow this team looks tough. The Badgers showdown with Ohio State at the end of October should be an epic game. Beating Michigan silly gets them a bump up to number five.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State deserves to be higher than 6th, but they haven't played anyone of note yet. Still, this team is thrashing its opponents. I'm excited to see what they do against Wisconsin in one month.
7 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma also looks like a powerhouse who hasn't been challenged yet. Only three weeks until they get to face a team that could knock them off.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama doesn't deserve such a low ranking but they haven't played anyone and their defense has too many freshmen playing. I'm afraid they won't be able to win a game against a team that can slow down their record-setting passing attack.
9 Texas Longhorns Texas is a mighty good team. Love seeing a gutsy win over Oklahoma State, a team that has traditionally give the Longhorns some problems.
10 Penn State Nittany Lions Again, undefeated without a compelling resume. Things are about to pick up for the Nittany Lions soon, however, so we should get a good feel of this team soon.
11 Oregon Ducks Oregon's only loss is to Auburn, and there is a good chance that loss was due to some poor coaching decisions. Hopefully the coaching staff has learned and will allow the Ducks' talent to do what they can do.
12 Florida Gators Undefeated, hasn't been strongly challenged... You know the story. The Gators face Auburn in a few weeks, which will certainly be a litmus test for this team. Is it just me, or has this team looked better without Franks under center?
13 California Golden Bears I guess Cal has the next best resume? They squeaked by a good Washington team and just came back from Oxford with a win. Not too shabby.
14 Iowa Hawkeyes As I said last week, I'm tepid on this team, but were in the territory where there are a muck of teams and not much significant to make any of them stand out. So I'll put them here.
15 Boise State Broncos Eh, why not? They beat FSU in Tallahassee and a solid Air Force team at home.
16 Utah Utes Oh Utah. How can you not beat USC's third-string QB? I thought you had a fantastic defense. But alas, the young Trojan had no problem cutting through it. Still think you CAN win the PAC-12, but will you get it done?
17 Washington State Cougars Wow. What an impressive loss! I still think this team is extremely dangerous, at least on the offensive side.
18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish I've been thinking this Notre Dame team has been very overrated, then they went and gave Georgia a game in Athens. Not as easy thing to do. So I won't punish them much for this loss.
19 Virginia Cavaliers How about those Cavaliers! Still undefeated with a real test coming up against Notre Dame. Can they keep the groove going?
20 UCF Knights The undefeated regular season streak ends by one point. What a shame. I've been ranking the Knights out of respect for their streak. I can't kick them out of the poll for such a close loss, but I doubt they will sniff the top-10 again this season.
21 Washington Huskies I should love Washington, but there's something I don't like about this team. Maybe if they can knock around USC this weekend I'll start to change my tune.
22 Kansas State Wildcats Undefeated without a notable win, though winning in Starkville with all those damn cowbells is something. Beating OKState would go a ways to building a bit of momentum.
23 Texas A&M Aggies Where should this team be ranked? They are 2-2, but the two losses are against two really good teams, and they played well in both losses. I don't love ranking the Aggies at all right now, but they are a dangerous team.
24 USC Trojans What an odd team. The more QBs they lose, the better they look. They have plenty of chances to justify being ranked in the coming weeks.
25 SMU Mustangs Why not SMU? They just update TCU on the road and has handled all of their other business as well. Since it's been 35 years since they've started off 4-0, I'll give these Mustangs some love!

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