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_Brazenhead_ Ballot for 2019 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 6, 2019, 9:02 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Binary sort began with previous top-25 plus fringe teams Boise State, Wake Forest, SMU, Memphis, Colorado, Virginia, Appalachian State, and Minnesota. Bad losses taken by Oklahoma State, Washington, Kansas State, and Army shook things up in the mid and lower rankings to make room for Boise State, SMU, Memphis, and Minnesota to earn spots. The sorting process left Iowa and Texas A&M a bit low, so they were moved up manually.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes First test against a very good defense this season and while the first quarter did not go well offensively, the team persevered through and adjusted, scoring 34. Defense still looks dominant and therefore slight edge over LSU.
2 LSU Tigers Offense remains elite. Defensively just a tad behind Ohio State.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Well balanced on both sides of the ball but just a step behind Ohio State and LSU in those regards. Let themselves get down to Tennessee (a very bad team) before pulling it together this week. Should have dominated wire-to-wire.
4 Alabama Crimson Tide Bye week. Auburn faltered and I've re-thought Clemson being ranked ahead of them. Clemson has struggled more against mediocre competition than Alabama has.
5 Oklahoma Sooners Offense remains excellent but defensive balance is still lacking compared to other top teams.
6 Wisconsin Badgers Blew out an inferior opponent, but also pitched another shutout. Oklahoma did beat a quality opponent, however, so they still have an edge over Wisconsin. Regardless, they have still shown to be worthy of inclusion among these elite teams vying for a playoff berth.
7 Clemson Tigers Bye week. Have beaten but at times struggled to dominate mediocre and inferior opponents compared to these other elite teams in front of them.
8 Florida Gators Big win against a very good Auburn team. Even with second and third string quarterbacks, they have proven that they could threaten for a playoff spot.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Blew out an inferior opponent. Consistently performing against everybody they've played thus far. They might lack the top-end talent to beat some of the teams in front of them, however. They'll have a chance to continue to prove themselves against a couple of other teams on their schedule.
10 Texas Longhorns Handled business on the road in a game many "experts" pegged as a trap game. They showed well against LSU and have continued to show consistency on offense and an okay, but not great, defense. They seem like a fringe playoff team but will have a chance to prove themselves in the coming weeks, especially against Oklahoma.
11 Auburn Tigers Good team with a lot of potential. Have beaten a couple of mid-ranked teams on the road, but a true freshman quarterback showed his inexperience on the road at Florida. They belong as a fringe-top-ten team.
12 Oregon Ducks Struggled to score points on Cal but that seems to be a fairly normal thing thus far this season. Still seem to be in the driver's seat in the Pac-12 although Auburn's loss hurts their "quality loss". Still a better mid-ranked team.
13 Penn State Nittany Lions Aside from their rivalry game with Pitt, they've continued to look pretty good on both offense and defense, but not elite. One of the better mid-ranked teams is certainly appropriate.
14 Michigan Wolverines Quality win against a good Iowa team proved that their season isn't dead yet. Still, offensively lacking but strong defensively prevents Michigan from outranking the couple of teams in front of them.
15 Utah Utes Bye week. They seem like a good team and well balanced between offense and defense. Perhaps the USC loss was a fluke? A couple of teams once thought to be better than them faltered this week, so here Utah finds themselves, mid-ranked.
16 Cincinnati Bearcats Great win against a rebounding UCF team, once thought to be their conference's favorite. The continued success of Ohio State lessens the impact of their bad road loss. They've otherwise proven that they're a pretty good team, so a middle ranking is appropriate, especially compared to the teams in the back-half of the mid ranks.
17 Boise State Broncos They've emerged as the strongest team in their conference, but have played nothing but a slew of inferior opponents. They're an okay team so a mid rank is appropriate.
18 Arizona State Sun Devils Bye week. Not much to say. Feisty team with talent and good coaching. Could compete against most teams probably. Lower mid-rank seems appropriate, considering the teams ranked around them.
19 Minnesota Golden Gophers They're probably not that good but they've now shown consistency in beating bad opponents. Considering some of the losses of previously mid-ranked teams, consistency and an undefeated record is worth something. Low mid-rank seems appropriate as a result.
20 Memphis Tigers Undefeated but against bad opponents and they've allowed a decent amount of points scored against them. Fringe ranked team for now.
21 SMU Mustangs Undefeated and putting up good points, but against bad opponents. Not convinced they're that good so a fringe ranking for now is appropriate.
22 Iowa Hawkeyes Decent team still, but mustering a measly 3 points, even if it be against a good defense, is not really acceptable to be ranked anything other than a fringe team.
23 Texas A&M Aggies Bye week. Still a decent team, but struggled to beat a bad Arkansas team. Still, only two losses are to top opponents.
24 Oklahoma State Cowboys Dropped a bad game to Texas Tech so a fringe ranking is all I can justify for them despite showing well against Texas.
25 Washington Huskies Dropped a bad game on the road at Stanford. Now with two losses, a fringe ranking is all I can justify. I still think they're a decent team that could compete for the Pac-12, but only because it's shown to be a very weak conference thus far.

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