Ballot Type: Hybrid
Submitted: Oct. 21, 2019, 7:20 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 down to 10% of the overall calculation.
| Rank | Team | Reason | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ohio State Buckeyes | 1/1 in Tier A: Separated enough from the rest of the pack according to my computer to be the only team in the top tier. | 
| 2 |  LSU Tigers | 1/4 in Tier B: At the top of this tier by virtue of having the best win of the 4 undefeated teams in this group (Florida by 14) | 
| 3 |  Alabama Crimson Tide | 2/4 in Tier B: Best win was only Texas A&M, but the 19 point win was also the closest any opponent came. | 
| 4 |  Oklahoma Sooners | 3/4 in Tier B | 
| 5 |  Clemson Tigers | 4/4 in Tier B: Have been looking better, but close call against UNC is by far the closest any team in this group came to getting a loss. Puts them at the bottom. | 
| 6 |  Penn State Nittany Lions | 1/1 in Tier C: Only team in this tier. Have looked impressive and are on the precipice of including themselves as a contender. | 
| 7 |  Wisconsin Badgers | 1/4 in Tier D: Sit at the top of this tier despite the loss to Illinois. Helps that it was only by 1 point and they've looked dominant in pretty much every other game. | 
| 8 |  Georgia Bulldogs | 2/4 in Tier D: Only loss came in 2OT to a decent South Carolina team. Big win over Notre Dame helps them as well. Combined it's enough to put them ahead of Auburn. | 
| 9 |  Auburn Tigers | 3/4 in Tier D: Double digit loss to Florida hurts them, as it's the worst loss of the teams in this group. Get the edge on Oregon though for beating them head to head. | 
| 10 |  Oregon Ducks | 4/4 in Tier D: Placed behind Auburn for head to head result. They've also looked shaky at times though. | 
| 11 |  Baylor Bears | 1/3 in Tier E: Baylor is at the top of this tier by virtue of being undefeated. | 
| 12 |  Utah Utes | 2/3 in Tier E: Behind Baylor for loss to USC, but ahead of Notre Dame for being more dominant in wins than Notre Dame against a schedule of generally equal difficulty. | 
| 13 |  Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 3/3 in Tier E: See Utah reasoning. Also hurt by only having played 6 games. | 
| 14 |  Florida Gators | 1/5 in Tier F: Easily tops of this group for only loss being to LSU. | 
| 15 |  Iowa State Cyclones | 2/5 in Tier F: Ahead of other teams with fewer losses due to both losses coming to teams I've ranked. Also much more dominant than SMU against a common opponent (Beat TCU by 25, while SMU only beat by 3) | 
| 16 |  SMU Mustangs | 3/5 in Tier F: Behind Iowa State for above stated reasons. Ahead of Memphis and Cincinnati by virtue of being undefeated. | 
| 17 |  Memphis Tigers | 4/5 in Tier F: Only loss came by 2 to a good Temple team. | 
| 18 |  Cincinnati Bearcats | 5/5 in Tier F: Despite only loss coming to #1 Ohio State, they lost by 42 points. That deficit was too much for me to put them ahead of Memphis. | 
| 19 |  Minnesota Golden Gophers | 1/2 in Tier G: Both teams in tier are undefeated, but are relatively unimpressive given opposition. Minnesota gets the edge for playing a more difficult schedule and having played more games. | 
| 20 |  Appalachian State Mountaineers | 2/2 in Tier G: As stated above, it really hurts them that they've only played 5 games. | 
| 21 |  Michigan Wolverines | 1/6 in Tier H: Only losses have come to highly ranked Wisconsin and Penn State. Have also beaten Iowa. | 
| 22 |  Iowa Hawkeyes | 2/6 in Tier H: Only losses have come to ranked teams and win over Iowa State puts them up high. Loss to Michigan head to head puts them behind them. | 
| 23 |  Texas Longhorns | 3/6 in Tier H: Losses are to highly ranked teams. Best win is Oklahoma State though, so they're behind Michigan and Iowa. | 
| 24 |  Boise State Broncos | 4/6 in Tier H: Bad loss to BYU, but still best in Mountain West. | 
| 25 |  UCF Knights | 5/6 in Tier H: Close losses to Pitt and Cincinnati and best win was only against Stanford. Sneaks into the rankings because only other team in tier was Michigan State who have 3 losses, 2 of which by at least 24 points. | 
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ohio State Buckeyes | 0.33 | 
| 2 |  LSU Tigers | 0.00 | 
| 3 |  Alabama Crimson Tide | 0.00 | 
| 4 |  Oklahoma Sooners | 0.00 | 
| 5 |  Clemson Tigers | 0.00 | 
| 6 |  Penn State Nittany Lions | 0.00 | 
| 7 |  Wisconsin Badgers | 1.28 | 
| 8 |  Georgia Bulldogs | 0.25 | 
| 9 |  Auburn Tigers | 0.00 | 
| 10 |  Oregon Ducks | 0.00 | 
| 11 |  Baylor Bears | 0.00 | 
| 12 |  Utah Utes | 0.00 | 
| 13 |  Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -0.13 | 
| 14 |  Florida Gators | -1.18 | 
| 15 |  Iowa State Cyclones | 2.08 | 
| 16 |  SMU Mustangs | 0.00 | 
| 17 |  Memphis Tigers | 1.23 | 
| 18 |  Cincinnati Bearcats | 0.00 | 
| 19 |  Minnesota Golden Gophers | -0.27 | 
| 20 |  Appalachian State Mountaineers | 0.00 | 
| 21 |  Michigan Wolverines | 0.00 | 
| 22 |  Iowa Hawkeyes | 0.00 | 
| 23 |  Texas Longhorns | -0.71 | 
| 24 |  Boise State Broncos | 0.00 | 
| 25 |  UCF Knights | 0.14 |