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NyquillusDillwad20 Ballot for 2020 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 31, 2020, 7:43 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Took into consideration how a team looked last year, returning production (bigger emphasis on returning QB), preseason SP ratings, and players opting out. Clearly the Week 1 poll will look much different since ~40% of the teams aren't playing, but I wanted to give my take on the preseason Poll as if all teams were playing. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Although they lost to Clemson in the playoffs, OSU looked like the better team. A healthy Justin Fields with a year of experience and very talented receivers around him would have been deadly. Defense may take a small step back, but not enough for Clemson to take the #1 spot.
2 Clemson Tigers They have talent at every position and one of the best QB's in the country. They are basically a playoff lock, even with ND in the conference this year.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide I'm curious to see how they are without Tua. But with the way they've been recruiting, I think they will be back on top in the SEC this year.
4 Oklahoma Sooners I usually doubt OU due to their weak defenses in the past years, but they're going to have a stud QB and the offense will be top two or three in the country again.
5 Georgia Bulldogs UGA doesn't seem to quite live up to expectation most years, but I can't drop them out of the top five with all of that talent. Their defense will win them most games alone.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions PSU had the best TE, LB, and one of the best RB groups in the country. A returning QB and their best O-line in the Franklin era would have given them the chance to compete with OSU for the B1G East. The WR group was the only big question mark outside of Jahan Dotson.
7 Oregon Ducks Plenty of star power on this team. The only reason I have them under PSU is due to Herbert being gone.
8 Florida Gators Florida is a tough one for me to predict. Franks just wasn't the man for the job and I think Trask is better. But he isn't going to light it up. Like UGA, their defense will help them win plenty of games.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame has been a consistently solid team the past few years. I would expect them to remain in the top 10 throughout the year, but I don't see them unseating Clemson at the top of the ACC.
10 Wisconsin Badgers Sure they lose Taylor, but Wisconsin will surely replace him with another stud. And Wisconsin has a capable QB for the first time in a while.
11 LSU Tigers It's tough to place the reigning champs at #11, but the lost SO much. Burrow's performance last year was probably the best I've seen from a college QB. I just don't see them competing with the Top three in the SEC this year.
12 Oklahoma State Cowboys This offense may very well be the best in the country, but can the rest of their team keep them in the Big Twelve conversation? Currently I have them as the #2 team in the Big 12, but they could very easily drop to 4th or 5th.
13 Texas A&M Aggies A&M has a ton of returning talent, but I don't think this is their year to challenge teams like Bama, Georgia, and Florida. Mond is good, but I don't think he is good enough to take them to the SEC title game.
14 Auburn Tigers Auburn always feels like a wild card and I feel no different this year. Bo Nix has a high ceiling, but he seems very unpredictable.
15 Michigan Wolverines Losing Patterson may have actually been a positive for Michigan. They would surely have had another insane defense to keep them in games.
16 North Carolina Tar Heels Sam Howell looks like the real deal. I don't see them competing with Clemson any time soon, but Mack Brown has them on a great trajectory. I could see them finishing anywhere from 2nd to 5th in the ACC.
17 Cincinnati Bearcats First G5 team on the list. Memphis losing Gainwell dropped them from my Top 25, and Cinci and UCF should be the front runners in the conference.
18 UCF Knights It was difficult to pick between UCF and Cinci for highest G5 spot, but I gave Cinci the slight edge. The AAC should be exciting this year, and who knows what could happen if they have an undefeated champ.
19 Minnesota Golden Gophers Tanner Morgan is keeping them in the Top 25 for me. Even though their two stud receivers are gone, Morgan is so accurate that he could do well no matter who is at receiver.
20 Texas Longhorns TEXAS IS BACK. Is this the year when their big bowl game win translates to the next season? There's no reason they can't be competing against OU for the Big 12.
21 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa lost their QB, but I didn't think Stanley was all that impressive. It's difficult to imagine they wouldn't have had solid lines and TE's again this year. Enough so that they would have been hovering around the Top 20 all year.
22 Utah Utes I wanted to put the Utes higher, but that blowout loss to Texas to end the year really hurt them for me.
23 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana probably would have benefited most from players sitting out this season. I could have seen them competing with Michigan for third in the East this year
24 Virginia Tech Hokies The Hokies return a lot of production, but I don't think they are quite back to where they were a few years ago.
25 Louisville Cardinals I've been high on Satterfield since App State took PSU to OT a few years ago. I knew he'd be good at Louisville, but even I didn't expect how well he'd do his first year there. I wouldn't be surprised if they took another step up this year, too.

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