Ballot Type: Human
Submitted: Oct. 11, 2020, 4:02 p.m.
Overall Rationale: My rationale is based off of a combination of recent consistency, momentum, overall talent as I see it. I try and avoid inertia as much as possible and re-check my opinions on every spot weekly. For any choices I think may be significantly controversial or have major swings from my previous poll, I will provide detailed reasoning, but ones that I think speak for themselves will just be ranked as I believe they deserve. Any time that I think two teams are about a wash in where they should be ranked but one has no evidence (for example, Miami and Penn State), I'll give the edge to the team that has actually played games. This week I'm creating my ballot before the AP poll's release to try and avoid any bias that may come from it. Curious how controversial this may make my ballot, but honestly I think everyone's ballots this week will stay fairly stable outside of a handful of major changes.
Rank | Team | Reason |
---|---|---|
1 | Clemson Tigers | |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | |
3 | Ohio State Buckeyes | |
4 | Georgia Bulldogs | |
5 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | |
6 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ND didn't look like a garbage fire or anything, but they certainly weren't looking their best this past week and they're the first team to really make FSU look competent so far this season. It may end up meaning nothing, but I'm not sure I can give them the top 5 nod at the moment. |
7 | Penn State Nittany Lions | |
8 | Oregon Ducks | |
9 | Florida Gators | I considered dropping Florida a touch further, but honestly can't justify it yet. I think their team is still pretty damn good, and A&M is a competent team when Mond is playing like he did. |
10 | North Carolina Tar Heels | I probably have UNC lower than most this week, but I don't honestly see them winning more than 5 games if you match them up 10 times with any teams above them. They put up a hell of an offense, but Virginia Tech was down 15 players and 3 starters and also lost a starter on their already weakened secondary early. UNC performed about how I expected, given that. |
11 | Cincinnati Bearcats | |
12 | Wisconsin Badgers | |
13 | Texas A&M Aggies | |
14 | Miami Hurricanes | Losing badly to Clemson is an ACC tradition at this point, and while Miami was probably overrated I don't think it means they need to drop much further than this yet. |
15 | BYU Cougars | One weak looking game isn't enough for me to drop a team more than a few spots since they actually kept it together and didn't give up a silly loss, but BYU definitely looked a lot less scary this week. I have to wonder how they'll handle Houston, Boise State, and San Diego State after such a tight game with UTSA. |
16 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | |
17 | Michigan Wolverines | |
18 | SMU Mustangs | |
19 | Kansas State Wildcats | K-State was my #26 last week because they hadn't played enough games to quite erase the question mark that came from game 1. At the moment, though, they're one of the couple teams in the driver's seat in the Big 12 and their defense looks legit. |
20 | Tennessee Volunteers | |
21 | Auburn Tigers | |
22 | USC Trojans | |
23 | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | |
24 | Iowa State Cyclones | |
25 | Virginia Tech Hokies | I honestly don't even know if I feel Virginia Tech deserves this much a drop considering how they competed and how decimated they were by players being out, but we'll just have to see how they compete over the rest of the season. |
Teams Ranked:
Rank | Team | Unusualness |
---|---|---|
1 | Clemson Tigers | 0.00 |
2 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 0.00 |
3 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 0.45 |
4 | Georgia Bulldogs | -0.28 |
5 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 0.13 |
6 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0.00 |
7 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 0.43 |
8 | Oregon Ducks | 0.55 |
9 | Florida Gators | 0.22 |
10 | North Carolina Tar Heels | -0.44 |
11 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 0.00 |
12 | Wisconsin Badgers | 0.31 |
13 | Texas A&M Aggies | 0.00 |
14 | Miami Hurricanes | 0.00 |
15 | BYU Cougars | 0.00 |
16 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 1.30 |
17 | Michigan Wolverines | 0.16 |
18 | SMU Mustangs | 0.00 |
19 | Kansas State Wildcats | 0.00 |
20 | Tennessee Volunteers | 0.00 |
21 | Auburn Tigers | 0.00 |
22 | USC Trojans | 0.09 |
23 | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | -0.24 |
24 | Iowa State Cyclones | -0.58 |
25 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -0.10 |