Ballot Type: Hybrid
Submitted: Oct. 12, 2020, 5:59 p.m.
Overall Rationale: Right off the bat, I will not be considering teams that have not yet played a game in my poll despite the fact that the other voters voted to include them for some reason. I don't care that other voters are doing it and that it lines up with the AP, I think it's ridiculous to rank a team that hasn't run a single play. Because of this, it will also look like I'm way over-ranking some teams. I know no one will read this, but I'm still putting it here in an attempt to maybe mitigate comments about certain teams. My poll is a hybrid poll that is primarily based on a computer poll I developed. After my computer spits out the results, I take the values that are given for each team and break the ranking into tiers. I'll re-rank within tiers to allow for some adjustment for common sense. The computer poll itself has a preseason component and a performance-based component. The preseason component is based on team performance in recent years, recent recruiting, returning production, and coaching stability. This component was the entirety of my preseason poll. The performance-based component introduces winning percentage, points per game difference, and yards per play difference with strength of schedule adjustment. The overall ranking combines these two different components at different weights depending on how many games a team has played. Given the shorter and more uncertain season, I've sped up the rate at which the preseason component is phased out.
Rank | Team | Reason |
---|---|---|
1 | Georgia Bulldogs | 1/1 in Tier A |
2 | Clemson Tigers | 1/2 in Tier B |
3 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 2/2 in Tier B: Defense has looked bad, esp. last week vs. Ole Miss. Puts them behind Clemson. |
4 | BYU Cougars | 1/1 in Tier C |
5 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 1/3 in Tier D |
6 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 2/3 in Tier D |
7 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 3/3 in Tier D |
8 | SMU Mustangs | 1/3 in Tier E: Only undefeated team in Tier puts them at the top. |
9 | Auburn Tigers | 2/3 in Tier E |
10 | Florida Gators | 3/3 in Tier E |
11 | Miami Hurricanes | 1/6 in Tier F |
12 | Texas A&M Aggies | 2/6 in Tier F |
13 | Marshall Thundering Herd | 3/6 in Tier F |
14 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 4/6 in Tier F |
15 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 5/6 in Tier F |
16 | UCF Knights | 6/6 in Tier F |
17 | Tennessee Volunteers | 1/5 in Tier G: Only loss is to UGA, putting them at the top. |
18 | NC State Wolfpack | 2/5 in Tier G |
19 | Iowa State Cyclones | 3/5 in Tier G: Win over Oklahoma keeps them ahead of the Sooners |
20 | Oklahoma Sooners | 4/5 in Tier G: Win over Texas keeps them ahead of the Longhorns |
21 | Texas Longhorns | 5/5 in Tier G |
22 | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | 1/4 in Tier H: Undefeated with a win over Iowa State |
23 | Boston College Eagles | 2/4 in Tier H: Only loss is a close loss to UNC. Also have Head-to-head vs. Pitt |
24 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 3/4 in Tier H: Both losses by 1 point to teams ahead of them in my rankings. Keeps them ahead of WVU |
25 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 4/4 in Tier H |
Teams Ranked:
Rank | Team | Unusualness |
---|---|---|
1 | Georgia Bulldogs | 1.20 |
2 | Clemson Tigers | -0.01 |
3 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 0.00 |
4 | BYU Cougars | 1.23 |
5 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0.00 |
6 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 0.00 |
7 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 0.00 |
8 | SMU Mustangs | 0.73 |
9 | Auburn Tigers | 1.18 |
10 | Florida Gators | 0.00 |
11 | Miami Hurricanes | 0.00 |
12 | Texas A&M Aggies | 0.00 |
13 | Marshall Thundering Herd | 1.34 |
14 | Cincinnati Bearcats | -0.22 |
15 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 0.88 |
16 | UCF Knights | 4.08 |
17 | Tennessee Volunteers | 0.00 |
18 | NC State Wolfpack | 1.38 |
19 | Iowa State Cyclones | 0.00 |
20 | Oklahoma Sooners | 3.76 |
21 | Texas Longhorns | 4.08 |
22 | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns | -0.04 |
23 | Boston College Eagles | 0.00 |
24 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 1.08 |
25 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 0.00 |
Omissions:
Team | Unusualness |
---|---|
Ohio State Buckeyes | 1.37 |
Penn State Nittany Lions | 1.21 |
Oregon Ducks | 0.87 |
Wisconsin Badgers | 0.68 |
Kansas State Wildcats | 0.67 |
Michigan Wolverines | 0.41 |
Minnesota Golden Gophers | 0.08 |
Total Score: 26.52