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DarkLegend64 Ballot for 2021 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 24, 2021, 12:08 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Just my personal predictions on how it will end up. I have descriptions for my top 10 plus others below that that are noteworthy for comment.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Lost Justin Fields but my other top 3 teams also lost their starting QB. Ohio State has the best group of receivers in the country and with a most likely much improved defense, they could be good enough to win it all.
2 Clemson Tigers Clemson should have no problem tearing through the ACC even with Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne gone.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide They were far better than anyone else last year. They've lost almost all of their starting weapons on offense from last year's team but their fantastic recruiting classes will ensure they get back to the playoff. Most will have them as the #1 team but despite winning 6 championships under Nick Saban, Alabama has only repeated one time. I do not think they will this year.
4 Oklahoma Sooners I believe Oklahoma will return to the playoff this year but I also think they will stumble to someone during the regular season.
5 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia makes it back to the SEC championship game only to once again lose in a heart breaker to Alabama.
6 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa State is good enough to take down Oklahoma for a Big XII championship. Unfortunately, "good enough" and "will" are two different things. Oklahoma hasn't won 6 straight Big XII titles by accident.
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish They'll take down Cinci but will still end up losing 2 regular season games and fail to get back to the playoff.
8 Cincinnati Bearcats Cinci's only regular season loss will be to Notre Dame. But they will dump Indiana.
9 Texas A&M Aggies Expectations are high but they end the season with 2 regular season losses.
10 Oregon Ducks They will be Pac 12 champs again but may have 3 regular season losses.
11 Wisconsin Badgers
12 Iowa Hawkeyes
13 Florida Gators
14 USC Trojans The Trojans quietly (and also barely) made it through the last year's regular season undefeated before losing in the Pac 12 Championship Game. They have the players to win a conference title but the coaching will probably hold them back.
15 Miami Hurricanes
16 North Carolina Tar Heels Many have them in the top 10 but I'm not sure if they will be a top 10 team this season.
17 LSU Tigers Was last year a fluke? Possibly. They should be better this year but it's hard to say how much better.
18 Texas Longhorns
19 Penn State Nittany Lions
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys
21 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
22 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
23 Washington Huskies
24 UCF Knights Not sure how good they will be but I feel there will be a second ranked AAC team and I feel that UCF is the most likely. Perhaps Gus can get them back on track.
25 Indiana Hoosiers I'm lower on Indiana than most. Honestly I think they will spend most of the season unranked and at one point be at a 3-4 record. However, they then win their final 5 games and finish 8-4 just barely getting back into the rankings.

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