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owlalwaysloveyew Ballot for 2021 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 7, 2021, 7:05 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama steamrolled Miami. Enough said... they're #1 until they're beaten.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia's defense was a brick wall for Clemson most of the game. They shutout Clemson in the first half and kept them to a FG. It's been a long time since we've seen that happen.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Solid win over Minnesota, who were up at the half. After Oregon's performance this week, Oregon can't be sweating over that one.
4 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma struggled against Tulane early, but showed up in the 2nd half. They should breeze through the next two weeks (Western Carolina and Nebraska) before getting into conference play.
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish win it in an OT thriller against FSU
6 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati played Georgia closer last season than Clemson did this past weekend. Cincinnati looked like they hadn't skipped a beat in their 49-14 win over Miami (OH).
7 Clemson Tigers Clemson played Georgia close, but couldn't get the offense going. Their next two weeks should be a breeze before facing NC State and Boston College.
8 Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M struggled early against Kent State, but ran up the score in the 2nd half to a respectable 41-10 final.
9 Iowa State Cyclones I'm tempted to drop Iowa State much lower after a 16-10 slog of a game against Northern Iowa, but this team is still loaded. Next week's matchup against Iowa is the litmus test for whether Iowa State still have it.
10 Florida Gators Florida confidently beat FAU 35-14. Their matchup on Sept. 18th against Alabama will show if they have what it takes.
11 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa beat Indiana in a 34-6 victory. Iowa tends to have a few blowout victories every year while dropping games it shouldn't Next week's matchup against Iowa State, who they've won the last 5 against, should show if they should be in the Big 10 conversation.
12 UCLA Bruins Preseason rankings of Pac 12 teams always seem more wrong than other conferences. After week 1, UCLA sits at 2-0 with wins over Hawaii and LSU. They get a week off before facing Fresno state and then diving into conference play.
13 Texas Longhorns Is Texas back? Maybe. They beat a ranked ULL team who just wouldn't give up, despite lagging most of the game. Texas faces future conference mate Arkansas next
14 Oregon Ducks Nearly lost to Fresno State, but are we just underrating Fresno? There's a likely chance Oregon gets demolished by Ohio State and gets unranked
15 Utah Utes Utah looked solid in their tune-up game against the Weber State Wildcats
16 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech knocked off #10 (my #12) UNC at home in a Friday evening game. They face MTSU and WVU next. If they go 4-0, the Virginia Tech vs. Notre Dame game may be a high stakes game.
17 Boston College Eagles BC beat FCS squad Colgate in a 51-0 victory. They face progressively tougher opponents in the month to come, with UMass, Temple, Missouri, and Clemson on the docket.
18 UCF Knights UCF made a statement with a comeback against Boise State after being down 21-0. Loisville and Cincinatti are two anticipated games coming up on the schedule for the team.
19 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers While Coastal Carolina showed the "any team, any time" attitude in 2020, it doesn't have the luxury of adding tougher opponents to its 2021 schedule. They went 52-14 over the Citadel. Their match against Buffalo may be more anticipated after Buffalo went 69-7 over Wagner in Week 1
20 Florida State Seminoles They took Notre Dame to OT and lost by a field goal. McKenzie Milton came in late in the game and looks to be the starter going forward. He could be the difference maker the team needs.
21 Miami Hurricanes How do you evaluate a loss against the #1 team? Miami got streamrolled, but still looks to have all the successful, if not elite, season.
22 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State beat Wisconsin in a barnburner of a game that was scoreless in the first half. Solid G5 squad Ball State is up next week, followed by Auburn
23 NC State Wolfpack NC State beat USF 45-0 in their opener. MS State and Clemson are among their next three games.
24 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Rutgers ran up the score against Temple in a 61-14 victory. Is this Greg Schiano's year?
25 Appalachian State Mountaineers Appalachian State's biggest question mark coming into this season was the QB position, but Duke grad-transfer Chase Brice looked comfortable in role in a victory over East Carolina. App State's upcoming game against Miami will show if they belong in the NY6 conversation at all.

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