Back to poll results >>

RavenclawWiz816 Ballot for 2021 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 7, 2021, 4:59 p.m.

Overall Rationale: If a team is ranked ahead of another, it means that on a neutral field, the higher ranked team should beat all teams ranked lower than them.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide The only top 5 team to be thoroughly impressive. Absolutely dominated a Miami team who I still think should be a pretty good team this year. Offense hasn't skipped a beat under Bryce Young and their defense looks to be back in the "best in the country" conversation after a rough year or two for the unit. As of week 1, they look to be the only true national title contender.
2 Georgia Bulldogs The Bulldog defense is, once again, elite. Clemson couldn't get anything going with UGA's tenacious D. Their D should be able to carry them to Atlanta in December with ease. Their offense, however, did not do well. While they showed flashes late, JT Daniels and Co. were unable to do much against the Clemson Defense. Similarly to the Clemson offense, I'm not convinced, however, that it's the offense's fault for the poor performance, since in my eyes, it's more because of the opposing defenses. We'll put this idea to the test with both teams unlikely to see defenses to the caliber of what they saw Saturday until at least December.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes After a rough start, Ohio State went back to business against Minnesota. CJ Stroud looked like what he was: a freshman QB. Someone who has amazing talent, but who's a bit scared and may not make the correct read 100% of the time. Especially with their WR corps, lead by Chris Olave, I expect these issues to be worked out pretty quickly. My main concern for the Buckeyes is their defense. Giving up 30 points to Minnesota, a team lead by QB Tanner Morgan, isn't good. While most points came from the now out-for-the-year RB Mo Ibrahim, I still expected better and that should be the main issue with this team going forward and what is going to hold them back from being able to hang with Alabama.
4 Oklahoma Sooners Deciding between Clemson and Oklahoma was tough but I went with the Sooners at 4 because at least they managed to win, and at certain points throughout the game, you could see the national title contenders that Oklahoma was billed as come out. But if they are to be considered to be in that top tier, then that team should come out more often than just in the 2nd quarter. Spencer Rattler did not seem to comfortable and made 2 (should've been 3) big mistakes that put Tulane right in business. The defense was also disappointing, with frequent blown coverages and silly mistakes. Oklahoma still has an easy schedule, but as a Sooner fan, I'm far more afraid of the Iowa State and Texas games than I was preseason.
5 Clemson Tigers Clemson is below Oklahoma mainly because they lost, but how they lost also plays a major part. While Clemson's D was able to shut down JT Daniels, DJ and Clemson's offense was unable to get anything going offensively. While I've already mentioned that I'll wait to write their offense off until they struggle against defenses worse than Georgia's, it was still a poor performance that hurts Clemson's CFP chances, especially with how the other ACC teams performed this week. I will say though that putting them below 5 would be hyperbolic because I doubt A&M, Cincinnati, or USC would do any better than Clemson did against Georgia.
6 Texas A&M Aggies A&M did fine this week. They had a bit of trouble early on against MAC dark horse Kent State, but won by a decent amount. Haynes King looked good and their defense looked strong. We'll see how they do in SEC play this year and if King is able to elevate A&M into an elite stratosphere, something Mond never truly accomplished.
7 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati did what they were supposed to against Miami of Ohio. Their toughest tests are still ahead of them with Indiana and Notre Dame on the schedules. 
8 USC Trojans USC struggled a bit with San Jose State, but in the end they won handily, and it should also be mentioned that the Spartans were the Mountain West Champions last year. USC's ceiling is still very high, it's just a question of whether Clay Helton can coach the Trojans into losing games they shouldn't, which is a thing he's known to do.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame pulled a miracle Sunday and made a Wisconsin QB look great. While Coan lacks a strong arm, he still did great against an FSU defense that, to me, looked good themselves. Coan has put down some of my concerns about the Irish's offense this year. The defense needs work, but I trust Marcus Freeman to be able to iron those out as the year goes along.  
10 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa completely dispatched a largely overrated Indiana team on Saturday due to an outstanding defensive performance. Multiple defensive touchdowns made up for a Hawkeye offense that is as mediocre as usual. The defense should be able to carry them to the top tier of the West. El Assico this week will be probably the biggest game in the history of the rivalry.
11 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa State needed all 4 quarters to defeat FCS Northern Iowa at home, a team that was under .500 in spring football last year. I understand that Campbell has struggled to open the season as of late, but if a team wants to be considered true contenders, they should be beating FCS teams by more than 6 points. We'll see if I'm being reactionary by dropping them next week in El Assico but as of now, it seems to be tight race at the top between Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Texas. We'll see if they can beat Iowa, a feat they haven't been able to accomplish since 2014.
12 Texas Longhorns In game 1 of the Sark era, Texas defeated a ranked Louisiana team pretty convincingly in a game that was a popular "upset" pick. Hudson Card, while flawed, did well and showed us why he is better than Casey Thompson. I expect Texas to be in the thick of the Big 12 title conversations.
13 Florida Gators Florida played around with its food a bit with FAU, but got the win in the end. It was a rough night for Emory Jones, which does not bode too well for Mullen and the Gators, a system fairly reliant on having a quality QB. It will likely be more of the same for Florida, who, after a year of reprieve, will go back to being a good team, but not as good as Georgia, which should block them from going back to Atlanta.
14 Oregon Ducks Oregon was likely caught looking ahead to this week's Ohio State game as they nearly lost to Fresno State. Not only that, but they also lost Kayvon Thibodeaux, who will likely be out against the Buckeyes, and probably longer. Anthony Brown is pretty much the same QB he was at Boston College: not good. On the bright side, their RB stable looks great, which considering how weak the Pac-12 North is, should be enough to take them to Vegas
15 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State-Wisconsin was an ugly game though and through, but Penn State closed it out thanks to Badger mistakes. Sean Clifford was fine, I guess, but didn't put to bed any preseason fears about his ability to take Penn State to the next level. I think Penn State is a better team than last year, but don't expect any major jumps into contention.
16 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin had the game their grasps and yet they lost. Graham Mertz's two picks, especially the first one, cost Wisconsin the game. Still, Wisconsin outgained Penn State and had more first downs. The Badgers may be a good team this year, but they need to cut down on the mistakes and improve offensively in order to even consider them as being *true* contenders to win the Big 10, and not just make the trip to Indianapolis to receive a beating at the hands of the Buckeyes
17 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Coastal Carolina took their FCS team the Citadel to the woodshed (something multiple P5s were unable to) as they look to repeat last year's undefeated season. They return most production from last year and looked the part Thursday. They'll get an easy win vs Kansas Saturday, and it's unlikely they'll be truly challenged until they visit Boone to play App State. 
18 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss's offense hasn't missed a beat and their defense has seemingly improved since last season as the Kiffin-less Rebels beat up on Louisville 43-24 on Labor Day. Ole Miss may really be a dark horse in the West here if their defense looks like it did against the Cardinals.
19 UCLA Bruins After a "worse than the score indicated" performance over Hawaii in Week 0, Chip Kelly and the Bruins erased most of my doubt with a "better than the score indicated" win over a then ranked LSU team 38-27. DTR passed ok but ran great and Michigan transfer RB Zach Charbonnet was unstoppable. This is a UCLA team that should be able to run with ease and could challenge USC in the South.
20 Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona State took down FCS Southern Utah after a bit of toying Thursday. While scandal hangs over the program, they should still be a very good football team this year, and who could even go to Vegas if USC drops games they shouldn't, which as mentioned is a pattern under Helton.
21 Miami Hurricanes Miami got clobbered by Alabama, but if we're being honest, all but a handful of teams also would've been clobbered. I will wait to fully form my opinion of Miami until they play more on level teams. The ACC Coastal is wide open so Miami has a good chance to go back to the ACC Championship for the 2nd time in school history.
22 Utah Utes While Utah look just ok against Weber State, They nonetheless won and Baylor transfer Charlie Brewer looks good. Kyle Whittingham should have the Utes at least at an 8-9 win level here. Next week's Holy War could be a decent test, even if BYU hasn't won in years
23 NC State Wolfpack NC State took care of business against USF. They look like a 8-9 win team who may give Clemson a half. I expect good thing from them this season.
24 Auburn Tigers In game one, Auburn completely dismantled Akron, and while Akron is one of the worst programs in the FBS, the Tigers still showed signs that the issues they faced under Malzahn may be remedied.
25 North Carolina Tar Heels UNC was embarrassed by Virginia Tech, a team who I did not think very highly of going in. While Howell disappointed, their main Achilles Heel seems to be an awful offensive line. Even if he improves, it's not likely that Sam will be able to reach his full potential when he has so little time before his pocket collapses. *Next 5 Up: Virginia Tech, TCU, Oklahoma State, Michigan, UCF*

Back to poll results >>