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Ticklebump Ballot for 2021 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 13, 2021, 9:21 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Generally looking at who is doing well across the country. I understand I rank Cincinatti low, but they have not played quality opponents to date. I will likely not be ranking Coastal Carolina as any team on this list would have to go undefeated to get ranked with that schedule.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Gotta lose before 2.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Gotta beat Bama.
3 Oregon Ducks I feel like I know the most about the Ducks right now to put them in a high spot. I don't see many legitimate challenges on their schedule, it is on the Ducks to lose a spot in the top 5 at this point.
4 Clemson Tigers I am an ACC homer, BUT, Clemson's loss is to a top 2 team. I expect they do well.
5 Iowa Hawkeyes Someone from the Big 10 needs to be here or people will get salty.
6 Oklahoma Sooners I don't buy the Sooners. That Tulane performance was way too shaky to forgive even if they did mince WCU last week. I'll be more bullish when they put together a result against a quality team.
7 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State will be fine. The Ducks are good. Someone had to lose.
8 Texas A&M Aggies I still think this is too high for A&M.
9 Florida Gators Florida is here simply because they won't be next week after a dance with Bama.
10 Penn State Nittany Lions Was the Wisconsin win good? Is Ball State decent? Won't matter after Auburn rolls to town. You are either 2-0 vs ranked teams or 1-1. Week 3 means major moves.
11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Really should be lower with a terrible performance last week, but I think the Irish are surviving where other teams have struggled. They get a big October test where they have to put up or shut up vs Cincinatti.
12 Cincinnati Bearcats Fine. I'll rank them. I hate ranking AAC teams. It feels disingenuous to ding Wisconsin or Iowa State or even North Carolina for losing early to a ranked opponent when the Bearcats have played Miami (ohio) and Murray State.
13 Iowa State Cyclones Not a bad loss, but one that hurts. Cyclones can still have a wonderful season.
14 Wisconsin Badgers I'm hesitant to drop the Badgers too much, though I can 100% see them sliding further. Tough loss to swallow vs the Nittany Lions and a decent performance against Directional Michigan leave me at a loss for both ceiling and floor on this team.
15 UCLA Bruins Yeah, the LSU win will do it. Though, this spot is gonna be a nightmare to hold with a three serious challenges in the forms of ASU, Oregon, and Utah/Colorado (one of them will be bad, not sure which).
16 Virginia Tech Hokies I always like to underrank the Hokies. Can't show too much favoritism. Hokies had a SLUGGISH first half of football vs MTSU. With a solid bounce back in the second half and a garbage time TD for the away team, the Hokies survive, but they need a faster start against true tests or they will notch a 1 in the L column.
17 North Carolina Tar Heels The Heels were angry. Good test this week vs UVA to show if they are pretenders, or just had butterflies week 1.
18 Arizona State Sun Devils The second and third team in the PAC 12 shouldn't be a hard spot to lock down on the list. ASU has some chances to stay nationally relevant if they surprise UCLA or even Oregon.
19 Arkansas Razorbacks Texas was overrated. Arkansas was underrated. Simple as that.
20 BYU Cougars BYU has quietly notched a few good wins. They keep it up, they could be rising fast.
21 Oklahoma State Cowboys I like the Cowboys.
22 Boston College Eagles It's a tragedy national polls are ranking the Hurricanes and not the Eagles. BC is going to be scary this year.
23 Auburn Tigers Sure. More SEC clutter.
24 Ole Miss Rebels See Auburn's note.
25 Michigan Wolverines I am very wishy washy on this. Football is more fun with a good Michigan. They have outscored Directional Michigan and a sputtering Washington 78 to 24. Time will tell.

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