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woakley Ballot for 2021 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 13, 2021, 2:05 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Lots of movement this week. As we get further into the season, the results on the field mean more while the preaseason projections mean less. After next week movements should be less extreme. Teams Dropping Out: USC, Texas, Iowa State, Utah. Teams Coming in: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Michigan, Kentucky.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide No reason to drop them. Still the number 1 team
2 Georgia Bulldogs Oregon and Georgia both have signature wins early in the season. I didn't come away as impressed by Georgia as I did with Oregon, but Georgia has the win and a blowout over UAB, while Oregon has the win and a close win over Fresno. So Georgia over Oregon for now.
3 Oregon Ducks I didn't think Oregon could pull off the win, so big respect to this team. I can only imagine that they'll be even better when their defense is back at full strength. See Georgia above for why they're slotted behind Georgia currently. 
4 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma hasn't lost, and they blow out a weak opponent this week. They get passed by Oregon because both teams have a close win against a G5 opponent, but Oregon over Ohio State is better than Oklahoma over WCU. 
5 Clemson Tigers Clemson had a win against South Carolina state this week. With their only loss so far to Georgia they're still well positioned in a weak ACC.
6 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati hasn't really had an impressive win so far, but they just keep winning. They belong up here until proven otherwise. 
7 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State lost this week, but I still came away impressed. Maybe they should have had a further drop, but I just think they're better than the teams behind them.
8 Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M really struggled with Colorado. Maybe it was them losing their starting QB, but I was still surprised. They dropped some because i'm just not sure if they're as good as I originally thought. 
9 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State soundly beat Ball State this week after beating Wisconsin. Really big game against Auburn this week will show us where they're really at.
10 Iowa Hawkeyes Most people would have Iowa higher than this, but this is where rankings can get tough. Iowa has two solid wins, but I think that what we've seen is that Indiana and Iowa State are both worse teams than we originally thought. That's not to say Iowa isn't a good team, I just feel that if I think Indiana and Iowa State were worse than initially thought it's hard for me to give them too much credit. 
11 Florida Gators Florida struggled more than expected with FAU, and didn't immediately put away USF. They seem like they have talent once they get it figured out at the QB position. We'll learn a lot about Florida this week. 
12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame hasn't lost yet, but a close game with an FSU team (that clearly isn't very good) and Toledo don't exactly inspire confidence. That's why they drop this week. 
13 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin still hasn't played anyone outside of Penn State, but they did play a close game with Penn State. They benefit from Iowa, USC, and Texas losing in my rankings, but overall I have pretty much the same opinion I did on them last week.
14 UCLA Bruins UCLA was off this week. Like Wisconsin they benefit from some teams I had above them winning. 
15 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Coastal Carolina took care of business and beat up on Kansas. Weird to think that this result was expected, but it was.
16 BYU Cougars I was higher on BYU than most were in the beginning of the season, and they showed that my thoughts were correct with the win over Utah. They haven't fallen off too much despite losing a top 10 player at QB. 
17 Arizona State Sun Devils Arizona State hasn't played anyone yet but they just keep chugging on. They play BYU this week and we'll see if their early season ranking is deserved. 
18 Liberty Flames Liberty just keeps winning. they'll stay ranked until they lose. I know they play weak competition, but winning is winning.
19 UCF Knights UCF played Bethune Cookman this week and beat up on them like they should have. We all know the team is talented, if Gus keeps them in the right direction they could make noise. 
20 Virginia Tech Hokies Virginia Tech has their early season signature win over North Carolina. They beat Middle Tennessee this week, we'll find out how for real they are as the season goes on.
21 North Carolina Tar Heels North Carolina beat up on Georgia State this week, as they should have. They moved up because of some teams above them losing
22 Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas surprised me over Texas. It wasn't just winning it was how good they looked doing it. Maybe Sam Pittman is onto something over there, maybe it was a one off. Either way they deserve respect for this. 
23 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss beat Austin Peay this week, but their win over Louisville last week was impressive. All aboard the Lane Trane. 
24 Michigan Wolverines It's clear that Washington is not a great team, but Michigan has still looked improved. We've officially reached the part of the season where Michigan gets hyped just for them to lose a few games they shouldn't.
25 Auburn Tigers Auburn hasn't played anyone yet, but I think there's a talented team. This early in the season and this low in the rankings it could be many teams in this spot, but Auburn gets it for now. 

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