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steelcitygator Ballot for 2021 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 19, 2021, 3:54 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Resume ranking, no consideration to the preseason rankings.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Every team in the country officially looks vulnerable.  They are still great but man could things get funky as the year goes on.
2 Oregon Ducks Close match for #2. But that Ohio State and Fresno are better than UGA's wins right now.  UAB is solid but Clemson really isn't as valuable as it was the first 2 weeks.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Took care of business against South Carolina. With Vanderbilt next week they should be alright in the top 4 for now.
4 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State and Iowa are just so close. A bunch of B10 teams are right in a bunch for me waiting to start differentiating themselves more. While I'm still not sure what Auburn is, I think they are a better win than Indiana rn (if only slightly) and Iowa State and Wisconsin are similar in value.
5 Iowa Hawkeyes Their winning margins are better but, technically, neither Indiana (best 7-5 team of all time) nor Iowa State are currently ranked so Penn State gets the nod in front.  They play each other in 3 weeks though to really decide this.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes They feel to highly ranked but they lost by 1 score to the current #2 team in the country. Neither win was all that convincing but they also weren't total 'by their teeth' wins. Middle of the country rankings are very weird right now.
7 Florida Gators The next 10 spots or so I have reranked about 8 times now and this is what I am settling on. Florida was in a 50/50 battle with the #1 team and has put in workmanlike performances their first two weeks.
8 Michigan State Spartans Two more B10 teams. I think Michigan is better but, with similar results, the Michigan State competition seems the smallest of margins better. With Nebraska this week their isn't much competition wise that will separate these two before October.
9 Michigan Wolverines Wisconsin in two weeks will be the real test. Damn is the B10 East an absolute meat grinder again.
10 Arkansas Razorbacks A team I think will drop in the future but they have just pounded teams. There is a formula that works well enough and can be built upon.
11 Cincinnati Bearcats They took care of business the first two weeks and came from behind for a great win against a better than their record Indiana. A bye week before the big Notre Dame matchup.
12 BYU Cougars 3-0 PAC-12 team right here. They haven't exactly blown the doors off anybody but no one else has 3 P5 wins right now. The fact this team reloaded so well (with their proper schedule) means they can make some noise. Just win baby.
13 Ole Miss Rebels The defense is better but not great. Maybe the best offense in the country though. A bye week and then Bama will be VERY interesting.
14 Kansas State Wildcats Some great wins. Nevada is legit very good and they shut that offense down impressively. I was worried about the new QB after interesting but they looked solid. Can they keep it up though?
15 Oklahoma Sooners Struggling against Tulane and Nebraska? A Nebraska team that, while maybe not as bad as it has looked, still lost to Illinois? The Tulane team that was boat raced by Ole Miss? I'm skeptical.
16 Fresno State Bulldogs Could easily be the best team in the MWC. They lost by one score to a very good Oregon and then beat a solid UCLA? Win out, especially with the way SDSU has looked, and we could be talking like BYU and Cincinnati get talked about right now.
17 Wisconsin Badgers An off week for Wisconsin but they were closer to beating PSU imo and also took care of their G5 team so I give the nod over Auburn.
18 Auburn Tigers Well they move up because we didn't know what those first two games were and now we know they are at least decent. Decent enough to go to Happy Valley and push them for 4 quarters.
19 Clemson Tigers Umm.. Dabo, Clemson, DJ U. Anybody awake. What's happening? Keeping it close to Georgia is doing a lot of lifting right now but they are not above slipping up against week ACC competition as GT showed this week.
20 Maryland Terrapins This team still doesn't feel top 20 good. Struggling against Illinois better be an aberration or the B10 schedule will eat them alive.
21 Stanford Cardinal Strong output against Vandy, big matchup with UCLA this week that should tell us a bit about what too expect from some PAC 12 hopefuls.
22 UCLA Bruins Fresno State is very good. You'd still like to see them come out with a win in this game. The next four weeks are winnable which could set up Oregon's late October trip to the Rose Bowl with big implications.
23 West Virginia Mountaineers Good for them. VT & UNC is borderline top 25 team and the Maryland loss doesn't quite look so bad anymore. Guess Oklahoma this week is put up or shut up time for both teams.
24 San Diego State Aztecs Utah hasn't quite looked itself this year. Arizona is bad bad. But SDSU has won and really made a point out of it. Another team that would be holder of a 2-0 P12 record that puts it in contention of Top 25.
25 Texas A&M Aggies I really went back and forth between A&M and VT for the last spot. Ultimately, A&M go it. A bit of leeway for losing their QB against Colorado but that is not a good team and you still should have looked better. This week's Arkansas game will give us a better picture if that was an injury induced fluke or not.

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