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bretticus33 Ballot for 2021 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 26, 2021, 2:40 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Still the top team in the country until they show otherwise.  This weekend against Ole Miss will be a great test of their defense and potentially their offense.
2 Georgia Bulldogs UGA might have the best defense in the country and the offense is firing on all cylinders.  However, some shine has come off that win against Clemson and they'll get their next big test against Arkansas this weekend.
3 Oregon Ducks It was a win but it was a sloppy win which I attribute more to some odd coaching decisions and playcalling.  The defense is legit even without Thibs and they should run the table in the PAC-12
4 Iowa Hawkeyes Top 5 defense, top 10 resume, but the offense is becoming a serious concern.  They're looking much more like Iowa teams in the past that will have to grind out games and will drop a few games.  I need to see more from their offense hence the slight drop
5 Penn State Nittany Lions Played Villanova closer than they should have but Clifford is really coming into his own.  If he keeps playing well Penn State will be tough to topple and Clifford will be a Heisman contender.
6 Cincinnati Bearcats Bye week and no movement.  This weekend against Notre Dame will make or break their seasons' hopes.
7 Oklahoma Sooners Again the defense came up big, but the offense is still sputtering and Oklahoma probably shouldn't have beaten West Virginia had the Mountaineers not shot themselves in the foot too many times.  Road test against Kansas State coming up this weekend.
8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish finally looked like a top 25 team.  However there was still a lot of room for improvement and they can show it off against Cincinnati this weekend potentially.
9 Florida Gators Florida is still the best of non-undefeated teams IMO.  They're well-coached and very talented.
10 Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas is becoming the story/surprise team of the year a month into the season.  They blew out Texas and defeated a good A&M team in a 3 week span.  They have another big test this weekend and can really shoot up the rankings with a win over Georgia.
11 Ohio State Buckeyes There's a ton of talent on this team and this was their best showing of the season, but it was also against one of the worst FBS teams.  Considering how Rutgers has been playing thus far, the Buckeyes might be on upset alert in New Jersey.
12 Ole Miss Rebels A week of rest before taking on Alabama.  Matt Corral is the September Heisman but the schedule gets tougher and we'll see how improved Ole Miss really is.
13 BYU Cougars BYU held on after jumping out to a huge lead, but this is still a really good team even after losing key players from last season.  Jaren Hall's health is a question mark but Romney is a capable backup QB.
14 Texas A&M Aggies Top 10 defense in the country but the offense is sputtering.  Calzada might not be someone the Aggie can win tough games with.  Very talented but in danger of falling even more.
15 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Dominant win over a bad UMass side.  Didn't really learn anything we didn't already know.  CC going into Sun Belt play now where I don't imagine they'll lose many games.
16 Michigan Wolverines Game was a bit closer than many expected it would be, but Rutgers is a better team than they've normally been.  Still, you'd like to see more from them.  Now a trip to Madison against the reeling Badgers.
17 Michigan State Spartans Sparty's offense looked like the opposite of what we'd seen to open the season.  They really struggled out there but the defense and Nebraska's incompetence saved them. 
18 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Calling it now: Wake Forest will be a legit player in the ACC.  Granted Virginia isn't very good but neither is most of the conference.  They can run the ball really well and their defense is tough.  I like the Deacons to make an ACC run.
19 Fresno State Bulldogs The good:  FSU's offense is loaded and a top 15 offense in the country.  The bad:  FSU's defense is still bad.  Bulldogs will have to win a lot of shootouts this season.
20 Baylor Bears Baylor held on for a nice win over Iowa State and they're sitting at 4-0.  Things are looking for Baylor so far.
21 NC State Wolfpack NC State recorded one of the biggest wins of the season and the biggest for the program in a long time.  Congrats Wolfpack on knocking Clemson down from upon their perch.
22 San Diego State Aztecs SDSU is sneaky good to the point where I doubt many will have them ranked.  Comfortable win over Towson and an upcoming bye, but Brady Hoke is doing a great job with the Aztecs yet again.
23 UCLA Bruins Faltered against Fresno but UCLA rebounded with a big road win over Stanford.  The final score likely makes it look closer than it was as UCLA were better in most facets of the game.
24 Oklahoma State Cowboys Somehow, they're undefeated.  Scraped by Tulsa and Missouri State, got very lucky at Boise, and then looked convincing against Kansas State.  The Cowboys have survived thus far and they got there on what I think is the best defense in the conference.
25 Texas Longhorns Longhorns killed the Red Raiders and looked more like the Texas team we should be seeing.  Can they keep it up?  They have the talent to but they have to be more consistent.

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