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TheFlyingBoat Ballot for 2021 Week 15 & Bowls

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Dec. 7, 2021, 4:38 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Sorry for my absence the past few week, unfortunately I was taken out by COVID like illness for 3 weeks (tested negative, but whatever it was was rough), had to spend another few weeks working tirelessly to catch up on RL work that I missed while I was sick, and now somehow we're here already. College Football's regular season is over, just like that. Thankfully, I now get to give you the finest poll you've ever seen. What makes it the finest poll you've ever seen? The fact that every placement is 100% correct, guaranteed. If you disagree, you will find that you are wrong because of the previous sentence. Without further ado, here is your list.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide #1 Strength of Record in the country, #4 SoS (ESPN), the highest of any team in the top 20 of the AP poll, and the best coach in the history of college football elevate what is an otherwise less impressive than normal (see: ridiculous standards) Alabama side to #1 in the final pre Bowls poll on the back of an incredible win over Georgia. Bryce Young will probably win the Heisman, he has some decent receivers, but the relatively weak OL that miraculously showed up against Georgia has kept their offense looking less impressive than normal. Alabama's 8th ranked defense in DF+ also for some reason doesn't pass the eye test for me either. Something about Alabama just feels weaker than previous years, but appearances of mortality notwithstanding, Alabama has proved that under Nick Saban that they know how to win on the biggest stages and the fact that they did so in the SEC Championship game proves they are your deserving #1 team...for now.
2 Michigan Wolverines It feels odd describing the winningest college in the history of the sport as the plucky underdogs that have managed to pull out victories that one would not expect, but after 70 years and half a national title or 1 Big 10 title following their loss to Vince Young's Texas team on Jan 1, 2005 (yes, long enough ago that Vince Young hadn't crushed the hopes and dreams of USC just yet). Anyways, Aiden Hutchinson is just one of two elite lineman on the team and Hassan Haskins has proven to be an elite running back. My worry is that against Georgia, Cade McNamara's mediocrities will be thoroughly exposed. Fun fact at half time of the B1G Championship, Cade McNamara was not the leading passer for Michigan (neither was McCarthy). That being said with an SoR of 2 and an F+ of 4 it is hard not to slot them in here.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia in my view is still the strongest team in the country, though I do take the result in the SEC Championship game as evidence that I was right that this Georgia team, while boasting one of the best defenses of all time, were still far from being one of the best overall teams of all time. For good reason they are still far ahead of the pack in F+ at #1 after the loss, but with an SoR of #3 they can't ascend to the top 2.
4 Cincinnati Bearcats Despite all the hate the committee gets they've absolutely nailed the four for the playoffs and the ordering of them as well. Cincinnati, the first G5 team to make the playoffs, a mere seven years into its existence, has shown the world the recipe: just beat ONE really good P5 team and then go undefeated. #5 Notre Dame gave them just the leg up they needed despite an otherwise middling American conference schedule (despite ND OOC, they're still only 87 in SoS) to make it to #4 in the SoR rankings and played well enough to be #5 in F+, #7 in FPI, and #6 in Sagarin. They should be a real test for the Crimson Tide, and if they can catch Bama off guard they might be able to pull off the upset. Does Cincinnati have a bit of Boise St trickeration up their sleeves, because they will likely need it to beat Saban and the Crimson Tide.
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame was actually a really, really good team this year (#6 F+, #5 FPI, #5 Sagarin) but unfortunately they'll have to look back to the early days of the season and that loss to Cincinnati and wonder what could have been. Alas, Notre Dame exists to disappoint their fans and all those that bet on them, so who can really be surprised. For any ND fan that wants to call me out for my flair, all I can say is it takes one to know one, I guess.
6 Baylor Bears Due to lack of recruiting success on the trail, terrible performance last year, and a slow start to the season, the computers really do not like Baylor. But the eye test tells a different story. Aranda and co have really, really turned Baylor around and made them an incredibly disciplined and effective team. They had gone seven quarters without a single penalty and have managed to run their style of play to great effect, including 0 against a ranked BYU team. While I believe Oklahoma St is the better team it isn't by much, as I view Baylor's, Oklahoma State's, Ohio State's, and Michigan State's resumes as all roughly in the same tier. However, Baylor has a conference championship that none of the other four do and I use that tiebreaker to bump Baylor to the top of the pack.
7 Ohio State Buckeyes As far as talent goes they have to be one of the top four teams in the country. But following not one, but two losses, including one to the Spoilermakers, Ohio State finds themselves on the outside looking in. Luckily for them they still have the Rose Bowl to look forward to in which i suspect they will dominate an overmatched Utah. Look for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the WR I called as being the best receiver in his class on ShaggyBevo back in his senior year, to put on a masterful performance alongside two other elite WRs in Olave and Wilson.
8 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State under Gundy has had one phrase become a whispered line of hope: "Give Gundy a defense and watch what he can do." Unfortunately for him he had to get the defense with probably his weakest offense in a while. No Chuba Hubbard or Justice Hill, no Weeden or Rudolph, and no Tylan Wallace or Justin Blackmon or Dez Bryant or James Washington. Keep in mind that until 2020, Oklahoma State was the sole leader in Biletnikoffs (now tied with Bama). With an OF+ of 61 and a DF+ of 3, this is truly an inverse of the team we are used to, but what a mighty fine team it is. With an SoR of 8, an FPI of 8, and an F+ of 8, how could I not put them at 8?
9 Michigan State Spartans The biggest surprise for a guy that swears by SoR is that Michigan St is at 9. Surely you might say, "Mr. TheFlyingBoat, Michigan St has an SoR of 6, how could you put them at 9?" I would respond, "nice fellow, what you miss is that Michigan State just isn't very good." Unfortunately for them performance in game and margin of victory do matter even if they don't really matter much in SoR. The fact that Ohio State drubbed them in the manner they did on national television really puts a damper on their record, especially given Michigan State lost to both ranked teams they've faced, the computers absolutely loathe them, and the eye test doesn't save them. That SoR is the only thing saving them from being below Ole Miss.
10 Ole Miss Rebels Speaking of Ole Miss, talk about high flying offenses. At #5 in the OF+, one has to be impressed, but not surprised, given that Lane Kiffin's fingers are all over that offense. The defense on the other hand leaves plenty to be desired. They have won some exciting shootouts but let mediocre teams like Tulane put 21 on the board against them in a sign of how much the defense lets the offense down. That being said some good wins and an SoR of 7 do them quite a bit of good to make up for the computers having them around 11.
11 BYU Cougars #16 overall in SoR, but had some quality wins in great fashion that one has to respect. Basically honorary Pac 12 champs after beating Utah.
12 Utah Utes Cam Rising, the former Texas QB, has led the Utes on a bit of a miracle run and boy has it been a pleasure to watch Utah succeed after having been Reddit's chosen team for so long. Now, you may be asking once again why a team so maligned by SoR is up here. The answers to why are simple: Conference Champion AND that they are beloved by the computers.
13 Oklahoma Sooners Fun Fact: Did you know that Oklahoma sucks? Well, now you know. That being said, OU boasts the #11 SoR, the #6 FPI, and the #9 Sagarin. They are pulled down by the #20 rating in F+, but still, 12 seems eminently reasonable given their wins and quality losses put them in position for a great SoR and they have the computer love to back it up. If not for Utah's Pac-12 title I might put OU at 11.
14 Pittsburgh Panthers I just want to take this box to first say that the fake slide was not a play to celebrate but rather condemned. Not only should the guy be down where he slid, but I would consider giving him a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag as well. If a player had made contact with him they would almost certainly get flagged for it, which means they have to lay off. This is fine when people aren't abusing it. But now? If this isn't penalized we're asking for defenders to go head hunting or for QBs to be able to pull this nonsense for ever. Bush league play.
15 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns After a loss to Texas back when they were healthy and looked good, the Rajing Cajuns have been nothing but dominant to the tune of a #12 SoR rankings. The loss to Texas has computers holding their nose at Louisiana, but trust me that that Texas team is different than the one that lost all thise games in a row (for one we didn't have a QB playing with a broken thumb) AND Louisiana has looked incredible the rest of the way. Computers have a disdain for them, but what to they now? Nerds.
16 Oregon Ducks It will always be a story of "what could have been?" After all if CJ Verdell doesn't go down is this team your Pac-12 Champion? Are they in the playoffs? Does Mario Cristobal stay? Unfortunately those questions will never be resolved. Despite their collapse the Ducks managed to end at exactly 15 in the SoR as well.
17 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Part of me is putting Wake Forest this high because I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to, but part of me was legitimately impressed with how ell this season went for them. If this momentum could be carried forward it would be incredible. #19 in SoR is nothing to scoff at, far from the worst here.
18 NC State Wolfpack What a recovery after the loss to Wake Forest. First a stomping of Syracuse, but more importantly a comeback win over UNC is the cherry on the cake. Average out the computers and the SoR ranks and you get about here. And given the work of the triangle of suck this works well.
19 Clemson Tigers Terrible season, but a H2H victory over Wake Forest has to count for something in the rankings (god I never expected to type that about football), so I therefore had to put the Tigers over the Demon Deacons until I remembered that the 3 ACC teams formed a circle of suck. When I realized my error I decided to break the tie using WF's extra win and then use the H2H in favor of NC State
20 Arkansas Razorbacks Whatever the opposite of frauds are is Arkansas, because they brought it to this season. What a phenomenal team and what a brutal schedule. Kudos to them for possessing the #1 SoS of all teams and the #20 SoR. Pittman has a real machine going at Arkansas now and I am sure they will be even more dangerous real soon.
21 Iowa Hawkeyes I said it before and I'll say it again, Iowa were frauds and would have lost to Penn State if not for that injury. Iowa are always frauds when forced to face elite competition multiple times. That is all I'll say about them.
22 Kentucky Wildcats Do I really have to write a basketball school or can I just leave this as is and disappoint the one Kentucky fan who might actually read this? In all seriousness they deserve a lot of congratulations for a fantastic season, but ultimately the loss to Tennessee really marred it.
23 Houston Cougars American runner ups and justification fodder for Cincinnati's ranking. I am down for relegating Houston to that role. After a disappointing loss to Texas Tech, Houston really started to turn it around and went undefeated before dropping to Cincinnati in the conference title game. That can do attitude has them just outside the top 25 in SoR, but that's fine by me in this case.
24 Texas A&M Aggies Somehow Texas A&M lost every game they played against ranked opponents but proceeded to beat Alabama on the way to an 8-4 season. Some things never change.
25 Minnesota Golden Gophers What a job by PJ Fleck! He has Minnesota in a great place behind a beautiful running attack powered by Mar'Keise Irving and Ky Thomas while Tanner Morgan acts as an unremarkable game manager aka classic B1G football. Just like they used to say about the Timberwolves...Minnesota might be spooky next year. A good win over Wisconsin to end the season and nice 22nd slot in the F+ ranks and a 26 in Sagarin. All in all, a solid year for them.

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