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ikindalikelemons Ballot for 2022 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 11, 2022, 11:58 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Re-rack every week. No poll inertia. H2H matters, did they execute their gameplan well, do I believe in their QB, do I believe in their head coach, etc. It's still early, so teams who have beaten quality opponents are inflated a bit, but it will even out once we get past the cupcake weeks.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Ho hum. I expected Bama to crush Texas and take this spot. Didn't happen.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Offense definitely benefitted from the cupcake this week.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide Honestly, I wanted to move them lower. But a win on the road in Austin, regardless of whether or not I believe that facemask no-call would have changed the outcome, is still a decent win.
4 Kentucky Wildcats Do I believe Kentucky is the 4th-best team in the country? No. But in this group from 4-8 of 2-0 teams whom I believe have beaten a quality opponent, the win in the swamp, effectively limiting AR, was the best to me.
5 Arkansas Razorbacks Good win against Cincy and disposed of the Gamecocks. Only reason they're below Kentucky is Kentucky did it on the road.
6 BYU Cougars Gutsy win at home. The kicking needs to be better to keep winning close games. Could vault even more if they go into Autzen and rock the Ducks
7 Tennessee Volunteers I valued Pitt a bitt lower than most did, but still not easy to go on the road and beat a ranked team in OT.
8 USC Trojans The last of the 4-8 group, Stanford was the least impressive, but still a conference road win. That Lincoln Riley offense is nice.
9 Michigan Wolverines Michigan is probably a top-5 team. They've beaten Colorado State, who just lost to MTSU, and Hawai'i, who got boatraced by Vandy, at home. You'll forgive me if I don't give them a ton of credit yet. I'm sure I will after a B1G game or two. They come in at the top of this 9-14 group because they haven't yet played with their food.
10 Clemson Tigers I still don't trust DJ. I just don't. But you know what I do trust? That defense. I look forward to seeing Clemson play a P5 opponent that's not Georgia Tech to see if they're really back in the CFP conversation.
11 Oklahoma State Cowboys I love Spencer Sanders. I think this is a well-led group that has the potential to push for a playoff spot. The defense looked better this week against Emory Jones & Co., but I need a slightly bigger sample size.
12 Miami Hurricanes Can't fault them so far. They've absolutely dispatched...*checks notes*...Bethune Cookman and Southern Miss. This team could be really good, but I want some competition first.
13 Michigan State Spartans Can't fault them so far. They've absolutely dispatched...*checks notes*...Western Michigan and Akron. This team could be really good, but I want some competition first.
14 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma is good. They have the blue-chip ratio every program wants. But they've gotten off to a slower start with both cupcakes so far, so I'm reserving judgment for now.
15 NC State Wolfpack The Pack took out some of last week's frustrations on their FCS-opponent this week. I'm still high on Dave Doeren and the leadership on this team. Sue me.
16 Baylor Bears Dang near won on the road at BYU. This is still a team capable of winning the Big XII.
17 Florida Gators I'm choosing to read last week's game as "Florida is good, but Kentucky is better", as opposed to "Utah was a fluke". We'll see if I read it right in the coming weeks.
18 Utah Utes Utah dropped with UF for now because I value H2H, but if Florida loses another and Utah's revenge tour starts in earnest, they'll obviously leave the Gators in the dust and rise back up the poll.
19 Kansas State Wildcats Call me an Adrian Martinez truther, I don't care. The Cats looked real nice against Mizzou and are a sneaky pick in the Big XII.
20 Texas A&M Aggies My biggest issue with A&M is that for all the talent that's on this roster, there's not a single QB on it that I trust. That was very apparent against an admittedly oft-underrated App State team. It may get worse. They hang on, unlike ND, Wisconsin, or Pitt because of said talent level.
21 Wake Forest Demon Deacons I refused to rank Wake while the Sam Hartman situation was playing out because I believe the team's success hinges so much on him. Glad to have him back on the field.
22 Syracuse Orange UConn isn't good, but they are improved. After thumping Louisville at home, Syracuse wasted no time in dispatching the Huskies on the road too. That Purdue game looms large ahead of the ACC slate, and now Notre Dame at home looks fun too.
23 Texas Longhorns I don't know, dude, they looked pretty back to me. Here's to hoping Ewers isn't too seriously injured and Texas can seriously push for a great season.
24 Marshall Thundering Herd What a statement win for Coach Huff and the Herd. Respect the SBC (even first-year members).
25 Washington State Cougars At 25, like last week, there's plenty of options. For me, it came down to the more impressive win, and the Cougs winning in Madison just edged out Oregon State and Ole Miss. They might not stick here, but for now, they deserve it in my eyes.

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