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Due_Connection179 Ballot for 2022 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 12, 2022, 7:45 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I start out every season with a combination of the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll + Recruiting Rankings (seeing which 5-stars went where for immediate impact) + Pre-Season "Prediction" Polls to make my poll. I also have to remind myself each week that my rankings will be absolute trash till about week 8 lol (see preseason #10 Wisconsin), but each week we get more information and we can be more & more accurate he time. That being said, I don't think I've ever had 3 of my top 8 teams lose in a single week (#5 A&M, #6 Baylor, and #8 Wisconsin; even though I picked BYU over Baylor). With that rambling done, here's my updated week 3 poll that will probably be blown up again next Saturday:

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Keeping Alabama #1 was tough. They probably lose against Texas if Texas doesn't have two or three key injuries, but Alabama did survive and until they actually lose they will be top 4 regardless, so I'm going to roll with my pre-season Champion at #1.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes This was another tough decision to keep tOSU at #2. The close win at home over Notre Dame looks shaky now and beating Arkansas State isn't going to win them any points.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia at #3 is probably surprising to others, and I tried to move them up but personally couldn't with my lack of faith in Oregon being a decent team so that's not a "great" win for me personally. Bama, tOSU, and Georgia are my top 3 moving forward. None of their schedules pick up until October, so I don't expect movement in the top 3 until then.
4 Oklahoma State Cowboys This is not a good reason to keep them at #4, and I understand that, but I'm also human and like to think my picks are great. Oklahoma State was my pre-season #4, but their defense allowing 61 points total to Central Michigan and Arizona State is a little concerning. USC is for sure knocking on their door right now.
5 USC Trojans USC has beaten Rice & their rival Stanford for a decent start to the Lincoln Riley-era. I am hesitant to put them over my pre-season #4 Oklahoma State right now, but with a decisive win over Fresno State I will consider it.
6 Michigan Wolverines Not much to talk about here. Running through a weak opening two weeks (Colorado State & Hawaii).
7 Kentucky Wildcats Coming off an opening win over Miami (OH), they follow it up with a win over (a slightly overrated) #12 Florida team. I personally love this team and have them as my darkhorse team to win the SEC East this season.
8 BYU Cougars I will give credit where it's due. I picked BYU to beat Baylor, and I thought they were the better team and should've won in regulation if it wasn't for a bad kick (a lot of that this week in FBS & NFL). Playing at Oregon next week, so should have even more clarity on this team after that.
9 Clemson Tigers The only thing I can give this team is it's defense. They are elite, but they are overworked and it will come back to bite them. Their offense is below average and only managed 35 pts on Furman. I expect them to lose to Wake Forest in two weeks, but until that happens I will go with track record of winning even with a below average offense.
10 Arkansas Razorbacks Coming off a nice win over Cincinnati, Arkansas continues with a solid win over South Carolina. A little shaky on defense, but overall a good start for the Razorbacks.
11 Baylor Bears Absolutely hated dropping them 5 spots for a double-overtime loss, but I am concerned about their offense if they do get down by a couple scores. BYU was able to play hyper-conservative and beat them, so overcoming some of the "high-powered" Big 12 offenses might be tough for Baylor.
12 Utah Utes Back to #12 for the Utes. Dropped them to #14 last week and beating up on Southern Utah isn't impressive, but they didn't lose like A&M & Notre Dame, so here they are. Solid team that just started slow.
13 Ole Miss Rebels I feel "icky" for putting Ole Miss here. My pre-season #17 and really the only good thing they have going for them is that they haven't lost. Troy & Central Arkansas are "give mes" for a program like this, so not really much to say there. Playing at Georgia Tech should be interesting this week.
14 Penn State Nittany Lions Every single season I love Penn State, and every single season I get let down by a close loss to tOSU or a key injury. Underrated win at Purdue then a win over Ohio this week. At Auburn this Saturday should be a good game.
15 Tennessee Volunteers A win on the road over a top 20 team means a strong start to the season for Tennessee. I'm going to try to not overreact too much to this with Pitt losing their QB in that game, but this sure adds more hype to the UF-Tennessee game in two weeks.
16 Michigan State Spartans This is one of my "I just don't believe in you" teams. I think they will be a solid 9 or 10 win team, but something just seems off about them right now and I can't put my finger quite on it.
17 Oklahoma Sooners Back-to-Back "I just don't believe in you" teams. They lost a lot this off-season and they don't really have a "prove it" game until they play Texas on October 8th. I'm going to be very conservated with this team until then. Also, this is my upset pick this week at Nebraska.
18 Miami Hurricanes I am a fan of Miami, so I am pretty bias, but that bias is more towards underselling the team lately. Bethune-Cookman & Southern Miss aren't going to move the needle for me, so let's see how they play against a mad A&M team coming off a bad home loss.
19 Texas Longhorns Texas lost and moved up two spots? Mainly because if it weren't for injuries then we are probably talking about how "Texas is back" for the 5th time in 7 years for beating Bama. Not really a "give me" against UTSA this week, so let's see how they bounce back after the last minute loss.
20 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt is another team that lost, yet moved up in my poll. A combination of teams above them losing to inferior opponents and losing to a ranked team in overtime without your starting QB will do that. Sneaky tough game at Western Michigan this week, then Rhode Island the next before starting ACC play. Hopefully they get back to 100% before then.
21 Florida Gators Continuing the run of teams to "move up despite losing" last week. I personally had Florida #25 (couldn't believe they were as high as #12), but they played very well against Kentucky and had a shot late in the game to potentially win it. A few mistakes to sure up, but so far a bright start to the season for the Gators.
22 Texas A&M Aggies How do you fall from #5 to #22? You lose at home to a G5 school while only putting up 14 points. Another season and another Jimbo disappointing loss. I had a lot of faith in A&M, but they need to dig themselves out of the Appalachian sized hole they dug themselves.
23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Absolute love the Demon Deacons and very happy that their QB is back and healthy. Wins over VMI & Vanderbilt won't raise them much, but their next three games are against Liberty, #9 Clemson, and #25 Florida State. If they are 5-0 after October 1st, we could see some fireworks in this poll.
24 Oregon State Beavers My favorite part of early season polls is to give love to teams who usually get overlooked. Oregon State hasn't been ranked since 2013 (AP #25) and have 1 winning season (2021) since 2013 as well. Beginning-to-end win over Boise State, then a come from behind win over (my #29) Fresno State this past week, and I have to just give some love to Oregon State. At home vs #7 USC on 9/24 is looking pretty great right now.
25 Florida State Seminoles I'm going back-and-forth between Florida State & NC State, and the tie-breaker for me was Florida State's 1pt win at LSU. I need to see more from both of these teams, but as of right now I'm going to show the Seminoles some love and give them #25. My "next 4 out" currently are: NC State, Cincinnati, Fresno State, and Minnesota.

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