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bretticus33 Ballot for 2022 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2022, 2:33 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Who would have thought Kent State would have scored the most points on Georgia instead of Oregon or South Carolina? Regardless, Georgia won without much effort and Brock Bowers is one of the 10 best players in the country, showing off his ability to be a rusher in addition to a pass catcher.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State’s offense is proving to be the country’s best at this point in the season with the CJ Stroud Heisman Campaign in full effect. Most importantly, the Buckeyes defense seems to have been improved from last season.
3 Alabama Crimson Tide The routine 52 point beatdown of Vanderbilt and Alabama looks like they’re back to being the dominant force they normally are. Alabama’s offense looks like it’s starting to mesh together well with all the new WRs stepping up.
4 Michigan Wolverines Michigan had their first real test after a Charmin soft OOC schedule and they barely passed it. If not for Blake Corum’s career day, Michigan could very well have lost to Maryland. Michigan will have to improve from this game if they want to make a run at a repeat Big 10 title.
5 Clemson Tigers DJU played arguably the best game of his life; the Wake Forest defense was just what the doctor ordered. Clemson’s defense clearly struggled with all the freshman getting significant playing time, but their front was still strong. Clemson picked up a huge road win that could be important in ACC standings down the road.
6 USC Trojans USC survived by a hair in Corvallis against a good Oregon State team. Their offense had a lot of struggles and Caleb Williams’ Heisman campaign took a huge hit, but the Trojan defense is legit. The rate they’re manufacturing takeaways might not be sustainable though.
7 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee’s defense really struggled against a sputtering Florida offense, even with their 2 takeaways. However the offense has been making up for it with their high-powered offense. QB Herndon Hooker is playing like a Heisman contender.
8 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky didn’t have their strongest game against Northern Illinois, but they did enough to win. Will Levis is looking solid, but Kentucky would really benefit from the return of RB Chris Rodriguez.
9 Oklahoma State Cowboys Bye week for OSU
10 Utah Utes Utah with another win in mostly dominating fashion. They’re gritty, tough, and physical and they dominate the way Alabama used to in the early Saban era. The further we get from their Week 1 loss to Florida, the more it looks like a flukily lucky win for Florida. Utah is still a front runner for the PAC-12 and a Rose Bowl berth.
11 Oregon Ducks Oregon used a massive 4th quarter to come from behind and beat a previously undefeated Washington State. They’re still gelling together but it’s clear there’s a lot of talent on offense and defense. That’s two big wins in a row for Oregon.
12 NC State Wolfpack NC State took care of UConn the way a ranked team should take care of the Huskies. The biggest game of the season is coming up now for NC State with a trip to Clemson coming up. A win there could legitimize the hype they had as preseason ACC favorites.
13 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State is looking very strong as they enter Big 10 play. The defense is hard to breach and the offense is doing enough to score points. Penn State is a sleeper Big 10 contender.
14 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma looked like the Oklahoma of old in their loss to Kansas State: good offense but a leaky defense. Venables was hired in part to fix the defense and they didn’t pass the test against the Wildcats. KSU is the Sooners’ boogeyman team in the Big 12, but if the defense continues to be an issue then expect more Oklahoma losses.
15 Baylor Bears Baylor is winning, but they’re barely scraping by at the moment. Iowa State isn’t a bad team but it’s a team that Baylor should probably beat by more than a score. It’s hard to see Baylor as a Big 12 contender with how they’re playing at the moment.
16 Ole Miss Rebels The Lane Train is looking more like the Lane Roller Coster at the moment. A week after a very impressive win over Georgia Tech, Ole Miss only beat Tulsa by 7. There’s clearly a lot of talent but it’s up to the coaching staff to find a way to put it together. I think Ole Miss is capable of 2 or 3 big wins, but they’re also likely to pick up a few losses along the way.
17 Texas A&M Aggies After an embarrassing loss to App State a couple weeks ago, A&M followed that up with 2 wins but they could still look better than they have. Miami is clearly not as good as preseason projections had them and the Aggies were probably fortunate to beat Arkansas this past weekend. The offense has a lot of issues but the defense is among the best in the nation.
18 BYU Cougars BYU rebounded from a blowout in Autzen with a comfortable win over rival Wyoming. Jalen Hall is the best non-P5 QB in the country and played like it. However, BYU is probably in that zone where they are clearly a top 25 team but they could easily get beaten up by any of the other top 25 teams.
19 Arkansas Razorbacks Arkansas probably blew it against A&M. KJ Jefferson’s inexplicably stupid dive from the 5 that resulted in a fumble and A&M TD changed the momentum of the game and their kicker missed the go-ahead FG by hitting the very top of the upright. Arkansas is a good team, but it’s not without flaws and getting a bit more out of the passing game is a top priority.
20 Washington Huskies Washington is continuing to be one of the surprises of the season. First year HC DeBoer has the Huskies as a surprise PAC-12 contender when the team looked absolutely dreadful the last season or two. Transfer QB Michael Penix is turning into a star player and possibly a surprise Heisman contender.
21 Florida State Seminoles Mike Norvell is coaching himself off the hot seat. The Seminoles are 4-0 and looking strong in all phases of the game. FSU’s biggest test so far comes up this weekend when Wake Forest comes to Tallahassee.
22 Minnesota Golden Gophers When will discussions about PJ Fleck being among the country’s best coaches start? He has Minnesota at 4-0 and we need to stop being surprised by seeing Minnesota do well nowadays. Minnesota gets in with an easy road win over Michigan State and they’re positioning themselves well for a Big 10 title game run.
23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest lost a heartbreaker to Clemson in 2OT. Their passing game tore apart Clemson and Sam Hartman had a career day, but like it did last season the defense let Wake Forest down again. Just as it did last season, the offense will have to carry the team again and that includes this upcoming weekend with a road game against a resurgent Florida State.
24 Kansas Jayhawks Kansas football is the best story in CFB right now. The team accustomed to being a Big 12 bottom-dweller is suddenly 4-0 and becoming the country’s favorite team. Jalon Daniels is leading the way by playing out of his mind and Lance Leipold is the Coach of the Year front-runner.
25 Kansas State Wildcats KSU picked up yet another win over Oklahoma in what is probably the last meeting between the two (barring KSU being a future OOC game for Oklahoma). Adrian Martinez had a career game and his partnership with Deuce Vaughn is proving to be one of the best rushing duos in the country. Their loss to Tulane is still concerning, but it’s superseded by a road win over Oklahoma.

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