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nw____ Ballot for 2022 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2022, 12:19 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I watch as many games as I can and kind of go from there. I explained my rationale more fully in weeks 1 and 2, but I give more credit to teams with dominant offensive/defensive lines and excellent QBs.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Shaky start last week but I can forgive a shaky start against a solid Kent State team when you win 39-22. There's something to be said for getting punched in the mouth against an opponent with nothing to lose and winning anyways.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes As good a performance as they could've given for the most part. I was shocked at how well they ran the ball (even though Wisconsin hasn't looked amazing so far this year). Surprised that they gave up any second half points with Knowles as their DC, but I am assuming that happened with the backups in (turned this one off early).
3 Alabama Crimson Tide They beat Vanderbilt. Waiting to see if the Texas game was instructive or an aberration. Vandy isn't the team to help us out with that.
4 Michigan Wolverines Shaky at times. Wondering if the pass defense will be tested when they face a team that can block up front better than Maryland. Luckily for them, that won't happen against Iowa. I left the Maryland game with a few questions, though.
5 Oklahoma State Cowboys Bye week, no real movement.
6 Tennessee Volunteers Got the Florida monkey off of their backs. This team has been surprising so far this year. Looking forward to seeing how they fare from week to week in conference play. Showed some positive signs yesterday, especially with the offense's ability to adjust their style based on the opponent.
7 Penn State Nittany Lions Looked... ok? I'd like to see them stop playing to the level of their opponents. (not a problem exclusive to this season under Franklin). When they play good teams, though, they look like a good team, too. One more tune-up before the big one in Ann Arbor. That is going to be very, very interesting.
8 Kentucky Wildcats Looked... kinda bad against a kinda bad NIU team. The Ole Miss game will be very telling.
9 Minnesota Golden Gophers Domination. Absolute domination. They have been looking good against super bad teams, but they looked just as good against Michigan State. Does that tell us more about Minnesota or Michigan State, though?
10 Washington Huskies I can't believe Washington is in my top ten, but I really think they deserve it. Is the PAC back??
11 USC Trojans Did not expect the offense to lay a giant egg against Oregon State. Still, a win's a win. Is their turnover luck sustainable? (Also, stop putting games on the PAC-12 Network, I am not good at finding alternative ways to watch games).
12 Utah Utes Did what they needed against ASU, a team that, in theory, should be as well designed (at least based on intention alone) to stop them as any in the PAC-12. I will be keeping an eye on them for sure.
13 Clemson Tigers The offense looked like it could function! DJU's best game in a long time. Was that because of something that has clicked or because they faced a team that almost lost to Liberty last week? I will need to see more from the offense before moving them too much higher. That said, the defense was VERY concerning in this game. They usually comfortably handle Wake. What happened?
14 Oregon Ducks It wasn't pretty, but it was gutsy. They just beat a solid WSU team. Have to give them credit. They'll only go as far as Nix takes them. Can he take them to Vegas??
15 Baylor Bears Good showing against a good ISU team. Definitely got the benefit of the doubt on a few penalties that may have been the difference in this game. Still not sold on Shapen or the offensive line, but the latter may have turned a corner.
16 NC State Wolfpack I am pretty sure they're overrated but am not going to be too hard on them until they actually manage to drop a game. I am also pretty sure that the team they play next week is overrated, so the nice thing for me is that I'll get to drop (or even unrank) a team I don't believe in no matter what (well, barring some kind of a classic where both teams actually look good... or if a bunch of other teams lose... or something... maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up).
17 Kansas Jayhawks Football. School. The Jayhawks have themselves a DUDE at QB. Please don't take Leipold from them.
18 Ole Miss Rebels Well, they tried their hardest to lose this one but managed to beat a juggernaut of a Tulsa team. It wasn't pretty but, again, I won't be too hard on a team for getting the job done.
19 Texas A&M Aggies I wish this team would decide if it were good. Either have an offense or don't-- I don't care what they pick, they just need to pick one. I wonder how much of what we saw was the result of a bad Arkansas secondary. The Mississippi State and Alabama games should help us get a better idea of what this team can really be... which might be 8-4 again.
20 Oklahoma Sooners Bad loss. The defensive line and linebackers I saw play against K-State will not get this team to the Big XII Championship-- in fact, they may not even get the team to 9 wins. They are still ranked for two reasons: 1) the offense looks good when it gets out of its own way (not a certainty); 2) Kansas State always plays OU hard and has some kind of weird magical power over the Sooners, so I don't want to extrapolate too far from this game. That said, if the defense plays like it did last week, they deserve to be ranked right around where Wake Forest is right now: somewhere outside the top 25. In other words, I am willing to let them work their ranking out. They'd better be MUCH more focused next week against TCU (who might actually be good?).
21 Syracuse Orange They keep winning. It wasn't pretty but they came out with a win. Really starting to wonder how good this team might be.
22 Florida State Seminoles Another team that has really defied preseason expectations. They might mess around and compete for the ACC Championship. It looks as wide-open as ever.
23 Cincinnati Bearcats Nice win and cover against an Indiana team that was overrated.
24 BYU Cougars I don't know what to do with this team. They also need to decide whether they're good or not. Wyoming gave them all they could handle for a while. If they don't deserve to be ranked this highly, I believe they'll show it. This ranking will work itself out.
25 TCU Horned Frogs Are they actually good? That was a tough win against a VERY motivated SMU in a hostile environment. Very impressive.

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