Back to poll results >>

YellowSkarmory Ballot for 2022 Week 6

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 3, 2022, 1:53 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I try to rank based on resume, which creates some weird results this early in the season. I do not base my rankings off my previous ones whatsoever, as that just leaves teams with worse resumes higher than they should be. MOV does not play much of a role in my rankings, either. Got these done pretty early so I decided to give explanations. Enjoy.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers Wins at Wake Forest and at home against NC State are definitely the best pair of wins in the country right now, and as such Clemson claims the #1 spot. They did have to go to 2 overtimes to beat Wake, but that's a solid team on the road, coming out with a win is huge. Next up for the Tigers is a trip to Boston College on the road.
2 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama picked up a win at Arkansas this week, which is their third win over a 3-2 team, joining Texas and Vanderbilt. The former two were road wins, and both seem like solid teams; the strength of those wins is what puts them at #2 this week. Next up is a home game against Texas A&M.
3 Georgia Bulldogs What happened to Georgia? Like seriously, they go from allowing 10 points in 3 games including a 49-3 win over Oregon to allowing 22 in back to back games against Kent State and Missouri, the latter of which they were down double digits in the 4th quarter to. That Oregon win is huge though, one of the best in the country at the moment if not the best, and it keeps them up near the top of the rankings. If they struggle at home against Auburn, I will have no idea what to think about them.
4 UCLA Bruins Uhhh...yeah, I guess UCLA is #4? Wins over Washington and a 4-1 South Alabama at home are both very solid, so...sure. The resume speaks for itself, I don't know if I like it but they sit at #4 for the moment. A home game against Utah offers a chance to potentially shoot up further in the rankings.
5 Michigan Wolverines Michigan's win over Maryland actually looks pretty good now, and a win at Iowa is also good. Still, their three other wins are against legitimately bottom 10 teams (though UConn won a game this week against Fresno!), and even those two big wins aren't amazing. A trip to Indiana comes up next.
6 Kansas Jayhawks ROCK CHALK! Kansas sits at 5-0 with a solid resume, headlined by wins over a 4-1 Duke and a 3-2 Iowa State, both at home. The Jayhawks look like a legitimately good team this year; ISU seems to have been the first team to figure out their offense, but their defense came through and held ISU to 11. They host TCU for Gameday next week, in what should be a great game!
7 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss picked up a huge win vs. Kentucky, which moves them to 5-0, and a home win over Troy also keeps gaining value. That has them at #7 for me now, heading into a road trip to Vanderbilt.
8 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State's win at Purdue looks a whole lot better after Purdue's upset win over Minnesota this past week. That gives them two road wins over teams with winning records, joining the Auburn win they have. A big trip to Michigan is their next game, but they get a bye week before it; after that, they host Minnesota and Ohio State, so they're heading into the tough part of their schedule.
9 Oregon Ducks Oregon is my top 1 loss team, on the backs of wins at home against BYU and on the road against Washington State. Those are both top 30 teams for me, and not many teams have two wins over 1 loss teams right now. Still, that Georgia loss was horrible, but they've bounced back well. Next up is a trip to Arizona.
10 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State picked up a huge road win at Baylor, but...there's nothing else that they really have. None of their other opponents even have an FBS win, so... that at least keeps them below Oregon. They host Texas Tech next.
11 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee's marquee win at Pittsburgh looks a lot worse after the Panthers took a tumble to Georgia Tech this week. The Florida win also never looked great, and it still doesn't, but it's probably their best win at this point (writing this before Florida-EWU, if Florida plays decently then it's definitely their best win). A trip to LSU is next, definitely a tough game.
12 James Madison Dukes Wow, James Madison's ranking is still the biggest surprise for me this year. Wins at App State and vs. Middle Tennessee aren't special, but they are good (each of the two have a solid win of their own), and JMU remains undefeated. A trip to Arkansas State is next in the cards, which is probably the easiest game left on their schedule (maybe Georgia State at home is close, but I think GAST is better).
13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake picked up a huge road win at Florida State, which adds to wins vs. Liberty and at Vanderbilt in being wins over teams with winning records. They're also one of just a few with two wins over 4-1 teams (the first two), which is big. The loss to Clemson was in 2OT and to my #1, so it doesn't really hurt much. They host Army next.
14 Ohio State Buckeyes Definitely going to earn the ire of OSU fans, but...what is their best win right now? Notre Dame is maybe decent, Rutgers and Toledo have winning records, but...are any of them actually good? Frankly, I have no idea. A trip to Michigan State isn't even really going to add anything to their resume; I don't think MSU is even going bowling this year at this point.
15 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State picked up a big win vs. Texas A&M, which is now their 3rd win over a team with a winning record, joining wins vs. Memphis and at Arizona. That gives them a very solid resume, even if none of those wins are huge, and with a loss to LSU on the road. A home game against Arkansas comes up next, followed by trips to Kentucky and Alabama. Tough!
16 USC Trojans USC may be undefeated, but they don't really have a great win anywhere. A road win against Oregon State is okay, and Rice is somehow 3-2, but...neither of those wins are particularly good. A home game against Wazzu is the type of opportunity for a huge win to add to their resume.
17 LSU Tigers LSU's win over the Mississippi State is big, and they do have a solid win at Auburn. They did drop a game, though, to FSU in New Orleans. A home game against Tennessee is a huge opportunity next week.
18 Kansas State Wildcats KSU's one blemish at home to Tulane seems pretty bad until you realize Tulane is a solid 4-1 team at this point. Wins at Oklahoma and vs. Texas Tech really help with their resume as well. A trip to Iowa State is an opportunity for the Wildcats to add to their resume.
19 Syracuse Orange Syracuse is undefeated, and their win over Purdue gained quite a bit of value. Still, it's not a great win, and they... don't really have anything else to show. A home game against NC State after their bye next week is an opportunity to get a big win.
20 TCU Horned Frogs TCU picked up a huge blowout win at home against Oklahoma this week, but it doesn't have too much value given Oklahoma doesn't look too impressive this year. Still, it is a decent win and their best. A trip to Kansas is an opportunity to pick up a huge win.
21 Florida State Seminoles Florida State's win against LSU in New Orleans keeps gaining value, and it's the main reason they're in the top 25 this week. They did lose at home to Wake Forest last Saturday, but that was more a missed opportunity than a bad loss. A trip to NC State offers an opportunity for a big win this week.
22 NC State Wolfpack NC State dropped the trip to Clemson, which was expected and doesn't really hurt their resume too much. A win at home against Texas Tech did lose value after TTU's loss to Kansas State (also expected), but it's still good, and the road win against East Carolina does look decent. A home game against Florida State is an opportunity to add to those two wins.
23 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Coastal may be 5-0, but they haven't really done anything. They escaped Georgia Southern at home this week, which at least is their first win over an FBS team with a winning record, but... it's not great. A trip to UL-Monroe is up next.
24 Tulane Green Wave Welcome to the top 25, Tulane! They picked up a win at Houston in OT on Thursday, which doesn't actually have too much value given that Houston is 2-3, but I figure it will probably pick up some value later. The main thing they have is a huge road win at Kansas State, and even with the loss to Southern Miss, they sneak into the bottom of my top 25. They host East Carolina next, in what should be a good game.
25 Kentucky Wildcats A road win at Florida looks pretty good right now for Kentucky, and even though they just dropped their first game of the year to Ole Miss, they take the final spot for this week. They host South Carolina next. First 5 out: BYU, Washington State, Cincinnati, Utah, North Carolina

Back to poll results >>