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Due_Connection179 Ballot for 2022 Week 6

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 3, 2022, 8:39 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Game Film, Strength of Schedule, Head-to-Head (especially winning on the road), and finally Articles written about the games I missed. Pretty messy week with 12 teams in the APs top 33 losing this week. I believe my top 18 is currently rock solid with the game data and film we currently have. My current "next 8": James Madison, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State, Syracuse, Baylor, Arkansas.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Pretty sure Alabama & Georgia are going to be playing musical chairs at the top of my rankings for the rest of the season. Alabama is my pre-season #1, so a little easier for me to jump Georgia with them, but I do think it will come down to the SEC Championship Game still on who will start the CFP at #1. Next week: vs Texas A&M
2 Georgia Bulldogs The only good thing I can say about Georgia vs Missouri is that they survived. Offense looked sloppy, but their defense looked solid (minus a couple plays). Next week: vs Auburn
3 Ohio State Buckeyes I'm pretty sure Ohio State's 2nd-team could beat Rutgers by 20, so that's all I will really say about this week. Could be a sneaky game next week if they overlook the Spartans. Next week: at Michigan State
4 Clemson Tigers Pretty strong showing from Clemson vs #10 NC State last week. They only won by 10 pts, but it never really felt that close with how well the defense was playing. Two wins now vs current AP top 15 schools (NC State & Wake Forest), so I felt like this was the right time for Clemson to jump USC. With how terrible their offense can be though, they are always on upset watch going into every game. Next week: at Boston College
5 Oklahoma State Cowboys My pre-season #4 team is back in my top 5 after a 1-week absence (with the help of USC's 1st half struggles). Dominated the 1st half vs Baylor, let the lead slip a little in the 3rd, then the defense closed the game out. The Big 12 is better than the ACC & PAC 12, so as long as Oklahoma State keeps winning then they should jump Clemson in my rankings back into the top 4. Next week: Texas Tech
6 USC Trojans Turned it on late to put some distance between Arizona State. I don't know what it is about PAC-12 play for them right now, but they've had 3 conference games and in all 3 they were within 1 score in the 2nd half against what should be inferior teams. If this trend continues, and the teams under them keep winning, then the Trojans might slide further down my rankings. Next week: vs Washington State
7 Michigan Wolverines Once they scored their first TD, my first though was "games over Iowa probably won't score that much", so that's what I thought about this game. I'm still waiting on the Penn State game (10/15) to see if this team is actually worth the hype this season because the only decent win they currently have is vs Maryland and they looked sloppy. Next week: at Indiana
8 Penn State Nittany Lions I avoided last weeks game vs Northwestern because it was basically unwatchable. I never thought Penn State was ever in trouble, but winning 17-7 at home against an unranked team never looks good. Only reason Tennessee didn't jump them is because they were on a bye week. Penn State's turn for a bye week, then they get #4 Michigan. Next week: BYE WEEK
9 Tennessee Volunteers BYE WEEK. Next week: at #25 LSU (Tennessee is my lock of the week to win at LSU)
10 Ole Miss Rebels Can honestly say that Ole Miss beating Kentucky last week was one of the better wins so far this season. I was so confident in Kentucky that I almost made them my lock, then Lane Kiffin & the Land Sharks came and kicked them in the mouth. Next week: at Vanderbilt
11 Utah Utes Absolutely dominated a good Oregon State team from start-to-finish. Slowly but surely Utah is putting that Florida loss behind them. They still need help to jump back into the CFP conversation, but they do have USC in two weeks as well as knowing that Alabama/Tennessee/Ole Miss & Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State all play each other. So as long as Utah finishes this season strong, they should be ending at worst in the top 6. Next week: at #18 UCLA
12 Kentucky Wildcats I'm not gonna lie, I was cheering hard for Kentucky to be a cinderella this season and somehow navigate their way to the SEC Champonship Game, but now they have an uphill battle. I still really like this team, but they do have to win out now to make that season dream happen. Next week: vs South Carolina
13 NC State Wolfpack Lost on the road to a top 5 team and kept the score within 2 TDs the whole way. Honestly a solid showing for the Wolfpack which is why they only dropped 1 spot in my rankings. Next week: vs Florida State
14 Oregon Ducks Week 6 and Oregon is back to where I had them in the pre-season at #14. I did not think this was possible after Georgia absolutely drumming them week 1. Like Utah, they are having a more impressive start to conference play than USC but unfortunately they do have the worst loss in the top 25. I love watching Oregon, so I'm excited to see if they continue their march to 11-1, but we will see. Next week: at Arizona
15 Wake Forest Demon Deacons One week after an extremely disappointing 2OT loss vs #5 Clemson, the Demon Deacons bounce back and knock off Florida State on the road. Another game this week decided by 10 pts that didn't actually feel that close. I thought Wake Forest was the better team on both sides of the ball for a solid win this week. Next week: vs Army
16 Kansas Jayhawks The absolute best story of the CFB season so far. Not only are the Jayhawks 5-0 to start the season, but they also have College GameDay coming to town for their game against #17 TCU. Win-or-lose this season has been an electric start for Kansas so lets see if the magic continues this week. Next week: vs #17 TCU (College GameDay)
17 TCU Horned Frogs The 2nd of 3 great stories to walk into week 6 undefeated. TCU obliterated Oklahoma with 41 first half points then their defense finished them off with only 7 second half points. A 55-24 win over Oklahoma is good every season, and just puts a stamp on the Sooners CFP hopes. Next week: at #19 Kansas (College GameDay). I'm going to say this now, whoever wins I promise to put in the top 10 for next week.
18 UCLA Bruins The Final great story to walk into week 6 undefeated which is why I have them back-to-back-to-back at 16-17-18 this week. A scare vs South Alabama week 3 (32-31) then walking into week 5 vs (then) #15 Washington who the media had favored by nearly two scores on every prediction I saw. UCLA held ground and beat Washington with an impressive 40-32 victory (which was really Washington saving face after being down 40-16 going into the 4th). Next week: vs #11 Utah
19 BYU Cougars Honestly, didn't want to bring up BYU because a 38-26 win over Utah State looks good most seasons, but that same Utah State team got blown out at home by Weber State 35-7. Only reason they moved up from #20 is due to the 7 teams above them (in my poll) losing this week. Next week: vs Notre Dame
20 Washington Huskies Like I said on UCLA's line earlier, Washington really saved face after being down 22pts going into the 4th quarter vs UCLA for "just" an 8-pt loss. Really like their QB Penix and believe in them enough to finish strong. Next week: at Arizona State
21 Cincinnati Bearcats "Look whose back, back again." I said after their week 1 loss that Cincinnati should climb back into the top 25 around this point in the season because of how solid they are overall, and they haven't really disappointed. They've taken care of buisness and now are set up to make another NY6 Bowl run as the top G5 school. Next week: vs USF
22 Washington State Cougars Washington State won last week vs California in a way most people don't think of them, with defense. 28-9 while controlling the whole game vs a solid California team is impressive, and with their only loss being a 44-41 week 4 loss vs (now) #12 Oregon, it's time to get the Cougars some credit. Next week: at #6 USC
23 Minnesota Golden Gophers Underdog Purdue strikes again. Outside of Minnesota's game-tying TD in the 3rd quarter, their offense looked pretty stagnate. Their 1st half possessions went: INT-Turnover on Downs-Missed FG-FG-Punt-INT-Half, so if I knew that Minnesota only had 1 punt in the 1st half, I thought they would be up by 20. 2nd half also only had one drive over 50 yards which ended up as their only TD, but this is definitly a game to try to forget for their offense. Next week: at Illinois
24 Tulane Green Wave You might be thinking, why does this guy have Tulane in his top 25? They have a win at (now) #20 Kansas State another good win at Houston, and their loss is to 2-2 Southern Miss (who has a 2-pt loss vs undefeated Liberty & a loss at Miami). Tulane is a good football team and I think they are the ones who will challenge Cincinnati for (not only) the American Conference Championship, but also the G5 NY6 Bowl berth. Next week: vs East Carolina
25 Kansas State Wildcats Kansas State currently has 1 small hiccup and that's against (my) #24 Tulane. Dominated South Dakota. Dominated Missouri. Won wire-to-wire at Oklahoma. Cruised vs Texas Tech. This is a darkhorse team that could make a run the rest of the way, so watch out for the Wildcats. Next week: at Iowa State

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