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Yelich04 Ballot for 2022 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 9, 2022, 1:37 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Only took into consideration all 0 and 1 loss teams alongside all 2 loss Power Five teams (including Notre Dame & BYU in that definition). Any 2 loss team I currently refuse to put above any 0 loss teams. Reconsidered a lot of my rankings from last week here, so the ups and downs from my poll last week may look a bit odd. Next 5 In: Purdue (grumble grumble, Maryland got robbed by the refs, grumble grumble), South Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota, Florida State Dropping Out: #10 Utah, #13 Kentucky, #20 BYU, #21 Washington, #24 Maryland (grumble grumble see previous statement grumble grumble), #25 Washington State

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes -. They are the only team in the country who I feel confident in while they do what great teams should, and that is trounce their competition. Disregarding one game early in the season (Notre Dame), they do not play games against lesser teams close. They just win, and win big. There isn't much else a football team is supposed to do.
2 Tennessee Volunteers +2. They blew the doors off of LSU, who feel like frauds, but only had one very close loss and a good win to Miss State coming into the game. Tennessee has quality wins against Pitt and Florida too, who are not as good as everyone thought previously, but are not bad teams to say the least. They have given me more reasons to believe in them, especially recently, than the two teams I had them jump.
3 Georgia Bulldogs -. they beat Auburn, big whoop. I still feel the stench of the Mizzou game on my nose, so my negative feelings on them is gonna linger for me until they face Florida I think. Still, the Oregon win is the best in the nation by any team at the moment, but it's just felt like the team we had for the first three games are a different team than this current one. Then again they beat Auburn by 32 and I'm just discounting it because I think Auburn is bad, plus I was unable to watch this game because I was at Maryland vs Purdue and after the game I was sad so I didnt watch anything in the 3:30 window.
4 Alabama Crimson Tide -2. Alabama I did watch though, and Alabama looked bad. I dropped Penn State a bit last week after their turnover laden performance, and I feel like they had more of an excuse because of the awful playing conditions. What was it, 4 turnovers? That was a bad bad game against a team who was soundly defeated by Mississippi State. And Alabama was at home! A&M are not a good football team, and I know Bryce Young was out, but that's not a fair excuse in my opinion. They have to play better than that. And they don't have the luxury of being able to fall back on a really good win like Georgia can. When Alabama face good competition, they play them close (Texas, A&M, a good bit of the Arkansas game). The teams above them don't deal with that issue. That's why they're #4.
5 Clemson Tigers -. There's a gap between the top 4 and the rest I feel. Clemson is so suspect but I respect the Wake Forest win so much they have to be Top 5 for me. They played with their food a good bit against Boston College, but luckily it was Boston College and not a team from a good conference. The ACC is so weird for me because half the teams I respect and half the teams I see as equal to like, the Mountain West this year. Anyways, Clemson never feels like a playoff team any time I see them play, but they're gonna make it I feel because the ACC is so bad. They already beat their toughest competition (Wake Forest), it's smooth sailing from here for them. They'll get clapped in the semifinals. Until then though, resume looks good.
6 USC Trojans -. They are good, I'd even say very good. However, they have not won a team I've thought of as very good. Washington State and Oregon State are pretty good teams (though as I'm typing this Oregon State is losing to Stanford, but USC beat them too so whatevs), and Arizona State are decent. Every USC game except for the Oregon State one they've never felt in danger. I'd be tempted to put them above Clemson, but their resume is just... ehh at the moment. So I can't justify putting them any higher unless they start demolishing squads like Ohio State is doing, or beating quite good teams.
7 Oklahoma State Cowboys +1. Their wins are good but not great. Similar situation to USC. I'm tired it's 2:30 AM and 7-11 are the last explanations I'm writing so they're gonna be briefer. I like them though, I think they can do good but I can't justify putting them higher unless they start demolishing teams/getting more impressive wins.
8 TCU Horned Frogs +8. Big win over Kansas. That's a better win than their Oklahoma one. And it's a better win than the undefeateds below them have, and even better than what the two above them have. But the accumulation of the two above them have better overall resumes than TCU's in my opinion.
9 Michigan Wolverines -2. Their best win is Maryland I think, and that's not a great win I think (I say this as a Maryland fan). So I dropped them below OK State and TCU after they played Indiana close for most of their game today. Suspect team, but they're undefeated, we'll see how they fare against a team in a similar situation to them in Penn State.
10 UCLA Bruins +8. Big win over Utah. I finally think they're legit. Took them beating two teams I previously believed a lot in (my former #8 Washington, my former #10 Utah) but it finally happened. Almost put them above Michigan but the Washington win looks worse now, and a bit of me still just doubts UCLA more than Michigan.
11 Ole Miss Rebels -2. Dropped them by two because their Kentucky win doesn't look as good, they let Vandy lead after a half, and their wins against Tulsa and Troy still don't look like strong victories.
12 Penn State Nittany Lions -. They didn't play this week, but they just are... uninspiring but good. This Michigan game will be interesting because both teams seem incredibly human but also quite good. Both bleed, but I just don't know who really bleeds more at the moment. Their best win though is a squeaker against Purdue, so jury is still out on them in my personal opinion at least.
13 Wake Forest Demon Deacons +2. They were oh so close to beating Clemson. And have played well before and since that game. They are the best 1 loss team in the country in my opinon, at the very least at a resume level.
14 Syracuse Orange +3. They're the worst Power 5 undefeated in the country. You can see that belief by the fact that they're the only P5 undefeated that I put a 1 loss team above. But they're still undefeated and so upon reflection (and the Purdue win looking better now thanks to them beating Maryland and Minnesota), I have boosted the Orange a bit. NC State vs Syracuse will be very interesting to see because I have no faith in either team yet they're both in my Top 20 out of circumstance and resume alone.
15 Oregon Ducks -1. Dropped a spot because upon reflection... that Georgia loss is still so so bad. And also their best wins (BYU, Washington State) no longer look as good as they once looked.
16 Mississippi State Bulldogs +6. Slapped around Arkansas. Love that for them. They're good and I'm just gonna like ignore that LSU loss a bit because they seem really good, and that just feels like an aberration.
17 Kansas Jayhawks -6. THIS IS THE KANSAS DEMARCATION LINE. EVERY TEAM BELOW KANSAS I BELIEVE TO BE PRETTY SUSPECT IN MANY CAPACITIES. Kansas with their backup QB for most of the game nearly beat TCU. Kansas is still good. I hope Jalon Daniels gets healthy and gets back to being the amazing player he is because I love watching him play.
18 NC State Wolfpack NR. Don't be fooled by this ranking, I think NC State sucks and deserves nothing. This team is so suspect, they would be 3-3 if East Carolina and Florida State didn't shoot themselves in their feet.... but their resume is better than a lot with their only loss coming at the team I have ranked #5. And if Oregon can be ranked at #15 with the horrid Georgia loss, NC State can be ranked with the Clemson loss... doesn't mean I have to like it though. Their best win is against Florida State who is alright, but that's like it. Texas Tech and East Carolina are fine wins, but they don't inspire a lot of confidence in me. I fully believe NC State is going to have a stupid loss later in the season to like Virginia Tech, Boston College, or Louisville, on top of losing to Wake Forest and maybe Syracuse.
19 James Madison Dukes +4. Undefeated, incredibly similar to Coastal Carolina's case at #22 but they have what I believe to be a pretty good win over App State (even if App State is a 3 loss team now) so I have them at a minimum above 1 loss G5 Tulane.
20 Tulane Green Wave NR. I love it when I get to rank Group of 5 teams. The Green Wave may have lost a close one to Southern Miss, but they have that win on Kansas State, alongside wins on pretty good teams Houston and East Carolina. I like Tulane a lot.
21 Kansas State Wildcats -2. Tulane becoming ranked made me reconsider Kansas State's ranking because they both have 1 loss and Kansas State's loss was to Tulane. Plus their big win against Oklahoma looks really mediocre now, it's lost all of its luster. So I docked them for that.
22 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers NR. They're undefeated but face bad teams and win ugly... but they're 6-0. They speedran bowl eligibility. They deserve to be ranked in a capacity.
23 Texas Longhorns NR. The only 2 loss team in my rankings. Oklahoma is having a bad season, but it's still Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. And they won 49-0. They only lost to Alabama by 1 point, and Texas Tech... yeah that's rough I can't really explain that one, but that game was close. They feel better than the teams I have below them, and so I'm putting them here.
24 Cincinnati Bearcats NR. The Arkansas loss keeps looking worse and worse and their best win is against Indiana... but that's enough to land you #24 in my rankings, was enough to land them in many people's rankings last week. They are living on the edge with these close games to lesser competition like USF and Tulsa, but as of right now, their sole loss is an away game in an opener by one score, they deserve to be ranked. And because they beat Indiana and the next team I have were unable to, I have them above them.
25 Illinois Fighting Illini NR. Their defense is so so good. They should be undefeated but the refs screwed them against Indiana. Their offense isn't good necessarily, but they're winning football games against generally alright teams who just seem to be having down years (Wisconsin, Iowa).

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