Back to poll results >>

YellowSkarmory Ballot for 2022 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 9, 2022, 9:52 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.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers I still think Clemson holds the best two wins in the country by a fair amount, with wins at Wake (in 2OT) and vs. NC State. For me, those are both top 20 teams, with Wake being top 10. The road win over Georgia Tech has also gone from being a win that had zero value two weeks ago to having some now, after GT's wins at Pitt and vs. Duke. A trip to FSU offers a chance to pad their resume next week, followed by a home game against Syracuse.
2 Tennessee Volunteers Well, Tennessee is back at #2 for me. A win at LSU in dominant fashion is solid, and is their third win over a 4-2 team, with them also having wins at Pitt in OT and home against Florida. A home game against Alabama next week is interesting, and I think Tennessee actually has a good shot there.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia's win over Oregon continues to look great, and the road win at South Carolina looks pretty good now after SCar's win over Kentucky. They bounced back well from their slight skid (despite winning against both Mizzou and Kent State) with a dominant home win against Auburn. Next up, they host Vandy.
4 UCLA Bruins UCLA picked up a huge home win over Utah, which adds to wins at home against Washington and South Alabama as good wins for their resume. I would like to see them pick up a big road win, and a trip to Oregon in 2 weeks after their bye offers that opportunity.
5 USC Trojans USC handled Wazzu at home this week, which is a pretty solid win. That win, along with wins at Oregon State and vs... Rice? gives them three wins against 2-loss teams, which is pretty solid; none of those three are incredible or anything, but they are good wins (yes, I called Rice a good win, lol). A trip to Utah is an opportunity for another.
6 Ole Miss Rebels The big win over Kentucky that Ole Miss held dropped a lot of value this week, but the Rebels still look solid. That win is still at the top of their resume, and they have a bunch of okay-ish depth wins, ones over a 4-2 Troy at home and 3-3 Vandy/GT on the road. Not great, but they are something. A home game against Auburn is next.
7 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State's win over Notre Dame keeps looking better as ND keeps picking up wins; I almost wrote off the Irish entirely after their loss to Marshall, but that's for their section (yes, they broke my top 25 this week). Anyway, in addition to that win, they have similar depth to Ole Miss - wins over 4-2 Toledo and 3-3 Wisconsin/Rutgers, all at home, but the lack of any of these wins being on the road keeps them behind Ole Miss. Next, they get a bye week, before hosting Iowa.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide I have no idea how good Alabama is this year, but their resume really isn't that impressive. A win at Texas is decent, but like... after that, it's just a bunch of wins over 3-3 teams. The trip to Tennessee is gonna be big.
9 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake is the top 1 loss team this week for me, with wins at Florida State and vs. Liberty both being very solid. The one loss to Clemson, while being at home, was in 2OT and against my #1, so I can't really blame them too much for it. A bye week is up next, followed by a home game against Boston College.
10 TCU Horned Frogs TCU won a hard fought battle at Kansas, which gives them a very good win, but the thing is...they don't have much else. A home win against Oklahoma is okay, but that looks much worse by the week at this point. Home games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State in the next two weeks offer a chance to remedy that.
11 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State's win at Purdue looks pretty solid now, after Purdue's win this week at Maryland. They really could use more depth though – a win at Auburn is okay, but that's it for their depth. A trip to Michigan is next, which would be a top win, not a depth win, lol.
12 Oregon Ducks Oregon's two big wins took a hit this week, as both BYU and Wazzu dropped their games. Still, those are two solid wins, but their resume definitely looks worse, and they do have the Georgia loss. Next up is a bye, followed by a huge home game against UCLA.
13 Michigan Wolverines Michigan really needs a good win – a home win against Maryland isn't cutting it as a top win, and road wins at Iowa and Indiana won't do it either. A home game against Penn State does offer that opportunity, so we'll see how they do there.
14 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State's resume is...okay right now, but not great. A win at Baylor is solid, but after that, it's a home win against Texas Tech...and that's it. Not too impressive. A game at TCU is a huge opportunity for the Cowboys next week.
15 Syracuse Orange Syracuse's resume remains as a home win against Purdue and being undefeated. Sure, Louisville is 3-3 and they did beat them at home, but like...really, you're going to consider that a particularly impressive win? Yeah, thought so. A home game against NC State offers a chance to really see where the Orange stand.
16 NC State Wolfpack NC State escaped Florida State at home, which gives them a new top win. That's good, given the fact that their wins over TTU and ECU both lost value after those two lost this past week. The road loss to Clemson isn't bad, but it is a loss. A trip to Syracuse is next on the agenda.
17 James Madison Dukes JMU doesn't hold any one particularly impressive win – they do have 3 wins over 3-3 teams in App State, Middle Tennessee and Texas State, but eeeeeh... yeah. They are undefeated, though! They travel to Georgia Southern next.
18 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Coastal is undefeated! Have they done anything? Not really! Their best win is either vs. Georgia Southern or vs. Buffalo, which...yeah. They host Old Dominion next.
19 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame has bounced back well after an 0-2 start, picking up wins over North Carolina on the road, BYU in Las Vegas, and Cal at home. All three of those teams hold winning records, with UNC being 5-1. The Marshall loss keeps looking worse and worse though, and they did also lose at Ohio State. I really did think ND was just...not good after the Marshall loss, but they've proved me wrong. A home game against Stanford is next.
20 Purdue Boilermakers The Boilers picked up another big road win at Maryland, which joins the win at Minnesota to make two solid road wins. The two losses they have are at home against an undefeated Penn State and at an undefeated Syracuse, both in incredibly close games. They've looked pretty good so far, and I'd say they're the B1G West favorite in my opinion. They host Nebraska next.
21 Tulane Green Wave Tulane sits at 5-1 with a huge win at Kansas State. The problem is, they don't have too much else – a road win in OT at Houston and a home win against ECU are wins over 3-3 teams, but they're not great, and the home loss to Southern Miss is bad. A trip to South Florida is next.
22 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State picked up a win against Arkansas this week, but literally every team they played lost, which certainly hurts the resume. A home win against Memphis is decent, and I guess a road win at Arizona and a home win against A&M are okay too, but...yeah. They do also have a loss at LSU. A trip to Kentucky is an opportunity to get something more for that resume.
23 Kansas Jayhawks Undefeated Kansas died with the TCU loss, but the Jayhawks remain ranked. A win over Duke definitely lost value after the Blue Devils' loss to Georgia Tech, but they do have 3 wins over 3-3 teams and only one loss, which is a lot better than most teams out there right now. Next up is a trip to Oklahoma – ranked Kansas at unranked Oklahoma is cursed, lol.
24 LSU Tigers LSU has a big win vs. Mississippi State, but with the home loss to Tennessee, they now have two losses. I really don't think they're that good, but I feel like after 23 there's a major dropoff. The win at Auburn is an okay depth win, but they also have a second loss to FSU on a neutral site. A trip to Florida is a big game for both teams.
25 San José State Spartans Welcome to the top 25, San Jose State! A huge home win over UNLV is a solid win and enough to get them in, with only one loss at Auburn and a second decent win at Wyoming. A trip to Fresno is next for the Spartans. First 5 out: Kansas State, Illinois, South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida State

Back to poll results >>