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bretticus33 Ballot for 2022 Week 9

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 23, 2022, 2:13 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia had the week off in preparation for Florida and Tennessee over the next couple weeks.
2 Tennessee Volunteers An easy win for Tennessee against UT-Martin, but the schedule gets back to being tough for them. They host Kentucky this weekend then play Georgia on the road after that.
3 Michigan Wolverines Michigan was off this week, host in-state rival Michigan State this weekend.
4 TCU Horned Frogs TCU is undefeated and has beaten Oklahoma State and Kansas State in back-to-back weeks. They had to make a big comeback against Kansas State, but they got it done and won by 10. TCU is well on it’s way to playing for a Big 12 title with an explosive offense and decent defense. If the season ended today, they should be a playoff team as their resume is better than almost everyone else’s. Sonny Dykes is doing a masterful job at TCU in his first season.
5 Clemson Tigers Clemson came back against a good Syracuse team with their defense suffocating the Orange in the 2nd half and allowing just 14 offensive points on the day. The running game took over in the 2nd half, but there’s still a QB problem in Clemson after all. DJU was pulled for Klubnik yet again and while Dabo keeps insisting DJU is the starter, how many times can he keep pulling DJU before just benching him entirely?
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Why did Ohio State drop another 2 spots and 4 spots overall the last couple weeks? Well who have they beaten? As of now, their marquee wins are Iowa and Notre Dame, both teams that are seriously underwhelming this season. All 5 teams in front of them have beaten at least one ranked team. Ohio State might be the most talented team in the country, but if we punish G5 teams for weaker resumes then Ohio State has to be as well. They get their first chance at making a good impression against Penn State on the road this weekend.
7 Oregon Ducks Since getting obliterated by Georgia in Week 1, Oregon has been one of the best teams in the country. They’ve scored at least 40 in every game since and Kenny Dillingham has unlocked the best of Bo Nix. The Ducks offense tore through UCLA with ease and their defense did enough to slow down the Bruins’ explosive offense. I’d like to see a bit more from Oregon’s defense considering they do seem to give up quite a few points, but when the offense is scoring over 40 per game it might not be as big of an issue.
8 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State rebounded from their collapse against TCU with a comeback against Texas. The defense made life difficult for Ewers and the offense came up with a lot of big plays, aided by some terrible Texas defense and penalties. While probably not as good as last season’s team, Oklahoma State is still a well rounded team that can compete with just about anybody in the nation and their Big 12 title hopes are still alive.
9 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama got back on the winning track with a blowout win over Mississippi State. The defense completely shut down Mike Leach’s air raid attack and the offense did more than enough to seal the deal. Alabama has looked pretty shaky at times this season, including last week’s loss to UT and scraping by UT in Week 2. The offense has normally been able to put up points but the defense has been the bigger concern. This past weekend was their best performance of the season by far.
10 UCLA Bruins UCLA’s undefeated season came to an end in Eugene as Chip Kelly lost in his return to Autzen. The defense was running circles trying to keep up with Oregon’s offense and their offense was held in check until Oregon had built a comfortable lead that UCLA couldn’t surmount. They’re still in contention for the PAC-12 title and should win around 9 games, but their loss to Oregon showed their shortcomings.
11 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest continues to rise back up the rankings with a comfortable win over Boston College. Sam Hartman is playing as well as ever and Wake Forest’s defense is continuing to improve. Wake Forest’s loss is probably better than UCLA’s but UCLA’s win over Utah is what’s keeping Wake Forest below them.
12 Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois was off this weekend but are still leading the Big 10 West.
13 Utah Utes Utah was off this weekend but are back in action against Washington State on Thursday.
14 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State shook off getting blown out by Michigan with their own blowout win over Minnesota. Granted the Gophers are very short handed but it was an impressive win that had Penn State returning to their roots of strong defense and ground game. However, Sean Clifford exploded for maybe his best game in a Penn State uniform. Things get back to being difficult for Penn State however when they host Ohio State this weekend.
15 USC Trojans USC was off after losing to Utah a week ago. The Trojans’s playoff hopes are likely dashed, but the PAC-12 is still in play.
16 Syracuse Orange Syracuse collapsed against Clemson with a masterclass on how not to play in the 2nd half. The offense was shut down in the 2nd half and while the defense held on as long as they could, they ended up being unable to stop Clemson’s 2nd half rushing attack. Dumb penalties and bad clock management also did them in. A home game against an underwhelming Notre Dame is next.
17 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss finally got the rug pulled out from under them. After looking less than convincing for the first half of the season, including their win over Kentucky, the Rebels made the trip to LSU and fell apart. Ole Miss went up 17-3 and got outscored 42-3 the rest of the way. The Lane Train wasn’t all too convincing and then crashed with an ineffective offense and abysmal defense.
18 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati is mastering the art of playing down to the opponent and scraping by. The Bearcats should be winning more comfortably than they are but their offense and defense have both been very inconsistent. Should Cincinnati make another NY6, I don’t expect them to be too competitive. They should be on big upset alert against UCF, who was just blasted themselves.
19 LSU Tigers Brian Kelly got his biggest win with LSU thus far with a beat down of Ole Miss. The Tigers are clearly very talented and are finally taking some shape under Kelly, but are also inconsistent considering they were also blown out by Tennessee just a couple weeks ago. LSU is tied with Alabama atop the SEC West but we’ll see how long that lasts.
20 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky was off this week before they take on Tennessee in Knoxville. The Wildcats should have Will Levis and Chris Rodriguez together for a big game for once.
21 Tulane Green Wave Tulane is the surprise G5 team of the season. The Green Wave are now bowl eligible after holding off Memphis and, just like everybody thought they would, they’re well within play for a NY6 bowl. Their resume is boosted by a road win over Kansas State, but KSU losing hurts that a bit. However Tulane can cement their place with future games against Cincinnati and UCF, and possibly an AAC title.
22 North Carolina Tar Heels UNC was off this weekend, hopefully using that time off to continue working on their defense. Their offense has been great, but their defense has been easy to get through but better in recent weeks.
23 Kansas State Wildcats Kansas State blew a lead against TCU and picked up their first Big 12 loss on the season, their 2nd overall in 2022. The offense sputtered and the defense took their foot off the gas too early. It’s the kind of loss that stings, but KSU needs a quick turnaround because they host Oklahoma State in a game that could put them right back in the Big 12 race.
24 Oregon State Beavers Oregon State reached bowl eligibility with a blowout win over Colorado and are sitting at 6-2. Jonathan Smith has done wonders with that program that was dead when he took it over. Oregon State might have a brewing QB controversy with Chance Nolan having missed the last few games and Ben Gulbranson playing well in his place.
25 Maryland Terrapins Maryland is now 6-2 and 3-2 in Big 10 play after getting past Northwestern. Maryland is a decent team and held their own against Michigan until Michigan’s superior talent started putting the Terrapins away. There’s a handful of teams in contention for #25. NC State was considered but without Devin Leary, I don’t think they’re a top 25 team. Liberty was in consideration as well as South Carolina.

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