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meowrkatt Ballot for 2022 Week 14

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 28, 2022, 11:48 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Most recent performance + SOS/SOV

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs No real trouble since the first few weeks, breezed past a top-10 Tennessee and destroyed ranked South Carolina and MS State teams. Not much to say, just a VERY good team.
2 Michigan Wolverines A dominant second half vs Ohio State doesn't close from the fact they were outplayed in the first half. Was it a fluke per se? Not necessarily, but the score by no means reflected how the game went down altogether. Still a very good team, but that win vs OSU isn't the break they need to work to #1.
3 TCU Horned Frogs Don't let the close win vs. Baylor distract you, this is a good team who got out of a feisty Big 12 season undefeated. You don't do that without some serious skill, which TCU undoubtedly has.
4 USC Trojans USC looks extremely good on the pass and basically everywhere else. They have a grudge match vs. Utah which they're somehow favored to lose in. Maybe someone knows something I don't, but until then they look better than the teams below them and quite possibly better than TCU.
5 Ohio State Buckeyes That loss to Michigan was extremely rough, and though I don't doubt they're a good team, an 11-1 team that doesn't make their conference championship and only has one ranked win is gonna need some help from the outside to make the playoffs this year. Until I see a TCU or USC loss it looks like another trip to Pasadena for the Buckeyes.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions A high scoring-exciting and team, I have them just above Alabama seeing how functional they've been in recent weeks, with extremely impressive wins vs decent Minnesota and Maryland as well as a game they kept extremely close with a very solid Ohio State team for 3 quarters. Their most recent win required them to pull away from a Michigan State potential comeback which they did with ease, and I have no doubt that this team is one of the best out there this year.
7 Alabama Crimson Tide This team is not convincing whatsoever. Every single game down to a 5-7 Texas A&M was much harder than it needed to be, but Bama can't win. Their entire schedule looks worse and worse every week, and I, like most, am thoroughly disappointed with the level they've played at. This could possibly be the twilight of the Nick Saban dynasty, the only thing that's for sure is they need to get back on track next season, as this is not the Bama level of quality one would expect.
8 Tennessee Volunteers Three words: Hendon Hooker's ACL. Two more words. South Carolina. Despite both factors mentioned before, they got a very solid win vs Vanderbilt to close off the season with its ups and downs. Two ranked losses can't have you falling too far, and for now, I feel like this spot is perfect for them.
9 Washington Huskies The Apple Cup is a game you need to throw out the record books for, and Washington got it done in a way I was very impressed by. Michael Penix Jr. is the leading passer in all of FBS football, and for good reason. All around in this offense you see talent, and though the defense isn't all there, allowing Arizona to score 39 on them and suffering a tough loss to Arizona State the week before that, they still look like a worthy adversary for any team in College Football right now and a very good team.
10 Utah Utes Our first 9-3 team, and this is when the rankings get really muddy. Though they've recently lost to Oregon, who I put them above, the win I look at when I look at this team is USC, where everything went right for them. These moments, where they look like they could score 100 on even the best defenses, is why I have Utah so high. If they played every week like they did on that cool Salt Lake City night, or like they did a few weeks before that vs. Oregon State, they could be playoff-bound. Problem is, they're not always that electric, and that's when you see them score 17 on Oregon. I want to see Utah do well, and that could start with a Pac-12 Championship victory, but they need to make sure they look like that team they did in mid-October Salt Lake City.
11 LSU Tigers I really don't know about this team anymore man, one week they'll beat Bama and the next they'll get trounced by teams they should beat or at least be competitive with. This is still a great opening season for Brian Kelly's Tigers, but a loss to Texas A&M is inexcusable and is gonna move you down some slots.
12 Kansas State Wildcats A team that could really cause some chaos is Kansas State who look to be a solid team and have a grudge match vs. a playoff-bound TCU who only need this win to solidify it. Led by Adrian Martinez (???), the Wildcats look to be a formidable team who are going to be a massive challenge for the Frogs next Saturday.
13 Oregon Ducks Oregon had a Pac-12 Championship in their hands and blew it, to the team they've been so historically dominant against nonetheless. Dan Lanning has to be beating himself up for last week, but the truth is it happened and it does not put Oregon in a flattering spot whatsoever. You could argue having them happy, but they've only had one really good win vs. Utah, and I wouldn't trust them to do that again.
14 Oregon State Beavers Rivalry week was the week of the Little Brother once again with upsets aplenty, one of the many being Oregon State beating Oregon in shock fashion. I'm not gonna claim they don't look good, they do, and that's why I have them here.
15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Who would've thought after the Stanford game Notre Dame would be back in the top 25, much less top 15, but here they are. With potentially the best O-Line in all of College Football, they look solid enough to be the bind between what I consider extremely solid Top 25 teams and decent ones.
16 UCLA Bruins Despite them keeping it close with USC, they have now been in 3 shootouts in the past 3 games, including a 5-7 Arizona and most recently a 4-8 Cal. Holding onto one good win vs. Washington, UCLA looks good but not good enough for a top 15 berth.
17 Clemson Tigers I wish I could rate them lower. Clemson has looked terrible for a 10-2 team, their numbers have been inflated by the teams around them, and their best win was in a shootout to a Florida State team. I wouldn't trust this Clemson team to keep a blade of grass safe, much less win any football game vs good teams. If you disagree, you are sentenced to watch 10 hours of DJ Uiagalelei film as punishment.
18 Florida State Seminoles Another overrated ACC team with an overinflated 9-3. Take everything I said about Clemson and subtract one because they lost to Clemson.
19 Texas Longhorns Texas has recovered since their loss to TCU, obliterating Kansas and solidly beating Baylor. Though they have inconsistent play styles, losing to the #3 team in the nation by a touchdown and getting massive wins vs other decent teams is gonna send you up a couple ranks. As much as I hate to say it, Texas deserves the top 20 spot I have them in.
20 Tulane Green Wave Despite a hiccup vs UCF, Tulane is on track to be the best G5 team walking into Conference Championship week, getting back on track with quality wins vs SMU and Cincinnati.
21 UTSA Roadrunners UTSA seems to have improved rapidly since the start of the season, going on a 9-game win streak after a 1-2 start. I could see them overperforming where I have them, but I also could see them underperforming seeing as their 2 losses were solidly to Texas as well as, though it was close, a loss to an unranked Houston team.
22 South Carolina Gamecocks Now with 2 ranked wins in their past 2 games, South Carolina is surprisingly 8-4, and though the Clemson win isn't as good in my opinion as others', I still like them just outside of the top 20.
23 Mississippi State Bulldogs It was anyone's game, but the Mississippi State Bulldogs have won the Egg Bowl, and that is the only real separater I have between them and Ole Miss.
24 Purdue Boilermakers It's been a hard-fought season for Purdue, but they finished 8-4 with a Big 10 championship appearance and good wins vs. Minnesota and Illinois. This ranking is largely a courtesy seeing as they made the Big 10 Championship, not to mention there are 8-4 teams aplenty above them, but that's not to say it's not earned, with their only really bad losses being to Wisconsin who they only had 1 bad half against and Iowa who, yeah, no excuses for that one, but I still absolutely love how they played vs. Penn State who I have at #6, and other quality wins keep them here for me. Boiler up, folks!
25 Troy Trojans Since when did Troy become 10-2? Though no wins have been truly convincing, the record alone should earn you a top 25 berth and that's why I have them barely making it in. FIRST FIVE OUT: North Carolina, UCF, NC State, Illinois, Ole Miss

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