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MADBuc49 Ballot for 2022 Week 15 & Bowls

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Dec. 4, 2022, 12:08 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Week 15 notes: Deservedness keeps teams such as North Carolina out when I would have them over some of the teams in this poll. General notes: 1st layer (computer portion): SP+, opponents’ SP+, opponents’ opponents’ SP+, opponents’ win %, opponents’ opponents’ win %. 2nd layer (human portion): home/field/away, key injuries, P5/G5 status, watched game factors (ex: offensive/defensive line domination, rush yards after contact, average point of first contact, defensive penetration on non-inside screens, missed tackles, quarterback throwing release speed, overall turnovers, average starting field position, etc). 3rd layer (human portion): wins/losses vs higher-/lower-/non-ranked teams, recency of those results. 4th layer (computer portion): Deservedness = team cannot be ranked over another team with 2+ fewer losses (ex: 8-4 Texas can be ranked over 9-3 UCLA, but 8-4 Texas cannot be ranked over 11-2 UTSA even if Texas beaten UTSA heads up, rankings have Texas over UTSA, and/or I think Texas is better than UTSA).

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Did nothing to drop from #1
2 Michigan Wolverines Michigan scared its fans, but has been consistently bearing people all year long in the second half
3 TCU Horned Frogs TCU rose in my poll from 4 to 3 even with a loss because the loss wasn’t that bad - an overtime loss where they dictated the action and lost it rather than the other team won it. It’s not like Kansas State scored a field goal or touchdown and they couldn’t - TCU was aggressive, had the first action, and Kansas State responded accordingly. I feel like in a do-over or if Kansas State had the ball first, TCU would’ve won. Also, Deservedness doesn’t allow 3-loss teams to be ranked above 1-loss teams
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State is so lucky both TCU and USC lost. I considered placing them at 3 just like the computer and last week’s human portion had them, but we’ve seen that game already.
5 Penn State Nittany Lions Not too many times the #5 team had a non-existent shot at the playoffs and much lower than teams ranked lower than them
6 Tennessee Volunteers Considered ranking them lower due to Hooker injury
7 Utah Utes Why they’re ranked above Clemson and Kansas State: all losses were close road losses, two of which to ranked teams and the other from week 1. Due to Deservedness, they cannot be ranked over 1-loss teams
8 Kansas State Wildcats Why they’re ranked below Utah: two losses were at home. Yes, one was when their starting quarterback was injured during the game, but it didn’t seem to make a big deal as evidenced by the title game. Due to Deservedness, they cannot be ranked over 1-loss teams
9 Clemson Tigers Why they’re ranked below Utah and Kansas State: while both Notre Dame and South Carolina are quality opponents, both were at home and one was a blowout
10 USC Trojans Why they’re ranked below Clemson: Clemson’s schedule slightly harder
11 Alabama Crimson Tide While Alabama’s losses to LSU and Tennessee were tight, they also played close games against other schools they should’ve blown away if they wanted to be ranked higher
12 Washington Huskies
13 Florida State Seminoles
14 Oregon State Beavers
15 Oregon Ducks
16 UCLA Bruins
17 Tulane Green Wave Rees-Plumlee’s injury was the bigger factor than Tulane themselves. They’re still a solid team, but it was still close even with him not 100%
18 Cincinnati Bearcats
19 Troy Trojans Had no doubt Troy would win. If they had shut Coastal out, I would’ve bumped them above Cincinnati in the human portion
20 South Alabama Jaguars I think we would’ve seen South Alabama do the same thing to Coastal Carolina if they were the ones playing for the Sun Belt
21 UTSA Roadrunners Deservedness keeping the 4-loss teams from being ranked over Cincinnati and some of the other 2- and 3-loss teams
22 Texas Longhorns Would be in the top 15 if not for Deservedness
23 LSU Tigers LSU shouldn’t be penalized for playing the #1 team close relatively-speaking
24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Computer portion was already high for them
25 Mississippi State Bulldogs Next five in alphabetical order: Illinois, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ole Miss, South Carolina

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