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throwaway_6786 Ballot for 2023 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 5, 2023, 12:30 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Still a little bit of influence from last year because 1 or 2 data points isn't too reliable for making an accurate ranking, but that's all we got to rank these teams right now. Also, since this is the first game for the teams, I'm willing to ease off of them for any first-half issues because it takes a few series to get a better sense of how a team will properly function against live competition. This slight mulligan of sorts will not continue past this week.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Dominated a cupcake. Nowhere to move them up, no great reason to move them down.
2 Michigan Wolverines Second verse, same as the first. It seems like we'll learn little about this team until they play Nebraska.
3 Florida State Seminoles The Noles were a little shaky to start, but made some halftime adjustments and convincingly crushed LSU in the second half. The worst part about this: Brett McMurphy now looks like a genius for putting FSU so high in the preseason poll.
4 Alabama Crimson Tide Dominant performance from the Tide, not unlike what we've seen for many years under Saban. Super encouraging to see Milroe play as well as he did, but we'll see how he'll look against better competition later on in the year.
5 Washington Huskies A slow first half, a dominant second half. In most other weeks, I might give a little criticism, but since it's week 1, I'm willing to ease off and call it first-half jitters.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Buckeyes drop a few spots because McCord didn't look too impressive against a bad Indiana team. The defense, however, looked better than I expected. Not enough data to drop tOSU any further, but that performance won't hold up against the meat of their schedule (lucky for them, they have time to figure it out).
7 USC Trojans Two games down and the Trojan offensive unit might be the most lethal in the country. Only reason why they didn't rise higher is because San Jose State and Nevada don't appear to be particularly great teams.
8 Penn State Nittany Lions Solid overall win, though it was a touchdown game at halftime. Still a little worried about the WR room, but Allar looked pretty good for his first meaningful game. PSU slides down a spot, but only because the USC offense looks so damn good. We'll learn more about this team in the Illinois/Iowa games in a few weeks.
9 Tennessee Volunteers A good win against Virginia + chaos above them = Top Ten Tennessee. Milton picked up where he left off last year, but it's a nice showing from the Vols defense that has me really excited about what this team can do in 2023. The anticipation grows for UGA-TN in Knoxville.
10 Utah Utes I was whelmed by Utah's performance. Florida doesn't look to be a contender, but Whittingham had a rock-solid gameplan and Utah executed it well (and then turtled up once they got a three-score lead). The Utes will hope for the Gators to turn it around (which would make this win look even better), but for now, it's just good enough to get Utah into the Top 10.
11 Tulane Green Wave Tulane just took a top 5 G5 team from last year and trounced them easily. It remains to be seen if South Alabama can continue their 2022 success, but the Green Wave shows no signs of stopping. They've taken the first step towards another NY6 run, and in the process, jump up to #11. Also, Michael Pratt looked amazing.
12 Oregon Ducks Blowout win against an FCS squad. Not much that can be learned from this, so the Ducks stick near the teams that they were near last week (they do benefit from LSU, TCU, and Clemson all being upset).
13 Kansas State Wildcats Same deal as Oregon. Top 25 teams are supposed to crush FCS teams, that's why they schedule them. Next week's game against Troy should be a good one.
14 North Carolina Tar Heels Fantastic showing from the Tar Heel defense, which is a far cry from their 2022 level of play. Drake Maye did Drake Maye things, and the offense looked solid all-around. With Clemson's loss to Duke, I'd say UNC has a good argument for being the #2 threat of dethroning Clemson's ACC dynasty.
15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish looked like monsters in their first two games, but I still want to see it against some tougher competition before I throw them in the Top 10. The OSU-ND game draws nearer.
16 Oregon State Beavers Same deal as Oregon and K-State. I doubt this team will be seriously challenged until the Utes come to Corvallis.
17 Texas Longhorns Nice win over their old SWC enemy, but not overly impressive. We'll see how Sark and the Longhorns handle a trip to their soon-to-be SEC enemy in Tuscaloosa.
18 Colorado Buffaloes I didn't know what to think of Colorado coming into 2023. I saw a story that claimed TCU was watching 2022 game film of Jackson State instead of Colorado, which hammers home the point that the Buffs are nothing at all like their yesteryear counterparts. As a result, I'm willing to put them in the rankings after a thrilling win over TCU on the road despite a 1-11 season because of just how drastically different they are. There's a decent shot this team could be 3-0 headed into Eugene for a showdown against the Ducks.
19 Duke Blue Devils Clemson was so worried about FSU and UNC that they forgot about little ole Duke. There's no question that the Blue Devils were aided by Tiger gaffes, but the sheer physicality of Duke's OL pushed Clemson's front 7 in ways I've rarely seen over the last decade. Also, I think that might have been a bit of a coming out party for Riley Leonard, but we've seen one-hit wonders before, so don't get too excited.
20 LSU Tigers I could blame Brian Kelly for this, but it's more than that. When the talent levels of two teams are similar and one team outscores the other 31-7 in a half, coaching cannot be the sole blame. I'm willing to leave them in the Top 25 for three reasons: The Tigers led at halftime, FSU is a Top 5 team, and that was a road game for LSU in all but name. That being said, any further struggles will probably push this team out of the Top 25.
21 Troy Trojans Troy struggled a little against FCS Stephen F. Austin, but thanks to several losses around them, they only fall one spot. They can gain that back and plenty more if they can score a win on the road against K-State this week.
22 TCU Horned Frogs I'm sure you're saying that they don't belong here, but that was a close game from start to finish and could've gone either way up until the final two minutes. Like LSU, any further struggles will take TCU out of the Top 25. If the Horned Frogs can find a way past Houston, they could probably win all their games before a Manhattan grudge match against K-State.
23 Fresno State Bulldogs Purdue isn't exactly a world-beater, but it's still a nice comeback win on the road for a Fresno State team that went 10-4 in 2022. For now, that's enough to get them to #23, but they'll need to keep up their winning ways to stick around. Good news: QB Mikey Keene was impressive in his first start, which bodes well for continuing the success that the Bulldogs had with Jake Haener.
24 Wisconsin Badgers A solid win and a good offensive showing, but not against stiff competition. Wisconsin only gets in because of chaos above them, but if they can continue to stifle opposing offenses while improving their "Dairy Raid" offense, maybe this team makes some noise in the B1G race.
25 Iowa Hawkeyes Speaking of teams that could make some noise in the B1G race, here come the Hawkeyes. I wasn't ready to put them in my preseason Top 25 because they hadn't done enough to shake the I-wa moniker, but they showed flashes of brilliance on offense not seen for some time now. Pair that with tried-and-true D/ST units and you've got a contender in the B1G West. However, the offense will have to be better to get much higher than this.

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