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throwaway_6786 Ballot for 2023 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 17, 2023, 12:25 p.m.

Overall Rationale: There's still influence from last year, but now the play on the field and the wins/losses this year have become the vast majority of the rationale behind the rankings.

Rank Team Reason
1 Michigan Wolverines Bit of a bold choice, but Michigan has looked super solid in all facets so far, and combined with their success last year, it's just enough to propel them to #1. That being said, the Wolverines will have to keep up the dominant performances to stay up here because their schedule looks pretty light up until their trip to Happy Valley on 11/11.
2 Georgia Bulldogs They did put together a great second half, but going down 14-0 against a team of South Carolina's caliber is something that hasn't happened to Georgia in some time, and it's enough for now to slide down a spot.
3 Washington Huskies Washington just curbstomped MSU and made it look almost too easy. Not the toughest schedule so far, but they finished 11-2 last year (and both losses were by one score), so I'm inclined to push them up to #3. The Huskies have an offensive juggernaut that can keep up with anybody, including USC. Speaking of which...
4 USC Trojans The Trojans were on bye, but they benefit from FSU and Texas struggling. However, their schedule now consists of 1-3 SJSU, 1-2 Nevada, and 1-2 Stanford, so Washington just barely jumps them.
5 Texas Longhorns It was ugly for three quarters, but Texas dominated the fourth quarter and put Wyoming away 31-10. They do drop a spot because of their struggles and because the Alabama win looks a little less impressive with USF giving the Tide a run for their money, but still, the Longhorns have won every game by double-digits so far, so they stay at #5.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Much better performance against a half-decent WKU squad. Their offense appears to be rounding into form with a solid defense to complement them. However, Notre Dame is a considerably tough opponent, so we will see if these Buckeyes are for real in 2023.
7 Penn State Nittany Lions Allar made a couple mistakes, but still played solid overall in his first road game and PSU was very much up to the challenge on defense, shutting down the Illini for most of the day and collecting 4 interceptions. Biggest concern for the Lions is the O-line, which was thought to be a strength coming into this season. A Whiteout showdown with Iowa awaits.
8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Another good win for the Irish, and they rise a spot as a result. All eyes will be on South Bend next week when Ohio State comes to town.
9 Florida State Seminoles That was way too close for the Seminoles, and considering how bad BC has looked so far this year, it's a serious cause for concern for the Seminoles. They drop six spots as a result, and the only reason they didn't drop further was because LSU won handily over Mississippi State.
10 Utah Utes They dominated FCS Weber State, but the real reason for their four-spot move up the rankings is the Florida win looking much better after the Gators smashed the Volunteers. We will see how the Utes look as they get into the Pac-12 meat of their schedule with UCLA next up.
11 Oregon Ducks They've rolled two bad opponents and struggled to a win on the road against Texas Tech. The Ducks are at #11 for now, but they'll have to play well as they get into Pac-12 competition to prove they belong here. Beating Colorado would be a good start.
12 Oregon State Beavers Another ho-hum, grind-it-out win for the Beavers. We should learn quite a bit about Oregon State when they take on Wazzu in Pullman next week (aka the "Who wants me?" bowl).
13 North Carolina Tar Heels Nice win against a middling Minnesota team. The Tar Heels also got a significant boost from South Carolina playing Georgia so tough, which pushes them up four spots.
14 Ole Miss Rebels Good win over a scuffling Georgia Tech team, but they get caught in a whirlwind of chaos around them and end up staying put at #14.
15 Duke Blue Devils Duke continues to play fundamentally solid football under Mike Elko and as a result, they move into the Top 15 for the first time in a long, long time.
16 Washington State Cougars Wazzu scored a relatively unnoticed win over FCS Northern Colorado, but the Cougars benefit from K-State and Tennessee losing as well as Colorado and Alabama struggling.
17 UCLA Bruins UCLA also benefits from what Wazzu benefits from, and the Bruins also got some help from Iowa's schedule taking a hit and LSU being stuck further down the poll because of the loss to FSU. All told, it's a six-spot increase for UCLA, but it won't mean much if they can't beat Utah next week.
18 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa rises up a few spots thanks to some chaos around them, but UCLA jumps them due to Iowa State losing against Ohio. Still, Iowa's offense looked better against an iffy G5 in Western Michigan, so that's encouraging headed into Happy Valley to face Penn State.
19 Missouri Tigers How about them Tigers! What a thrilling win over a pretty good K-State team on a 61-yard FG. It's still a little shaky for Mizzou because of their 6-7 record last year, but they still played well and if they can continue to win, their 2022 struggles won't have any effect on their ranking before long.
20 Colorado Buffaloes Well, they won, but that didn't inspire a lot of confidence for the Buffs moving forward. They drop eight spots, but they can gain that back and more if they beat Oregon in Eugene next week.
21 LSU Tigers A nice-looking win over Mississippi State, but FSU's struggles make LSU's loss against the Seminoles look worse, which keeps them at #21 and largely unable to benefit much from the chaos around them. LSU needs to find a marquee win (or a ton of chaos) soon to break back in to the Top 10-15.
22 Miami Hurricanes A bit of a bold pick here, but Miami has looked fantastic on offense so far in 2023, which was one of their biggest knocks last year. Their 5-7 2022 record still concerns me, but if Texas A&M continues to play well against tougher competition and Miami can improve on defense, this team could rise quickly as their 2022 influence fades from the rankings.
23 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma and Miami are kindred spirits here (former CFB powers that struggled last year), and they end up right next to each other in the rankings. Still looking to see what Oklahoma will do against stiffer competition, but their complete and total beatdown of a decent G5 in Tulsa was encouraging.
24 Alabama Crimson Tide The only reason this team hasn't dropped out of the rankings is their 11-2 2022 record. That's it. This team lacks a solid QB and as a result, seems to lack an identity on offense. The defense still looks alright, but 'alright' isn't going to keep them in the Top 25 for long (and if Texas struggles again, that alone might be enough to drop the Tide without any significant wins to make up for the Texas loss).
25 BYU Cougars Considered quite a few teams for this last spot, but BYU put up a great effort on the road and beat Arkansas in Fayetteville, which isn't all that easy to do. They finished well last year with an 8-5 record, so I'm willing to slip BYU into the last spot in the Top 25. We'll see if they can keep it up once the Big 12 slate starts.

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