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bretticus33 Ballot for 2023 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 17, 2023, 2:39 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs UGA started really slow against SCAR, but woke up after halftime and outscored SCAR 21-0. The trenches dominated this game. The SEC may be down, but it’s hard to imagine UGA getting tested much this season.
2 Michigan Wolverines Michigan got off to fast starts in their first two games, but that wasn’t the case against Bowling Green. They eventually pulled away but it was a sloppy game from the offense. Getting Harbaugh back helps.
3 Florida State Seminoles Florida State very nearly became the victim of an upset against a really bad Boston College team. It was a sloppy game all-around, possibly with FSU thinking about their next game at Clemson. I thought about moving them down, but having a better win than Washington and with Texas struggling, they stay at #3.
4 Texas Longhorns A week after a massive win in Tuscaloosa, Texas had a really tough time putting Wyoming away. It was a 10-10 game after 3 quarters before Texas pulled away with three 4Q TDs. The talent is all there; the consistency may not be.
5 Washington Huskies MSU is a mess in every aspect right now, but Washington still looked very impressive dismantling them before cruising the entire 2nd half. This offense might be the best in the country and they’re my PAC-12 favorites.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State didn’t look as polished on offense against an Illinois defense that had been struggling. Still, it was a classic PSU win with a suffocating defense. Their game against Iowa could be a very low scoring affair.
7 USC Trojans USC was off this week.
8 Ohio State Buckeyes We finally saw the Ohio State offense we’d come to expect, and McCord seemed more comfortable knowing he had a firm grip on the starting spot. More impressive was the defense that shut down one of the more explosive offenses in the country. Next weekend will be OSU’s first real test.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame is still looking really good, although CMU started to test them a little bit. The Irish put them away though and it sets up a top 10 matchup against Ohio State in South Bend next weekend. Huge CFP implications in that one.
10 LSU Tigers LSU is looking more like the LSU we expected with a road blowout win over Miss State. Daniels played like a Heisman contender and despite getting beat up by FSU earlier, LSU is still the favorite for the SEC West.
11 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama officially has a problem on offense. The Tide already cycled through 3 QBs on the season, and they might have to return to Milroe. The OL is nowhere near as good as they used to be and the skill positions are “meh”. Alabama is going to lose at least 2 more games, maybe starting with Ole Miss this weekend.
12 Utah Utes Another QB change at Utah while they wait for Cam Rising to return, and they beat Weber State pretty easily, but there’s still some concerns I have about the offense as long as Rising is out.
13 Oregon Ducks Oregon smashed Hawaii and were already looking ahead towards Colorado at halftime. This Oregon team is playing really well and should beat CU on the national state next weekend.
14 Oregon State Beavers It wasn’t always smooth or pretty, but Oregon State did beat possible future conference-foe San Diego State pretty easily. DJU is still adjusting to the Beavs, but he and Oregon State have their first big game against Washington State in a battle of the left-behind PAC programs.
15 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss is hard to predict. They have the talent to play with anyone in the country, but are inconsistent enough to struggle, or even lose, against teams they should be beating up. If Ole Miss wants to beat Alabama, they’re gonna need more of the former.
16 Duke Blue Devils Duke won the nerd battle and continue the strong start to Elko’s 2nd season. Might Duke be a possible ACC contender?
17 North Carolina Tar Heels UNC is 3-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time in a long time, thanks to another strong defensive effort. Drake Maye’s play (and more specifically his recklessness) is getting concerning though; UNC needs Maye playing well to make noise in the ACC.
18 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma blocked out the Lebby noise and dismantled Tulsa. The OU defense is looking especially strong after being a problem last season. Dillon Gabriel had a strong game.
19 Washington State Cougars WSU is starting their potential final PAC season strong with an easy win over Northern Colorado, but now they open conference play with a home game against Oregon State. Jake Dickert has built a great culture in Pullman and he’s getting the most out of Wazzu’s roster. How much longer will he be with WSU?
20 Miami Hurricanes Miami continued their strong start with an expected blowout win over Bethune-Cookman. In a make-or-break season for Mario Cristobal, things are going extremely well and should next weekend against Temple.
21 Missouri Tigers Nobody expected Missouri to be 3-0, and nobody expected them to upset Kansas State with an SEC record 61 yard FG. Eli Drinkwitz is getting himself off the hot seat with how Missouri’s season is going so far, and Memphis is a very winnable game.
22 Florida Gators Just a few weeks ago, Florida was one of the laughing stocks of CFB with an awful performance at Utah. Now they’re 2-1 and fresh off an upset over Tennessee. More importantly, they may have solved their QB issue and the team looked much better coached. I don’t know how long Florida will be here, but they’ve at least earned a lower ranking.
23 Tennessee Volunteers Not the start to the season Tennessee was wanting. Beating a really bad Virginia team then struggling against Austin Play should have been the writing on the wall for UT in the Swamp, but the 26 first half points the Vols gave up proved to be too much for their offense, which also sputtered a lot, to overcome. Not the best game for Joe Milton either.
24 Clemson Tigers Clemson has completely fallen off the radar following their embarassing loss at Duke and it was a slow start last weekend, but Clemson did just play a very good game against Tom Herman’s FAU. Clemson could re-emerge on the national scene with an upset of Florida State in Death Valley.
25 Fresno State Bulldogs As much as it pains me to say it, congrats to Fresno State on being this season’s best G5 team so far. Another road win over a P5 program, although ASU is not very good, and this team is just rolling. They’re extremely well coached under Tedford and they don’t appear to be missing last season’s stars all that much. Fresno should be the favorite for the MWC title and well within contention for the NY6 spot.

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