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GatorBolt Ballot for 2023 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 24, 2023, 12:08 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Mix of resume, eye test, and how I feel about future performance.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Another dominant win, albeit vs UAB. I do wish the SEC let them play against Oklahoma though.
2 Michigan Wolverines Not the flashiest team, but once again they found a way to drown a ferret.
3 Florida State Seminoles They took a punch from Clemson and ended up exorcising their demons in Death Valley, and on top of that put Clemson behind the 8-ball in the ACC title race.
4 Washington Huskies They keep passing my eye-test with flying colors. However, a team passed them today.
5 Ohio State Buckeyes A complete Gut-Check of a win. 2023 Ohio State is undoubtedly not as flashy as recent teams, and heck I thought they would lose. But escaping South Bend with a win deserves all the credit. As Ryan Day showed, this is the type of game that makes you have beef with an elderly Lou Holtz. God I love College Football.
6 Texas Longhorns The Bama win looks better than it did last week again. And credit to them for a comfortable win, as they added more heat to Dave Aranda's seat in Waco.
7 Penn State Nittany Lions They got passed by Ohio State, but I'm still high on the Nittany Lions. And shutting out a fellow conference-mate is impressive even if said conference-mate is a meme on offense due to Brian Ferentz.
8 Oregon Ducks Well that was a massacre. In all fairness, Oregon deserved to be the favorites and they played as expected.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish I had to drop them behind who I think the top 8 teams in the country are to this point, but still feels unfair dropping them further given that the game against Ohio State went to the wire. If only they remembered how to count the la...
10 Utah Utes Just a suffocating defense, which stymied UCLA. Their offense still isn't up to what I think they can do but if their defense keeps performing as it has, who knows.
11 USC Trojans Electric offense, though once again an overmatched team did put points on Grinch's defense. That said Skattebo was very valiant against them.
12 Washington State Cougars The Champions of the 2-Pac now have ambitions. Credit to them holding off Oregon State's furious rally. The type of game that makes you call out Lee Corso post-game. God I love College Football.
13 Duke Blue Devils I moved them up simply because I think that Clemson win is a bit more impressive given the fight they gave FSU. If they can pull off this next game against a heartbroken Notre Dame, the sky is the limit. Also, full credit to a dominant win over UConn, who are definitely missing basketball season more than Duke usually does this time this year.
14 Alabama Crimson Tide The rumors of Saban's demise are greatly exaggerated.
15 North Carolina Tar Heels A comfy win against Pitt, and they are firmly in the ACC title race.
16 Miami Hurricanes Maybe Mario can coach. Texas A&M does look better than last year too, so maybe that game said more about Miami than purely "Lol Jimbo." They may be a team to watch as conference play starts. Regardless, they are a threat for the ACC title.
17 Oregon State Beavers Got behind the 8 ball early, but full credit to making a game of it.
18 Oklahoma Sooners Not much to write home about, in what was an ugly win but still got the job done.
19 Missouri Tigers I'm not sure what to make of Mizzou. 4-0 is 4-0, and they have the best non-conference win in the SEC. But close games against Memphis and MTSU don't inspire confidence to rank them higher than 19th. But yet, they are in good position against the rest of their schedule. Just not sure.
20 LSU Tigers Not sure what to make of LSU. A crushing loss to FSU, a dominant win that made Mississippi State look like an FCS team, and a tight one against Arkansas. At times definitely seemed like they wanted to give it away to Arkansas. But yet they survived.
21 Kansas State Wildcats Good rebound from last week's heartbreaker to win against a solid UCF squad.
22 Fresno State Bulldogs Dominant win over Kent State. As of right now I feel they are in the driver's seat for the G5's NY6 spot
23 Kansas Jayhawks Impressive win over BYU. Two straight 4-0 starts is proof in the rebuilding job Lance Leipold has done. Thus, I decided to give them some love before Texas.
24 Ole Miss Rebels Lane has done more good than bad for Ole Miss, but failing to take advantage of a down Alabama makes me think he lacks that killer instinct.
25 Kentucky Wildcats Quietly 4-0. I feel like Kentucky sneaks up on the CFB community at large when they have a good year, but I will not make that mistake this time and give them a rank. Hopefully my Gators can shake them out next week but for now, they deserve some poll love.

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