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nw____ Ballot for 2023 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 26, 2023, 7:30 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Kind of vibes + my assessment of the games I watched + quality of resume.

Rank Team Reason
1 Florida State Seminoles Best resume, great win (though a bit shaky) for first time in forever against Clemson.
2 Penn State Nittany Lions Thoroughly whooped a great defense in Iowa. Did exactly what they should've on defense against Iowa's putrid offense, too. Really good resume, especially considering that WVU is not as awful as I expected they'd be.
3 Washington Huskies What can you say about that offense? Good grief, Penix. As an OU fan, he makes me miss Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. And that's not even mentioning the trio of receivers. Would like to see a bit more on defense against Cal (though Cal is also not as terrible as I thought they'd be), but hard to knock them for a win.
4 Texas Longhorns They have one of the best wins of the year against Bama at home, even if Bama is in a down year. They did not play down to Baylor's level, they ran Baylor over. That means something to me. That is what I have been waiting for them to prove. Can they keep it up? I have seen this movie before, but this Texas team is really starting to feel different.
5 Ohio State Buckeyes Great win against ND. I still have a few questions about McCord, but you can be pretty ok and still kill it with those receivers. Marvin Harrison Jr.'s health is something I'll be watching.
6 Georgia Bulldogs Do I think UGA is the 7th best team in the country? No. I think they're probably the best team in the country (though I certainly have questions about the offense). Have they earned the #1 ranking yet? Nope. If that's where they belong, and I think it is, I am willing to let the rankings work themselves out.
7 Michigan Wolverines Do I think Michigan is the 6th best team in the country? No. I think they're probably the 2nd best team. Have they earned that ranking yet? No. At some point, they're going to have to start showing a little more on the field. It is hard to put them over a team like Texas that has a great win against Bama on the road when Michigan is messing around with Rutgers for two quarters. I'm going to let the rankings work themselves out on this one.
8 Oregon Ducks Stop it, Oregon, they're already dead!
9 Utah Utes This defense is something else. They're really missing their injured starters on offense, but it is hard not to be impressed by the effort and how well the team is coached. I may be slightly overrating them here, even by my standards, but it feels foolish to doubt this team too much.
10 USC Trojans I guess we'll chalk that up to desert voodoo? Good grief. I have long wondered how Lincoln Riley seems to get the absolute minimum out of buy weeks, but he just continues on as if things are totally fine. I think USC is better than this--it is hard to rank the team with the best player in the country this low--but I want to see more.
11 Duke Blue Devils I thought they'd take a step back this season after last year's incredible story. That hasn't happened yet. Sorry, UConn.
12 Washington State Cougars I thought Oregon State would beat them. Yet, for most of the game, WSU handled the Beavers. Very impressive, even if it did tighten up at the end. I am happy for them.
13 North Carolina Tar Heels Drake Maye is absurd. The team let Pitt hang around a bit too long, but hard to knock them for what wound up being a comfortable win.
14 Miami Hurricanes I'll be honest, I didn't watch Miami beat the brakes off of Temple. But they did.
15 Alabama Crimson Tide I thought Ole Miss would be able to score a bit more than they did. I was wrong. The defense is still very good. Milroe is clearly the best QB. Is he good enough, though?
16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tough loss right at the end of the game. They played well. I am a bit concerned about the offense kind of turtling up against the first real defense they played, but I also have a ton of respect for Jim Knowles--he can do that to you if you aren't super careful. Not sure how much to credit tOSU's defense vs. how much to worry about ND's lack of WRs.
17 Kansas Jayhawks They're back again, and they deserve it. BYU kept trying to crawl back in it but it was their defense, of all things, that stopped it. Is Daniels a top-10 QB?
18 Louisville Cardinals They did what they should've against BC... or at least it looks like they did. I don't go out of my way to watch BC games, so I missed this one.
19 Air Force Falcons I'm impressed! San Jose State is not a bad team. Air Force really handled them. The cream may be starting to rise to the top of the MWC.
20 Fresno State Bulldogs Is Mikey Keene like pretty good or actually terrible? I can't figure it out. I don't know if this team is actually the 20th best team in the country, but I will let the rankings work themselves out on this one.
21 LSU Tigers How are you going to go out there and struggle with Arkansas like that? Sheesh. I have considered dropping them out of my top-25 several times. The talent keeps them on the list. That won't continue if they pull this kind of stunt again.
22 Oklahoma Sooners I do not think this team is the 22nd best team in the country. I am waiting for them to prove it. I think the defense is light years better than they have been over the last 5 (and probably more) seasons. However, I'm not sure if the defense is great vs. really good (and I certainly don't think they're elite). Additionally, the offensive line has not been good, the running game is basically invisible, and Jeff Lebby insists on ditching successful plays in favor of unsuccessful ones-- he won't find a team's weakness and make them stop it (something I have always thought Mike Gundy is good at). If the offense can figure things out, I think they are probably about the 20th best team in the country. If that happens and the defense keeps taking steps forward, I think they may even be the 15-16th best team. Anything else, especially given what they've shown so far on offense when they've played defenses with a pulse, is premature in my mind. But I ranked them because, as a homer, I'm probably being too hard on them and am, once again, willing to let the rankings work themselves out.
23 Oregon State Beavers Tough loss, but they fought like the devil to stay in it. I will not be surprised if they finish in the top 15 or so.
24 Missouri Tigers I don't actually think this team is very good, but I thought Kansas State deserved to be ranked and so here we are.
25 Kansas State Wildcats I think they deserve to be ranked for pulling away from UCF like they did in the second half. Great win against a team that, even without Plumlee, is underrated in my mind. I wish they hadn't lost to Mizzou.

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