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throwaway_6786 Ballot for 2023 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 24, 2023, 12:32 p.m.

Overall Rationale: No influence from previous years at this point, it's all about what happened on the field in the first four/five games. Resumes are looked at with regards to quality of opponent, head-to-head and common opponents if applicable, and win probability/margin of victory. Obviously, the most important aspect is their record.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns They have arguably the best win in CFB (double-digit win @ #18 Alabama) and other than a slow start against Wyoming, they've looked pretty dominant. The win over Alabama looked much better after Bama beat Ole Miss and the Longhorns are no longer chained down by their 8-5 2022 record, so they move to #1. The question is: Can they stay there?
2 Ohio State Buckeyes That win was about as close as they come. Even still, that was one of the best wins so far, especially since it was in South Bend, and Ohio State has improved with each passing week. For now, the @ND win is just enough to propel them to #2, but they'll need to keep it up to stay this high.
3 Washington Huskies They haven't played any particularly tough teams, but good Lord this team looks damn near unstoppable. I'm impressed with how this team has scored almost at will and has put together fairly solid defensive performances to go with it. It's a shaky #3 ranking because of their relatively weak schedule, but at least for now, the Huskies have earned it.
4 Florida State Seminoles The LSU win still looks great and the BC win still looks iffy at best, but the main reason why FSU moves up is because they played a fairly tough Clemson team in Death Valley and (narrowly) won. The Seminoles have played relatively tough competition so far and are 4-0, so they've earned the #4 ranking after beating the Tigers.
5 Georgia Bulldogs Yes, they're the two-time defending national champions, but that no longer matters for this season as we move past week 4. Georgia has looked pretty good, but the only notable team they've played is SCar, and the Bulldogs were down by 11 at halftime at home against them. I'm going to need to see Georgia really put the hammer down on teams or play some better competition before I consider moving them back to #1.
6 Michigan Wolverines Pretty much the same story as Georgia. Solid last couple seasons, but that no longer matters. Michigan started slow, but finished strong in Harbaugh's return, and while their schedule has been weak, they've won every game handily. Still waiting to see what this team does against tougher competition, but at this point, it doesn't look like they're going to face a team that's good (let alone great) until November.
7 Oregon Ducks I think there are times where we overuse superlatives like "blowout" and "beatdown". Those superlatives don't come close to describing the war crime that Oregon just committed on Colorado; "massacre" would be a better description. This game does make me wonder whether Colorado is even that good at all, but still, the Ducks deserve a healthy boost for winning as thoroughly as they did.
8 Penn State Nittany Lions Hard to say anything bad for Penn State here, even though they slip down a spot. The Lions smothered the Hawkeyes from start to finish and posted a 31-0 shutout. Obviously, this game leaves me wondering whether Iowa is actually good or just masquerading as a good team, but only time will tell. Penn State is also helped out by WVU starting 3-1, and that boost in schedule strength gives PSU enough to be ahead of USC.
9 USC Trojans An alright win over Arizona State, I suppose. USC doesn't have the 11-3 season from last year to fall back on, so their very weak schedule so far this year is hampering their chance to move ahead. Their offense continues to look like a high-powered machine, but a sketchy defense leaves a lot to be desired.
10 Utah Utes The Florida win continues to look solid and beating UCLA helps the cause as well. Unfortunately, they don't move from #10 because their struggles against Baylor continue to look worse and because I've yet to see a great offensive showing from this Ute squad (even in their game against FCS Weber State, they only scored 31).
11 Washington State Cougars The Cougars aren't being held back by their 7-6 2022 record anymore and they now have two solid home wins on the ledger (#19 Oregon State and Wisconsin). I still have questions regarding their defense, but offensively, Cam Ward and Co. are tough to stop.
12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish I'm not going to drop Notre Dame too much for that loss. They were facing a top 3 team in the country and they gave OSU everything they could handle before losing at the very last second by just a few inches. Obviously, the Irish will have to hope that OSU continues to win to make their loss to the Buckeyes look better, but the players have nothing to be ashamed about (different story for the coaches; how do you not put 11 guys out there for the final play of the game?).
13 North Carolina Tar Heels Wasn't the best win you'll ever see, but the Tar Heels continued to win handily with a 41-24 win over Pitt. Their schedule hasn't been the best this year, but South Carolina looks to be a decent team and outside of the App State scare, UNC has handled their business. However, they need to start winning against better teams or else they risk sliding down the rankings even with wins.
14 Duke Blue Devils Their win over Clemson loses some luster, but the Blue Devils continue to look superb in nearly all facets of the game. We're going to learn a lot about Duke next week against ND.
15 Missouri Tigers The K-State win looks better after the Wildcats took down UCF and Missouri themselves took down previously undefeated Memphis. The K-State win remains one of the better wins in the country, and Missouri looks pretty good on both sides of the ball. However, I'm interested to see if they can maintain their success going into SEC play.
16 Oklahoma Sooners Sooners get a big jump this week because of some chaos around them and a 20-6 win @Cincinnati that wasn't as close as the score looked. The Oklahoma defense looked amazing and the offense did what they had to in order to win. The RRS is right on the horizon, and I can't wait to see it.
17 Miami Hurricanes A solid win over a bad Temple team, but Miami mainly gets their boost from Texas A&M beating Auburn solidly and from their 5-7 2022 record no longer holding them back.
18 Alabama Crimson Tide Questionable first half, commanding second half. Combined, Alabama scored a 24-10 win over Ole Miss, but questions remain regarding the offense and what they'll be able to do against the best teams in the country. Still, a solid win that moves Alabama up considerably.
19 Oregon State Beavers I'm not moving Oregon State down too much for that loss, they played the #11 team in the country on the road and lost by a field goal in a back-and-forth game. Still, they'll need to get a quality win soon, because quality losses can only sustain you in the rankings for so long.
20 Louisville Cardinals They've played weak competition, but they're 4-0 and they no longer have the 8-5 2022 record holding them back. It's a shaky #20, but they've earned it for now. Obviously, they'll have to play better teams to move up much further.
21 Kansas Jayhawks Hang on a minute, I've already ranked UNC, Duke, and Louisville, and now Kansas? When did all these shootyhoops schools get into my football poll? Seriously though, Kansas struggled badly against a winless Nevada team, but has looked pretty good otherwise, and their win over BYU was a great step in the right direction for Lance Leipold, Jalon Daniels, and this Jayhawk squad. Kansas also breaks free of their 6-7 2022 record, which shoots them up considerably as well.
22 Fresno State Bulldogs I'm still a little skeptical about the Bulldogs (the Eastern Washington game mainly), but after watching ASU put up a good fight against #9 USC (the same ASU that Fresno State crushed 29-0) and watching Fresno State destroy Kent State with ease, I'm willing to forgo my doubts and rank Fresno State.
23 LSU Tigers That was really close for LSU, and they deserve to be dropped (slightly) for it. It was a rivalry game, but Arkansas hasn't looked like a particularly great team so far this year and they gave LSU all they could handle in Baton Rouge. LSU got some help from FSU beating Clemson, but lost some help from MSST losing to SCar.
24 Florida Gators Wasn't a great win for Florida, but they got the job done against Charlotte. Utah beating UCLA + Tennessee beating UTSA + breaking free of their 6-7 2022 record gives Florida the boost necessary to make it to #24 for now.
25 Kansas State Wildcats Solid win over a decent UCF team + Mizzou continuing to win, which makes K-State's loss to the Tigers look better means that K-State has just enough to make it into the rankings. I considered Kentucky, Air Force, Syracuse, Maryland, Ole Miss, and a few others for this spot, but none of those teams have a marquee win and an undefeated record to distinguish them from the pack, so K-State takes #25.

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