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a_bit_of_a_misnomer_ Ballot for 2023 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2023, 3 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Notecards and vibes

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs The Dawgs' grip on the #1 spot is slipping, but they live to fight another day.
2 Texas Longhorns I was really considering moving them up to #1, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it yet. However, I have October 7 circled on the calendar.
3 Michigan Wolverines I was extremely close to flipping them with Ohio State, but I need a week of real conference action to make my final decision.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Give me one more week to make the final call, but I really like the Buckeyes right now. To beat that Notre Dame team on the road is impressive.
5 Washington Huskies The Huskies are a damn good football team. There are some very convincing cases to have them even higher.
6 Penn State Nittany Lions Iowa shouldn't have been ranked but my goodness that was a statement and a half. The one thing holding them back is their resume.
7 Oregon Ducks This game was never going to be close and I should have realized that significantly earlier in the week than I did.
8 Utah Utes The Utes defense is absolutley insane. They arent perfect, but I like Utah a lot.
9 Florida State Seminoles On one hand, they are undefeated. On the other, they're two field goals away from being 2-2. I think the second aspect of that is very telling.
10 USC Trojans The score doesn't show how close Arizona State kept it. The Trojans looked mediocre at best and just plain bad at worst. They still have a very high ceiling, but I'm much more skeptical now.
11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Silly mistakes cost them an important win. It's not a death blow by any stretch, but it certainly puts a damper on proceedings.
12 LSU Tigers I honestly believe that Arkansas is not as bad as people say, but LSU should have easily won this game. The next two weeks against Ole Miss and Mizzou are going to be very interesting.
13 Alabama Crimson Tide While the USF game will haunt them the rest of the season, that second half showed us exactly what Alabama could/should be.
14 Oklahoma Sooners They have a ton of potential and the team looks significantly improved. They aren't world beaters, but they are a very solid team.
15 North Carolina Tar Heels They’ve won in different ways every week. UNC has some real potential.
16 Washington State Cougars This felt like an audition to join a Power 4 (?!) conference and the Cougs did not disappoint.
17 Ole Miss Rebels They had to go for the throat in the second half. Instead, they collapsed under the pressure. The next few opponents will be interesting to say the least.
18 Duke Blue Devils A solid team that just keeps on trucking along. Notre Dame will be a test, but not many people had them knocking off Clemson.
19 Oregon State Beavers The scoreboard lies. This was a rough game all around on the Beavers' part.
20 Miami Hurricanes There's a part of me that wants to rank Miami below Florida and Tennessee, but that offense is just unbelievable and they're undefeated. I'm still waiting on them to hit the meat of their schedule.
21 Florida Gators A less than stellar win, but they get the advantage over the Vols for obvious reasons.
22 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee looked like Tennessee again, but that loss to Florida will hold them back a little bit.
23 Missouri Tigers Mizzou is a joy to watch, but the back end of their schedule terrifies me.
24 Kansas Jayhawks BYU was a good test for the Jayhawks and they passed with flying colors.
25 Fresno State Bulldogs I really went back and forth as to whether #25 should be Fresno or Kentucky, but the Bulldogs get the advantage due to their schedule. Two Power 5 wins as a MWC school is nothing to sniff at no matter who they're playing.

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