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big_thunder_man Ballot for 2023 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 25, 2023, 12:29 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Strength of schedule, and quality of wins. Had the most brakes movement this week. Was bullish on Colorado, and bearish on Alabama. Both have been rectified. I strongly dislike putting teams without a loss below losing teams.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Defending champions. Weak schedule, but still undefeated.
2 Florida State Seminoles Excellent win against LSU, while Clemson is "down" this year, they're still a rival. Jumping Texas since Clemson was a bigger win. Could switch as the season unfolds.
3 Texas Longhorns Has the biggest win of the season, and did exactly what it needed to against Baylor. Looks tough.
4 USC Trojans Easy schedule, but looks flashy while doing it.
5 Ohio State Buckeyes Win over Notre Dame looks fantastic. Tough team (sorry Lou Holtz).
6 Michigan Wolverines The offense seems to struggle -- averaging only 32.5 points against East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green, and Rutgers. At this point in the season, we're judging off marquee wins (don't have them yet), and style points (don't watch the Bowling Green game).
7 Washington Huskies Absolutely dominated Cal, Penix is as good as anyone in the country. Mich State win still looks great, and the Boise win seems to be aging better as the Broncos play more. Absolutely four way dog fight for the Pac.
8 Oregon Ducks Colorado is not a bad team, but Oregon is a great team. Dominant win.
9 North Carolina Tar Heels Three P5 wins, and a win over a good Appalachian State team. Quietly one of the better teams in the country.
10 Utah Utes Without their starting QB they've beat Florida, Baylor, and held a Chip Kelly UCLA team to 7 points. Doesn't feel like a top 10 team, but they keep winning.
11 Penn State Nittany Lions The West Virginia win is great, but Illinois and Iowa... not terrible, but not as impressive to me as other wins.
12 Duke Blue Devils Clemson remains their best win; the game against Florida State will be a big litmus test.
13 Washington State Cougars Win over Oregon state looks pretty damn impressive.
14 Alabama Crimson Tide Probably over reacted to the loss vs Texas; it appears that was a great Texas team, and this is a very good Bama team.
15 LSU Tigers Similar to Alabama. It was a great Florida State team, and this is a good LSU team.
16 Kansas Jayhawks Quietly putting together a fantastic season. Jumping above Oklahoma because wins over Illinois and BYU are more impressive that Oklahoma's non-con.
17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sloppy, and struggling offensively. Still, not penalize them too much for losing to a top 5 OSU team.
18 Oklahoma Sooners Easy schedule, but winning every game. Has had no marquee wins.
19 Miami Hurricanes Bullied an outmatched Temple. Win over a 3-1 Texas A&M is aging better and better.
20 Missouri Tigers Undefeated with a P5 OOC win.
21 Ole Miss Rebels Only loss on the season is to Alabama. Premature to completely drop them from the rankings.
22 Oregon State Beavers Lost to a very good Cougars team.
23 Maryland Terrapins Quietly undefeated with a P5 OOC win vs Virginia. Dominating margins of victory.
24 Colorado Buffaloes They were a good team playing like a very good team in weeks 1-3. They ran into a great team vs Oregon, and will face another against USC. Probably the end of the ranked Buffs, but they deserve credit for the TCU & Nebraska wins... for now. Need to drop since undefeated teams remain.
25 Fresno State Bulldogs Undefeated with a power 5 win over Arizona State. Between them and Air Force, Fresno State's schedule is tougher.

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