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Due_Connection179 Ballot for 2023 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 9, 2023, 7:19 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I watch games all day Saturday then for the games I don't watch I go through the games play-by-play (plus read artlices; listen to podcasts) to see what happened instead of just looking at the box score.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Last Week #3 vs #19 Kentucky ( Won 51 - 13 ) Georgia buillied Kentucky this week to the tune of 44 pts through 3 quarters, then tacked on another with under 3 minutes left to get to my favorite number (was a big Ichiro fan growing up; sorry for those who don't watch baseball) and earned the top spot this week. They didn't seperate themselves from the pack this week by any means, but they did do enough to get the top spot back for now. Next Week at Vanderbilt ( 31.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
2 Washington Huskies Last Week #2 had a bye week Next Week vs #6 Oregon ( 2.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
3 Oklahoma Sooners Last Week #13 at #1 Texas ( Won 34 - 30 ) I struggled with where to put the Sooners at in my poll. I originally had them at #8 because I felt like it was wrong to jump that many undefeated P5 teams in 1 week, however, this is the best win so far this season with beating my #1 team on the road and doing so by taking Texas' counter punch (13 straight points) and hitting them with a counter on one of the more impressive 2-minute drill drives that I've personally watched. Amazing turn around from last season. This Week is a Bye Week
4 Florida State Seminoles Last Week #4 vs Virginia Tech ( Won 39 - 17 ) If Florida State played all 4 quarters like it was the 1st, then they probably jump Washington this week. However, they went into cruise control after going up 22 - 0 with 1:34 left in the 1st, then Virginia Tech won the 2nd quarter and opened the 3rd with an incredible kick off return for a TD to bring it back to within 5...then the Seminoles punched them back the remaining 29 minutes 47 seconds of the game. Next Week vs Syracuse ( 17.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread
5 Ohio State Buckeyes Last Week #5 vs #18 Maryland ( Won 37 - 17 ) Ohio State was lucky that Maryland made a few errors in the Red Zone in the 1st half or they probably would've found themselves down a couple TDs at half. The Buckeyes bounced back in the 2nd half and and ended up pulling away in the 4th quarter, but there are real question marks about if this team can actually put 4 quarters together vs a good team, and they need to figure it out quickly with Penn State coming to town on the 21st. Next Week at Purdue ( 19.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
6 Oregon Ducks Last Week #6 had a bye week Next Week at #2 Washington ( 2.5 pt underdogs) Prediction - loses and doesn't cover the spread
7 Penn State Nittany Lions Last Week #7 had a bye week Next Week vs UMass ( 43 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread (still wins by 5 TDs)
8 Michigan Wolverines Last Week #8 at Minnesota ( Won 52 - 10 ) Not much to talk about. Michigan destroyed another mid-to-below average team. Next Week vs Indiana ( 34 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
9 North Carolina Tar Heels Last Week #14 vs Syracuse ( Won 40 - 7 ) It was a perfect storm for UNC to jump up to #9 in my poll. They dominated a good-not-great Syracuse team from start-to-finish, USC struggled again vs a bottom-tier PAC-12 team, and four other teams lost ahead of them. Mario ruined the hype of next week's game against my Miami squad, but looking at their schedule it is very possible that we are looking up at a top 5 UNC team who is 9 - 0 going into the back-to-back games of vs Duke and at Clemson in mid-November. Next Week vs Miami ( 3.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
10 USC Trojans Last Week #9 vs Arizona ( Won 43 - 41 in 3OT) I'm starting to hate this team. After their 56 - 10 win over Stanford week 3, I had USC up to #6 in my poll. Then the defensive wheels fell off. Going into halftime in a one-score game at Arizona State, then the defensive meltdown at Colorado, just to follow all of that with needing 3OT to beat Arizona (who for their credit played Washington very well) is why they keep falling in my poll. They cannot play like they did in the first-half of their schedule, and expect to be in CFP contention come November, with having 5 ranked teams in their final 6 games. Next Week at #20 Notre Dame ( 2.5 pt underdogs ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
11 Texas Longhorns Last Week #1 vs #13 Oklahoma ( Lost 30 - 34 ) Losing this game to Oklahoma is huge in a couple ways. One, they lost against their biggest rival in the final version of the Big 12 Red River Game. Two, every team above them (except Georgia) has multiple games against ranked teams whereas Texas needs to hope BYU wins the next couple of games to give them 1 in the backhalf of their schedule. Looking forward to the Red River Rematch on November 31st. Next Week is a Bye Week
12 Louisville Cardinals Last Week #23 vs 10 Notre Dame ( Won 33 - 20 ) No one, not even Louisville fans, would've said that the Cardinal would win because their defense was amazing this weekend, but they showed out and if they can put it together on both-sides of the ball like this for every big game then they could be dangerous moving forward. Allowed just 2 FGs and 49 total yards between the start of the 3rd quarter until the 4th quarter with just 3:12 remaining in the game. I debated putting them over Texas, but with 3 games against (current) ranked teams remaining, if the Cardinal keep winning then they will keep moving up and eventually jump the Longhorns. Next Week at Pitt ( 7.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread (Pitt is weird like that)
13 Alabama Crimson Tide Last Week #17 at Texas A&M ( Won 26 - 20 ) This was not a fun game to watch, but luckily YouTube TV auto-groups together 4 games that are going on, so I basically just left this on silent in the corner while watching the other, better games. I didn't think that Bama was ever in any real danger of losing the game, and they dominated the 2nd half to make sure A&M didn't even think about actually pulling off the upset (outscored 16 - 3 and won the yards battle 163 to 41). Next Week vs Arkansas ( 19.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
14 Oregon State Beavers Last Week #16 at Cal ( Won 52 - 40 ) I honestly don't know how to rank these three PAC-12 teams, so I put them #14 through #16 and did my best. I feel like these could be in any order and I wouldn't complain. Next Week vs #17 UCLA ( 4 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread
15 Washington State Cougars Last Week #11 at UCLA ( Lost 17 - 25 ) I thought going into the 4th quarter that Washington State was going to survive a bad game, but UCLA came out strong in the 4th and the Cougars just couldn't punch back. Next Week vs Arizona ( 8 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread
16 UCLA Bruins Last Week NR vs #11 Washington State ( Won 25 - 17 ) Basically what I said for Washington State, just in reverse. UCLA looked like they were going to lose a close conference game at home, then had a domiant 4th quarter to get the win. Next Week vs Cal ( 13.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
17 Ole Miss Rebels Last Week #21 vs Arkansas ( Won 27 - 20 ) Coming off of a thriller win over LSU, the Rebels limped to a 7-pt win against an Arkansas team that might win 4 games. Next Week is a Bye Week
18 Missouri Tigers Last Week #15 vs LSU ( Lost 39 - 49 ) A lot of people are going to see Mizzou at #18 and LSU not ranked then will probably downvote my poll. However, I do believe that this Mizzou team will finish the regular-season with 10 wins and they still have solid wins over Kansas State and Memphis (whom I almost made my #25 team this week). I also don't understand the AP Poll having Kentucky ranked and Mizzou just dropped out after what happened to Kentucky last week, but the AP Poll rarely makes complete sense. Next Week at Kentucky ( 2.5 pt underdogs ) Prediction - wins outright
19 Maryland Terrapins Last Week #18 at #5 Ohio State ( Lost 17 - 37 ) This is another team that I don't understand why the AP Poll doesn't have them ranked. Coming into the Ohio State game, the Terrapins won every game by an average of over 20 pts and in this week's game they were up in the 3rd quarter against a top 5 Ohio State team. They didn't get the result they wanted, but they are still a top 25 team to me. Next Week vs Illinois ( 14 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Last Week #10 at #23 Louisville ( Lost 20 - 33 ) Notre Dame fell flat on their face in the 2nd half vs Louisville's defense. However, I still have them ranked #20 because they have a win at (now) #21 Duke, looked like an even team with #5 Ohio State, and has dominated everyone else on their schedule. Next Week vs #10 USC ( 2.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - loses and doesn't cover the spread
21 Duke Blue Devils Last Week #20 had a Bye Week Next Week vs NC State ( 3.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread (yes, I know their QB is out, that's why they dropped a spot)
22 Tennessee Volunteers Last Week #24 had a Bye Week Next Week vs Texas A&M ( 3.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread
23 Air Force Falcons Last Week #25 had a Bye Week Next Week vs Wyoming ( 11 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover the spread
24 Kansas Jayhawks Last Week NR vs UCF ( Won 51 - 22 ) I couldn't rank them last week with how they played vs Texas, but they bounced back and destroyed Big XII newcomer UCF. Next Week at Oklahoma State ( 3.5 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins and covers the spread
25 Wisconsin Badgers Last Week NR vs Rutgers ( Won 24 - 13 ) I was between a few teams at this spot: Utah (but too terrible of an offense), West Virginia (but too many close games vs bad teams), Kentucky (but just lost to Georgia by 40), Miami (but our coach doesn't know how to kneel to win a game), LSU (but they were dominated against Florida State), so I went with Wisconsin who has 1-loss (that comes on the road to my #15 Washington State) while also fully controlling every other game they've been in. Next Week vs Iowa ( 10 pt favorites ) Prediction - wins but doesn't cover

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