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Prof_Pie Ballot for 2023 Week 9

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 24, 2023, 8:32 a.m.

Overall Rationale: My own opinions, which are mostly un-informed.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Toughest schedule so far, and they've shown they can ball. A well-deserved #1 ranking for OSU. To me, they're the team to beat.
2 Michigan Wolverines Slightly less difficult schedule than OSU this year so far, should be a great heavy-weight match-up soon. Although they didn't have Stalion at the penn game, so maybe they won't be able to rely on some of their shadier tactics.
3 Florida State Seminoles FSU is rocking in the second half. Seems like their team to beat so far has been themselves. The convincing ranked win over Duke pushes them to 3 for me, but they aren't firmly there yet. We have to wait and see how others do.
4 Georgia Bulldogs I'm still refusing to remove Georgia from top 4 because I do think being an undefeated defending champ has to count for something. Still, they haven't really had a convincing win against a great opponent yet, and they're coming off a bye weel as well so I don't see any reason to bump them higher.
5 Washington Huskies I think washington continues to show their grit. But some shakiness this past week against a not-so-great team keeps them out of the top 4 for me.
6 Oklahoma Sooners They beat UCF in a hard match-up at home. UCF isn't great, but they're getting desperate and I think OU underestimated them a bit. Still, their win over Texas saves them, but more close games like this may start to hurt them.
7 Texas Longhorns Texas is great, but I can't justify putting them over OU yet. Let's wait and see what their rematch looks like.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama put some serious hurt on Tennessee in the second half. They look like a great Alabama team, and I wouldn't underestimate them. Well deserved top 10 placement.
9 Ole Miss Rebels Close game at Auburn but ole miss still pulled it out. I think they deserve to just squeeze into top 10.
10 Oregon Ducks Man, that Washington loss is gonna haunt this team. Regardless, a 2 score win over a decent Washington St keeps the Ducks alive in my top 10.
11 Oregon State Beavers The Utah win coupled with last week convincing show against the Bruins tells me the Beavers are a really good team this year. I really hope them and Oregon stay healthy for their match-up in November. For me, right now, they are neck and neck.
12 Penn State Nittany Lions A tough loss to OSU shows that Penn State is having some serious problems playing consistently at the next level. If they had kept it close the whole game, I could respect them. But the eventual collapse felt like they were just a team destined for failure from the start, trying their hardest to keep up even though everyone knew OSU was in a different tier.
13 Utah Utes The streak continues! Utes live on! GReat win against USC, earns them a top 15 ranking.
14 Louisville Cardinals Louisville flinched at Pitt, a fairly notorious trap game environment in the ACC. I still think the cards are better than people think. We'll know more when they go up against Elko's Blue Devil's.
15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish They got the bye this week but that convincing win against USC keeps them in the top 15 for me.
16 Duke Blue Devils Elko and Leonard aren't messing around. This is a great team, and I think they still have a lot of potential (depending on some other teams) to make an ACC championship run. If they do, they'll most likely get a rematch with FSU. However, that's all contingent on the team actually being good without Leonard. While he isn't the best QB (in my own opinion), I think having him is the catalyst for a lot of other playmakers on the team. Without him out there, they're just okay. But when Leonard has the ball in his hand, Duke looks almost super-human in how they play the game. It's a level of game intelligence and understanding you don't usually see from the program, and it's a very nice thing to see.
17 LSU Tigers DId they play a bad team? Yes. Did they absolutely annihilate them? Also yes. LSU isn't bad. They aren't incredible, but they arent bad.
18 Missouri Tigers Pretty convincing wins after losing to LSU in a heartbreaker. Gotta love the spirit and grit of this team, especially during the dog days of the season.
19 North Carolina Tar Heels Ouch, what a crushing loss for the Tar Heels. I don't feel great kicking them out fo the top 20 yet since they've been pretty great up till now. Still, losing in your own house to a very bad Virginia team has me doubting how great UNC is this season.
20 Air Force Falcons AIR FORCE?! STILL RANKED?! I mean, they look great out there and won an away rivalry game. Can't be angry with that and I'm happy to see them in my top 20 absolutely ballin' out.
21 Tulane Green Wave Consistent is how I would describe this team. They haven't really had a game end closely, which to me implies they either go hard in the first half, or manage to outlast and out-stamina their opponents. Regardless, Tulane isn't playing around this year.
22 Tennessee Volunteers What an embarrassing collapse to bama. They came out great and then just got ripped apart by the half-time adjustments. For me, it shows the Vols are currently uninspired and predictable; two very dangerous things to be in a league like the SEC, even in a down year.
23 UCLA Bruins A pretty convincing win over a decent (by stanford standards) standford team. Considering it was an away game, this keeps them ranked for me.
24 James Madison Dukes JMU is undefeated and losing their minds on the field, and the NCAA are a ton of pencil-pushing administrative hacks who like to ruin everyone's fun.
25 Miami Hurricanes That OT win over Clemson was much-needed for the Canes. Their defense showing up when it counts showed the Canes aren't pushovers, as long as they know when to take a win. I still don't think Clemson is bad this year, and I count this win as a pretty major one for Miami after the losses they've had. It certainly makes the match-up with FSU in a few weeks seem bit more interesting.

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