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loganisfresh Ballot for 2024 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 9, 2024, 1:36 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Combination of who I think would win if two teams ranked next to each other played right now + how impressed/unimpressed I was by a team's most recent performance.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs W 48-3 vs Tennessee Tech | Top 3 can be in any order, the only differing factor is strength of schedule, their rankings will fluctuate throughout the season as these teams beat ranked opponents
2 Texas Longhorns W 31-12 @ Michigan | Didn't rank Michigan this week so I can't put the explanation on them but yeah, I was pretty much completely right about how this game would go in Michigan's explanation last week and am patting myself on the back for it right now.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes W 56-0 vs Western Michigan | Showing my bias quickly, but arguably the most dominant win of the week. Ohio State's first shutout since 2019, and outgained WMU 683 - 99 in total offensive yardage.
4 Tennessee Volunteers W 51-10 vs NC State | Absolutely dominated an overrated but decent NC state team. They are the real deal and are interchangeable with Ole Miss for the 3rd most complete team in the SEC and 4th best in the country right now.
5 Ole Miss Rebels W 52-3 vs Middle Tennessee
6 Alabama Crimson Tide W 42-16 vs USF | Final score does not indicate how bad of a game the offense played. Granted, the defense played good for the most part and USF is a good team, so it's not all bad, but overall, not an Alabama caliber performance. Alabama and Missouri look to be neck and neck for 4th best SEC team at the moment.
7 USC Trojans W 48-0 vs Utah State | Yep. USC finally has a good defense, with their first shutout since 2011. Need a larger sample size to tell if it's great and if it will win them games vs great teams, but as of now it is good enough in combo with the offense to make USC the second-best team in the Big Ten by a decent margin.
8 Missouri Tigers W 38-0 vs Buffalo
9 Miami Hurricanes W 56-9 vs Florida A&M
10 Utah Utes W 23-12 vs Baylor | Score looks bad but in actuality this game was 23-0 at one point in the 2nd quarter and Utah just put it away in the most Utah way possible.
11 Penn State Nittany Lions W 34-27 vs Bowling Green | Simply cannot give up 24 points to Bowling Green at home in the first half. Would drop lower but every team below has also recently played a bad game and/or just hasn't had the chance to do enough quite yet to jump Penn State.
12 Oregon Ducks W 37-34 vs Boise State | Another disappointing game. It was expected that Ashton Jeanty would make plays and try to keep Boise State in the game, but it is becoming apparent that the lines for both offense and defense are massive liabilities as it stands.
13 Clemson Tigers W 66-20 vs App State | Okay, the offense isn't 22/23 Iowa bad, but it needs to show up against a real opponent if Clemson wants redemption.
14 Kansas State Wildcats W 34-27 @ 19 Tulane | Honestly bailed by a bad a call that would have tied the end of their game, and who knows what happens after if it was tied. That being said, they did win an away game against a good Tulane team, so it could be much worse.
15 Louisville Cardinals W 49-14 vs Jacksonville State | I am really hesitant to rate Louisville this highly as they just scream "I am a decent but overrated team that will lose multiple games I shouldn't" to me more than any other team in these rankings, but the work on the field justifies it for now. I have a feeling I'll come back to this in a few weeks feeling justified about my Louisville fear, however.
16 LSU Tigers W 44-21 vs Nicholls | Sleepwalked through a boring game against an FCS opponent. God their act together 2nd half but not a great performance. Would not be surprised at all of this team loses to South Carolina next week after watching both teams play.
17 Vanderbilt Commodores W 55-0 vs Alcorn State
18 Oklahoma Sooners W 16-12 vs Houston | Terrible showing against the worst team in the conference. UNLV made this Houston team that hung within 4 of Oklahoma look silly.
19 Tulane Green Wave L 27-34 vs 14 Kansas State | Yes, they moved up after a loss. They looked good for the most part and played a good team. This is how rankings should work. You shouldn't be demoted for playing well against a team that is better than you.
20 Iowa State Cyclones W 20-19 @ Iowa | Great comeback on the road in a rivalry game. Defense played well and the offense made plays at the end when needed. I still don't trust Iowa State to not lose games they shouldn't at this point, however. Something about these red teams with bird mascots.
21 Nebraska Cornhuskers W 28-10 vs Colorado | Score doesn't show how dominant of a win this was. Colorado isn't a very good team, but Sanders and Hunter can keep them in games they shouldn't be in occasionally so shutting them down completely warrants respect.
22 Syracuse Orange W 31-28 vs Georgia Tech | Trailed off at the end but a good-looking win for the most part against a solid Georgia Tech team. Might stick around these rankings for a while if they can keep this up against a weak schedule.
23 Rutgers Scarlet Knights W 49-17 vs Akron | One of my fringe teams last week, just wanted to see them against a similar opponent with Ohio State, and they look the part to be a good team this season.
24 UNLV Rebels W 72-14 Utah Tech
25 USF Bulls L 16-42 @ 6 Alabama | Was my #26 team last week. Yes, trailing previously #4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa by 1 point with 10 minutes left in the game is enough to move up from 26 to 25.

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