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throwaway_6786 Ballot for 2024 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 15, 2024, 11:40 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Now that three games have been played by most teams, it's pretty much all about the games on the field, with virtually no influence from last year. Any team that's only played two games still has influence from last year's record.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Texas has one of the better wins in the country and has dominated in every game they've played. No question in my mind that they've earned #1 so far.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes On a really early bye, so their 2023 campaign is still pulling some weight for them. The problem for the Buckeyes is that they don't have a chance to show what they're really made of until they play the Ducks one month from now, so even if they dominate, it's likely they'll slip down a few spots over the next few weeks just because other teams will be undefeated with wins against better opponents.
3 Georgia Bulldogs They've got to be feeling a little lucky that Mark Stoops is a coward that punts the ball on 4th and 8, down 1, with only three minutes left in the game. Maybe this was just a hiccup for the Bulldogs, but after the beating that Kentucky took last week, I have to think that Georgia was expecting to win by more than the slimmest possible margin.
4 Ole Miss Rebels Still haven't faced serious competition, but Dart and this offense are unbelievably good. Until they face LSU, however, they may run into the same problem as Ohio State with a lack of quality opponents early on.
5 Oregon Ducks That's the Oregon that most people were expecting this year. They just went up against their main rival in their house and crushed them. I'm impressed with what the Ducks can do, though there are still things to clean up on the defensive end.
6 Alabama Crimson Tide Great performance from the Tide in all facets. Milroe has come into his own and is incredible at making something out of nothing, and the defense is beginning to round into form. They've got a bye week, and then Georgia comes to town. We'll get a look at what both teams are really made of.
7 Kansas State Wildcats They've got two solid wins over Tulane and Arizona, so I think it's fair to say that they've got a top 10 claim at this point. The running attack is going to be difficult for anyone to stop and the defense gave up a few plays to McMillan (understandable as he's one of the better WRs in the country), but was otherwise rock solid.
8 Tennessee Volunteers They have a nice win over a half-decent NC State and have crushed all in their path with ruthless efficiency. I can't wait to see this offense go up against Oklahoma's defense. If the Vols perform well and win in Norman, they might just be top 3 next week.
9 Missouri Tigers A good win over Boston College, though it was sketchy for a while after going down 14-3. Mizzou has a pretty light schedule from now until their late October trip to Tuscaloosa, so I would imagine Missouri should have little issue going 7-0 before then.
10 Utah Utes Wasn't the cleanest win against their in-state rival, but Isaac Wilson acclimated quickly and threw 3 TDs in a 3-score victory for the Utes. Now, a big matchup in Stillwater awaits Utah as their first real test of the year.
11 Penn State Nittany Lions On an early bye, so they're still getting some help from their 10-3 2023 season. They'll have to look impressive quickly, or else they risk falling further despite winning. Again, it's the nature of not playing anyone of serious note until USC in mid-October. Speaking of which...
12 USC Trojans USC's win over LSU is still pulling some weight (although LSU looked less than impressive against the other USC). Let's see what happens when the Trojans go to Ann Arbor to face a familiar Rose Bowl foe.
13 Miami Hurricanes A solid win over Ball State, but the Florida win has lost just about all its luster. I'm not sure how much more we'll learn about Miami until they go to Louisville to face the Cardinals.
14 Oklahoma State Cowboys The game against Arkansas was an adventure, but they've otherwise been pretty good. Utah comes to town next, so we'll see just what Gundy and Co. can do against a tough Utah side.
15 Louisville Cardinals We still don't know much about Louisville, so this is still a shaky #15 for them, but they've got GT and ND coming up to test their might against.
16 Oklahoma Sooners Tulane looks to be a decent G5, but that's still not too encouraging for the Sooners, although the defense once again came up big late when they had to. Tennessee is a different animal though, so the Oklahoma offense will have to be on their game when their most recent national champion QB comes to town coaching against them.
17 Washington State Cougars Solid win in the Apple Cup. I'm sure that had to feel sweet after coming so close to ruining Washington's season last year and then watching them bolt for a different conference. Wazzu has looked solid so far despite the departure of Cam Ward, but their matchup against Boise State looms on the horizon. Win that game, and we'll see just how high the Cougars can go.
18 Northern Illinois Huskies An early bye week, but considering how impressive ND looked (against Purdue, but still), it helps NIU's cause. Since NIU doesn't have a particularly difficult schedule, ND will have to keep winning to bolster NIU in these rankings (and obviously, NIU themselves will have to keep winning).
19 Nebraska Cornhuskers They crushed their FCS opponent and Colorado didn't embarrass themselves against Colorado State. All in all, that went about as well as it could've for Nebraska's resume. They have an interesting challenge ahead of them in Illinois with their game against OSU still over a month away.
20 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa didn't look the best, but they did win, so Iowa State hangs around the rankings for now. The schedule is fairly light for the Cyclones, but the Big 12 gauntlet can be perilous, so Iowa State has to stay focused on one game at a time.
21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish I'm sure that must've felt good to obliterate an in-state rival in their house after faceplanting last week. Louisville is just a couple weeks away, we'll learn more about the resolve of the Irish then.
22 UNLV Rebels Beating Houston (who gave Oklahoma a hard time) and now Kansas (with a fair bit of luck) on the road has UNLV in the rankings, though Fresno State will prove an interesting challenge for the Rebels.
23 LSU Tigers They won, but that was not pretty at all. There were many calls in that game (in particular, the RTP call that took away a game-changing pick 6) that kept LSU in it and allowed them to escape Columbia with victory. What concerns me more than that, however, is how LSU was struggling to stop South Carolina before Sellers got injured. In a conference with as many dual-threat QBs as the SEC, that bodes poorly for the Tigers. On the plus side, Caden Durham was almost unstoppable and should be a top weapon for LSU moving forward.
24 Boston College Eagles I came away impressed with the Eagles despite the loss. They played well, led early, and just couldn't withstand the Tigers' relentless attack in the 2nd/3rd quarters. They'll need to win their next few games to stick around because a quality loss will only keep you up for so long. They'll face a surprising 3-0 Michigan State team this week, so let's see how they handle themselves after a loss.
25 Boise State Broncos They're only still ranked because Oregon looked so darn impressive this week. They'll have a chance to prove themselves when Washington State comes to town in a couple weeks. I considered Clemson, Illinois, Memphis, Syracuse, North Carolina, Cal, Michigan, Toledo, UCF, Indiana, and a few others, but none of them were quite good enough.

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