Back to poll results >>

Muffinnnnnnn Ballot for 2024 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 17, 2024, 1:56 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Wins and losses matter most. There's been a little reshuffling, but no major changes. The only team to drop out of my top 25 was Clemson, being replaced by Memphis, who has been alternating being in and out every week. The margins for most of these teams are very small, and still many feel like "vibe" rankings. However, I reward what you've done in the season so far, and while Tennessee and Ole Miss haven't faced off with some big marquee opponent, neither has (arguably) Georgia and Alabama, and both of them had games they were in danger of losing in the final minutes of the game. Maybe that's being a bit unfair to Clemson and they could turn out really good still, but thus far I just haven't seen enough to consider them like that. UNLV continues to get no respect by the AP, which is a bit silly since they've accomplished more than most teams thus far. Hell, the reason Illinois is ranked is primarily their win vs Kansas, but UNLV just beat Kansas too, alongside the same Houston team that gave Oklahoma fits. Speaking of Oklahoma, they aren't in the top 25 but would probably be #27 or so. There's more than 25 teams who could be deserving of a top 25 ranking, and a lot of that stuff will get sorted out. Oklahoma especially will have PLENTY of opportunity for big wins (and potentially big losses). Georgia's near-disaster vs a pretty terrible Kentucky team dinged them a few spots, but they'll have a good chance to rebound after the bye week. I kept Boston College in the top 25, and in fact didn't move them at all. With some shuffling, they ended up in the same place, although several teams rose and fell around them. Missouri falls several spots due to their close game at home to a supposedly lower-end top 25 team. Michigan looked terrible as they have in every game so far this year, and every week I drop them lower. The loss to Texas is excusable, and maybe even the close game vs Fresno State, but not the horrible sloppy performance vs a really bad Arkansas State team. They haven't dropped fully out because they did pull out those two wins and I do think decently highly of Fresno State, but if they play like they have this year, they'll lose to USC and drop out of the top 25. LSU is unranked because I just don't believe in them and they have NOT looked good all year. The loss to USC to start, a 2 point game in the second half vs Nicholls, and a ref-assisted nailbiter win over South Carolina, who needed all 60 minutes to beat Old Dominion, is not the résumé of a top 25 team. With games vs UCLA and South Alabama coming up, there's not much they can do to impress me until their matchup vs Ole Miss. Sometimes I write more in-depth for these things, but it's 3am and I need to wake up tomorrow so I'll leave it there, and presumably write some reflections in the reddit comment.

Back to poll results >>