Back to poll results >>

Due_Connection179 Ballot for 2024 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 22, 2024, 11:58 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 articles; listen to podcasts) to see what happened instead of just looking at the box score. Every 4 weeks I also do a "reset of my polls to make sure I'm looking at everything from film to SOS to key wins. For my preseason poll, it will be a combination of players/coaches returning + incoming players (recruiting class + transfer portal).

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Last Week #1 vs UL Monroe // Won 56 - 7 // Went as expected.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Last Week #2 // Bye Week
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Last Week #3 vs Marshall // Won 49 - 14 // Went as expected.
4 Tennessee Volunteers Last Week #6 at #16 Oklahoma // Won 25 - 15 // It felt like Tennessee just tried to run out the clock in the 2nd half (especially in the 4th quarters having 12 run plays to 2 pass plays), but shout out to the Vols defense for only allowing 222 yards this week to go along with 3 turnovers.
5 Ole Miss Rebels Last Week #4 vs Georgia Southern // Won 52 - 13 // Went as expected.
6 Alabama Crimson Tide Last Week #7 // Bye Week
7 Miami Hurricanes Last Week #9 at USF // Won 50 - 15 // Slowly starting to believe in the Cam Ward for Heisman hype train, and that scares me a little bit.
8 Oregon Ducks Last Week #10 // Bye Week // I know this looks like recency bias, but I fully believe that all 3 of Oregon's opponents would beat Vanderbilt on a neutral field (yes, including Idaho) and that's why I have the Ducks jumping Mizzou.
9 Missouri Tigers Last Week #5 vs Vanderbilt // Won 30 - 27 in OT // It's honestly starting to look like this Mizzou team is actually just mediocre, so I'm going to have to start dropping them a little bit. Back-to-Back close games at home to Boston College and Vanderbilt is mildly concerning.
10 Utah Utes Last Week #11 at #14 Oklahoma State // Won 22 - 19 // Winning on the road against a top 15 opponent is impressive, however, they did not look good again without Cam Rising. If he is not healthy, this Utah team will not make the CFP.
11 Penn State Nittany Lions Last Week #12 vs Kent State // Won 56 - 0 // Went as expected. For those wondering why I'm not having them jump Mizzou or Utah, that's because every season I get hype about Penn State, just for them to not beat a top 25 team. So I'm going to wait until they play and beat at least USC to have them jump anyone who doesn't lose.
12 Michigan Wolverines Last Week #25 vs #8 USC // Won 27 - 24 // I don't understand this Michigan team as you can see by my rankings (week 3 #19, week 4 #25, now back to #13), but luckily for me I have another 10 or so weeks to figure them out. I'm also a firm believer in head-to-head, so that's why I have Michigan then USC then LSU as the top 1-loss schools at the moment.
13 USC Trojans Last Week #8 at #25 Michigan // Lost 24 - 27 // Honestly, the only thing I have to say about this one is, "Welcome to Big Ten football."
14 LSU Tigers Last Week #15 vs UCLA // Won 34 - 17 // Very impressive 2nd half from LSU. Out scored UCLA 17 - 0 and out gained them 244 yards to just 79.
15 Clemson Tigers Last Week #20 vs NC State // Won 59 - 35 // This game was 59 - 14 when Clemson's back ups came in. This also looks like NC State is completely washed from what we thought they were going to be this season (but we should've known that after the Tennessee game).
16 BYU Cougars Last Week NR vs #13 Kansas State // Won 38 - 9 // Is this an overreaction? Yes. Will I change my mind or be proven wrong about BYU being a CFP contender in the next month? Probably. But as of now, they have one of the top wins of this season, are currently 4 - 0, and have games against Baylor & Arizona in the next 3 weeks to pad their record a bit before (probably ranked games) vs Oklahoma State, at UCF, and at (current #10) Utah.
17 Iowa State Cyclones Last Week #17 vs Arkansas State // Won 52 - 7 // Went as expected.
18 Louisville Cardinals Last Week #22 vs Georgia Tech // Won 31 - 19 // I'm impressed by Louisville's defense, but I am hesitant to bring them up over some of these 1-loss teams. They have a road game against Notre Dame this week that will show whether this team is a CFP contender or not.
19 Oklahoma State Cowboys Last Week #14 vs #11 Utah // Lost 19 - 22 // This looks like a 3-pt loss against a top 10 team, until you look further (or actually watched the game) and realize they were down by 19 pts in the 4th quarter while Utah was missing their starting QB.
20 Oklahoma Sooners Last Week #16 vs #6 Tennessee // Lost 15 - 25 // I'm going to have to re-evaluate the 1-loss teams. I don't believe Oklahoma ever truly challenged Tennessee for the win in this game, but they did play better than Kansas State, and arguably Oklahoma State, this week.
21 Illinois Fighting Illini Last Week #24 at #21 Nebraska // Won 31 - 24 in OT // Sneaking out wins against Kansas (which now looks worse than what we first thought) and now Nebraska makes moving Illinois up too far a bit questionable, but I do love when underdog schools like Illinois start the season on a nice winning streak.
22 Indiana Hoosiers Last Week NR vs Charlotte // Won 52 - 14 // This ranking is a combination of what they did on the road last week at UCLA, how some of these ranked teams looked this week, and the fact that they currently have a point differential of +165. I love that I can currently rank Illinois & Indiana back-to-back and it actually make sense in the top 25.
23 Boston College Eagles Last Week #19 vs Michigan State // Won 23 - 19 // Won this game with some Red Bandanna Luck, but their last 6 quarters of football have been concerning after their nice start to their season.
24 Kansas State Wildcats Last Week #13 at BYU // Lost 9 - 38 // As someone who likes Kansas State a lot, this loss stings. Kansas State out gained BYU by 126 yards, but 3 costly turnovers and 3 red zone trips ending in FGs equals a bad loss on the road.
25 James Madison Dukes Last Week NR at UNC // Won 70 - 50 // I was between James Madison & Navy for my G5 spot after Northern Illinois was upset by Buffalo, and I ultimately went with the Dukes because they dropped a 70-burger on a P4 team. Later in the season, I'm going to use either the 21-25 spots or the 23-25 spots to rank my "best G5 + PAC teams", but as of right now I will just continue to leave them here. The next teams after James Madison I considered: Navy & Washington State.

Back to poll results >>