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70stang Ballot for 2024 Week 5

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Sept. 22, 2024, 8:14 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Welcome back to the Report Card Poll! THIS IS NOT A PREDICTIVE POLL. The key tenet of this poll is that pre-season polls are bullshit, and poll inertia is extremely bullshit. I endeavor to eliminate as much poll inertia as possible. This poll is entirely resume based. It is not intended to be predictive in any way. We're here to generate a Report Card. What have you accomplished on the field so far this season? That's the only question that matters. The result is generated almost entirely algorithmically. I reserve human input strictly for scenarios where things like head-to-head may be important (last year with Texas and Alabama is a great example). All P5 teams are equal, all G5 teams are equal, and all FCS teams are equal. This is a black box methodology. Ranked wins don't matter at all until I start computing them around week 7, because this early in the season a "ranked win" means basically nothing. For example, FSU was top 10 to start the season. BC and GT got credit for beating a P5 team, but not a ranked team. Likewise, Memphis' win doesn't look worse than beating any other P5 due to FSU falling hard. WEEKLY NOTES: Ohio State finally makes the poll, without having a power conference opponent on their schedule until the end of September. They're roughly the same (resume-wise) as Liberty and Army right now. We've officially started conference play, and once there have been 2-3 conference games per team played I will start computing ranked wins, and then my poll will begin to make a lot more sense. We're probably a week out from the first 1-loss teams making the poll, as more games are played and conference play starts matching up teams with similar resumes.

Rank Team Reason
1 Tennessee Volunteers TIER 1 - Undefeated Teams with 2 P5 wins The day is finally here. My algorithm has finally put my Vols first on their own merits. There is a single team in the FBS that is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins (none at home), 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. Tennessee is that one team. Tennessee is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, one away and one neutral, as well as 1 G5 win and 1 FCS. Tennessee takes the top spot here due to winning their P5 games away and at a neutral site; everybody else in this tier played at least one of their P5 opponents at home, which is the only reason Tennessee singularly tops this tier; I would like to stress that this is the kind of thing that normalizes over the course of the season, especially once I start computing ranked wins in a few weeks, and once Tennessee starts playing home games and other teams hit the road.
2 Utah Utes Utah is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, including one away, as well as 1 away G5 win and 1 FCS. They take this spot over BYU due to strength of opponents played, coming in at 26th in the nation. BYU and Utah are identical otherwise, and take spots 2 and 3 over the lower teams in this tier due to playing a G5 away game.
3 BYU Cougars BYU is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, including one away, as well as 1 away G5 win and 1 FCS. BYU's strength of opponents played is 37th.
4 Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, including one away, as well as 1 G5 win and 1 FCS. Strength of opponents played places them above Pitt here, at 44th in the nation.
5 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt is is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, including one away, as well as 1 G5 win and 1 FCS. Strength of opponents played is 63rd.
6 Washington State Cougars Wazzu is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, including one neutral, as well as 1 G5 win and 1 FCS.
7 Missouri Tigers Mizzou is 4-0 with 2 P5 wins, as well as 1 G5 and 1 FCS. They have not played an away game yet.
8 UNLV Rebels This is the first of the 3-0 teams to make it on this ranking. UNLV and Georgia round out this tier, both of which having beaten 2 P5 teams and 1 FCS. They are considered to have proven more than a 4-0 team with only 1 P5 win, but less than teams with 2 P5 wins and one more game played (especially because all the teams above them have played a G5 school) UNLV is 3-0 with 2 P5 away wins, as well as 1 FCS win. They take this spot over UGA due to beating their P5 teams in their own houses.
9 Georgia Bulldogs UGA is 3-0 with 2 P5 wins, one away and one neutral, as well as 1 FCS win.
10 Miami Hurricanes TIER 2 - Undefeated Teams with 1 P5 win Miami tops this tier at 4-0 with 1 P5 away win, 2 G5 wins including one away, and 1 FCS win. Miami and Duke have both played away games against G5 teams, whereas everybody else in this tier has played their G5 games at home. Miami takes the spot over Duke due to strength of opponents played at 16th.
11 Duke Blue Devils Duke is 4-0 with 1 P5 away win, 2 G5 wins including one away, and 1 FCS win. Duke's strength of opponents played is 112th.
12 Texas Longhorns Texas is 4-0 with 1 P5 away win, 2 G5 wins, and 1 FCS win. Texas' strength of opponents played is 6th.
13 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss is 4-0 with 1 P5 away win, 2 G5 wins, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 65th.
14 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana is 4-0 with 1 P5 away win, 2 G5 wins, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 91st.
15 Alabama Crimson Tide The rest of the teams in this tier have similar standing, but are only 3-0. Alabama is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, and 2 G5 wins. They take this spot over Penn State due to strength of opponents played at 18th.
16 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win and 2 G5 wins, as well as a strength of opponents played at 22nd.
17 James Madison Dukes JMU is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, 1 G5 away win, and 1 FCS win. They top the other 3-0 teams in this tier due to also playing their G5 game away.
18 Oregon Ducks Oregon is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 31st.
19 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa State is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 34th
20 UCF Knights UCF is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 39th
21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Rutgers is 3-0 with 1 P5 away win, 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. Their strength of opponents played is 71st
22 Louisville Cardinals Louisville is 3-0 with 1 P5 win, 1 G5 win, and 1 FCS win. They finish out this tier, having played all their games at home.
23 Liberty Flames TIER 3 - Undefeated teams with 0 P5 wins. Yes, Ohio State fans, you can stop being mad at me. You guys finally made the poll. Liberty tops this tier at 4-0, with 3 G5 wins and 1 FCS win. They are the only 4-0 team in this tier.
24 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State is 3-0 with 3 G5 wins. They take this spot over Army due to not playing an FCS team.
25 Army West Point Army is 3-0 with 2 G5 wins, including one away, and 1 FCS win. They beat out Navy due to playing an away game. Receiving votes: Navy is right below Army, at 3-0 with 2 G5 wins and 1 FCS win, all at home.

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