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Mynameisdiehard Ballot for 2024 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 7, 2024, 1:25 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Heavier weight on record, weighing overall strength of record with results, comparing head to head and weighing strengths of wins/losses.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Move up due to losses above them
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Move up due to losses above them
3 Oregon Ducks Move up due to losses above them
4 Penn State Nittany Lions Move up due to losses above them. Jumped Miami due to below
5 Miami Hurricanes Miami has gotten the results, but there has been referee controversy around both last minute wins. Miami could have (and in my opinion) should have lost at least one, if not both of those games, so I am hesitant to give them full credit. Nevertheless, a win is a win in the record book and if they keep winning I will have no choice but to recognize it. Struggling with a weaker schedule as it is right now is not a good look and I expect a slip up at some point.
6 BYU Cougars With all of the chaos this week, BYUs accomplishments look even better. By my rankings, 2 wins against current Top 25 teams is something no other team can boast and having the #1 SOR is proof that they belong here, at least for now.
7 Iowa State Cyclones Somewhat similar to the above, Iowa State has taken care of business and looked good while doing it. Unfortunate they don't have a real marquise win, especially due to Iowa's expected thrashing from Ohio State, but still having the #4 SOR is again proof they belong here.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Loss to Vanderbilt looms large here. Avoiding SEC bias I can't argue they belong any farther up than this.
9 Georgia Bulldogs Well Alabama's loss to Vandy kind of hurt the entire SEC's resume. Most polls seem to put Georgia ahead, but these polls always seem flawed in that they take into account the prior week's rankings to make the current week's, rather than re-evaluating every team based on their and their opponents current resumes. That is what I do. Georgia lost to Alabama, both have 1 loss. Georgia stays behind Alabama
10 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee has a current Top 25 win, but the loss to Arkansas hurts, especially so because their resume is not ideal for an SEC team. Unfortunately, if Oklahoma loses to Texas this week, I expect Tennessee to be jumped by some other 1 loss teams as that "Top 25 win" will magically disappear.
11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish My opinion on ND has shifted every single week. But they were simultaneously hurt by Louisville's loss and helped by TAMU's massive win. Similar to Alabama/Georgia, the head to head here reigns supreme.
12 Texas A&M Aggies Huge win against Missouri and they now look legit. Won't have many opportunities to pad the resume until the final game of the season, so they better take care of business if they want a chance at the playoff.
13 Indiana Hoosiers Undefeated and that offense is COOKING, but they have played one of the weakest schedule in CFB so far. Bye week before a big test against Nebraska next week and Washington the following. We will know if they are contenders or pretenders.
14 Boise State Broncos Boise St. has probably the best "quality" loss on the resume for a 1 loss team. A 3 point loss to a top 3 team and they are dominating everyone else they play. Only thing holding them back is the lack of quality wins. They should be respected more imo.
15 Illinois Fighting Illini Per my rankings, they have a Top 25 win and a 2 TD loss to the number 4 team. That being said, I don't know if this carries much further with roadblocks coming up.
16 SMU Mustangs BYUs rocketing up my polls also brings SMU into the fray like a rocket. They have looked great and have a solid SOR. Looking to be a sneaky dark-horse in the SEC title race, especially if Miami or Clemson stumble.
17 Ole Miss Rebels I think many have them overrated. Their loss to an unranked Kentucky team is just not good. If you compare the losses to other teams, at least many of them have lost to a ranked opponent and/or have wins against ranked opponents. Ole Miss has neither. Sure they play LSU this week, but I expect whoever loses that game is out of my Top 25 anyway, and the following week is Oklahoma who I also do not expect to be ranked for much longer. Ole Miss is quite possibly going to have the easiest schedule in the SEC this year and that loss to Kentucky is going to be an anchor weighing them down all season. SEC bias keeps them relevant.
18 Clemson Tigers On the eye test, I believe they are probably the best all-around team in the ACC. Unfortunately the weakness of the ACC and Clemson's schedule is hurting them. The loss to Georgia and subsequent devaluing of the SEC this week see them dropping below some other teams this week for me.
19 Oklahoma Sooners I have said for weeks I think Oklahoma are not anywhere near a Top 25 team. Barely squeaking out wins and they haven't even hit the gauntlet of their schedule yet. If they lose this week they are out of the T25 for me, and probably will not be back as I think they will be extremely lucky to hit 8 wins. My initial prediction was 6-6, but honestly the games against Ole Miss & Missouri could go either way at this point so maybe 7-5. Bad year for Oklahoma incoming.
20 LSU Tigers LSU is massively hurt by the USC loss last week. SEC bias keeps them afloat in most rankings but this week is do or die. As I said, loser of Ole Miss/LSU is most likely out of my rankings next week.
21 Pittsburgh Panthers Undefeated and taking care of business. ACC is weak. ESPN SOS has them basically on par with Iowa State but based on actual results, I think Pittsburgh still has some question marks. A few close results to mediocre teams has me cautious.
22 Kansas State Wildcats They're in. then they're out, now they are back in. The loss to BYU doesn't look near as bad as it did right after the game. Based on evaluating teams with 1 losses, even with it being a blow out, it is against who I have ranked 6th so KSU is back for now. Could solidify their spot with a win against Colorado this week, or dare I say, give the spot up to Colorado if they lose?
23 Missouri Tigers Yikes. Was the close win to Vanderbilt a precursor of what we were to get in the SEC last week? Missouri will hang around the top 25 for a bit due to TAMU's ranking, but if A&M slips up, or Missouri loses again, they may slip out.
24 Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska is back in my back. Objectively comparing the 1 loss teams, and OT 1 score loss to who I have ranked #15 is a very respectable "quality" loss and better than any other 1 loss team not already listed. Bye week this week will most likely lead to a ranked matchup with Indiana where they can re-solidify their contention in the Big Ten.
25 Utah Utes I am not going to sugar coat it, but I have no clue what the national rankings are smoking with Utah and it furthers my point that their rankings are made based on the previous week's. Utah's SOR is 40. SOS so far is 106. A bad loss to (at the time) 3-1 Arizona is still hanging over their heads. Arizona did them no favors by losing again to Texas Tech. Sure, in the moment we thought that Utah/Oklahoma St matchup was a possible precursor to the Big 12 championship, but now OSU is reeling from 3 losses in a row, their season all but over and they will be fighting to even make a bowl game. So a really mediocre performance and barely squeaked out win over them is just not a good look. Pair that with the close win against Baylor who is also getting man handled by every other team they play and Utah isn't even a top 5 Big 12 team for me. I legitimately debated with myself for a long time ranking either Army or Navy above them, but held off based on SOS alone right now. That may change in the future. Utah is the biggest red flag for me in all of CFB right now.

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