Ballot Type: Human
Submitted: Oct. 29, 2024, 1:50 a.m.
Overall Rationale: Wins and losses matter most. If you have the same record as another team and you beat them head-to-head, you must be ranked ahead of them. 2 loss teams finally appear in my top 25! Despite a very chalky week, my personal rankings were impacted a lot on the bottom. As the contenders separated themselves, I found a lot of teams near the bottom of my rankings last week took a loss. Syracuse, UNLV, and Liberty all lost and left the rankings. Illinois lost and dropped 7 spots but is still in the top 25 as their only two losses are to top 5 teams. The margin of victory caused me to drop them a bit, even though they were playing the #1 team. Navy also lost and it wasn't pretty, but I also don't think they got as thoroughly dominated as the score showed, as they had 6 turnovers and 5 of them were unforced. They stay in my rankings for that reason, and also because they are still the only team that has been able to beat Memphis this season. I don't think Missouri is a great team and haven't had them ranked in a long time, but that win plus several other losses meant that Alabama finally rejoins my top 25. Also joining them is Colorado for a shocking appearance, and LSU after a loss. I've been on the LSU fraud train for the entire season. Yet, as I watched every possible fringe top 25 team lose in spectacular fashion, I seemingly had no choice but to rank them. The win over Ole Miss is....ok I guess. I could've ranked the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns with their 6-1 record, but the loss to Tulane would make me want to rank Tulane instead. Then Tulane's loss to Oklahoma makes me shy away from ranking them, so in the Louisiana battle royale, LSU comes out on top. Both of the other two are right on the outside looking in though. I shuffled the top of the rankings a bit here and there based on performances (since no one lost). Boise State passed K-State because of K-State's lackluster win vs Kansas (compared to the UNLV win, which of course UNLV already beat Kansas this season), Ohio State fell a bit because of the Nebraska game, Texas fell a bit for the Vandy game, etc. Miami's offense didn't look great vs FSU, and I'm still punishing them some for their multiple ref-assisted wins. Honestly LSU could easily be in the same boat with the ref-assisted wins, but pretty much any loss for the rest of the year will make me jump back on the fraud train. Indiana looks like the best team in the country not named Oregon so far this year. I'm sure they'll be a big underdog vs Ohio State, and whatever the line is, you should probably take Indiana plus the points. BYU won as an underdog vs UCF for some unknowable reason, and look like the class of the Big 12. We'll see what Iowa State has to say about that later on. Anyway, feel free to tell me how stupid I am for all of my rankings!
Teams Ranked:
Rank | Team | Unusualness |
---|---|---|
1 | Oregon Ducks | 0.00 |
2 | Indiana Hoosiers | 0.80 |
3 | BYU Cougars | 0.50 |
4 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 0.00 |
5 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 0.00 |
6 | Iowa State Cyclones | 0.30 |
7 | Boise State Broncos | 1.75 |
8 | Kansas State Wildcats | 1.80 |
9 | Georgia Bulldogs | -0.26 |
10 | Clemson Tigers | 0.00 |
11 | SMU Mustangs | 1.57 |
12 | Texas Longhorns | -0.57 |
13 | Pittsburgh Panthers | 0.00 |
14 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -0.24 |
15 | Texas A&M Aggies | -0.48 |
16 | Miami Hurricanes | -2.95 |
17 | Tennessee Volunteers | -0.67 |
18 | Army West Point | 0.00 |
19 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -0.10 |
20 | Illinois Fighting Illini | 0.78 |
21 | Washington State Cougars | 0.00 |
22 | Navy Midshipmen | 2.25 |
23 | Memphis Tigers | 0.74 |
24 | Colorado Buffaloes | 0.00 |
25 | LSU Tigers | -1.19 |