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PrimalCookie Ballot for 2024 Week 11

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 4, 2024, 11:35 a.m.

Overall Rationale: An attempt at a resume-based ranking. Quality not guaranteed. Key Wins: >.500 P5, >=6 wins G5

Rank Team Reason
1 Oregon Ducks Key Wins: #4 Ohio State 32-31, #12 Boise State 37-34, Illinois 38-9, @ Michigan 38-17 // Losses: N/A // Very obvious #1, not much else to say
2 Georgia Bulldogs Key Wins: @ #8 Texas 30-15, vs. #24 Clemson 34-3 // Losses: @ #9 Alabama 34-41 // Texas is still a very impressive win, as is Clemson although that one's less impressive this week. Carson Beck is ass, but the resume is good and I'll keep them here until they lose again
3 BYU Cougars Key Wins: @ #11 SMU 18-15, #19 Kansas State 38-9, @ Baylor 24-28 // Losses: N/A // Good top slate of wins, undefeated, very good team
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Key Wins: @ #13 Penn State 20-13, Iowa 35-7, Nebraska 21-17 // Losses: @ #1 Oregon 31-32 // Moreso an eye test and quality loss ranking, but Ohio State are pretty clearly the real deal so yeah
5 Indiana Hoosiers Key Wins: Nebraska 56-7, Washington 31-17 // Losses: N/A // Still no ranked wins, but Indiana just keeps blowing everyone's doors off and good teams tend to do that
6 Miami Hurricanes Key Wins: @ #23 Louisville 52-45, Duke 53-31, Virginia Tech 38-34 // Losses: N/A // They've looked very shaky at times, but Miami is still undefeated and has a ranked win now so they're up here until further notice
7 Tennessee Volunteers Key Wins: #9 Alabama 24-17, vs. NC State 51-10, @ Oklahoma 25-15 // Losses: @ Arkansas 14-19 // Tennessee needs to figure out their offensive problems, but the wins look good on paper and there isn't really anyone I think has a better resume so here they go
8 Texas Longhorns Key Wins: @ Vanderbilt 27-24, vs. Oklahoma 34-3, @ Michigan 31-12, Colorado State 52-0 // Losses: #2 Georgia 15-30 // Colorado State is 6-3 so they count as a key win lol. But anyway while none of them are ranked, they have a pretty good slate of wins, even if the team's looking worse and worse as the season goes on
9 Alabama Crimson Tide Key Wins: #2 Georgia 41-34, #21 South Carolina 27-25, Missouri 34-0, @ Wisconsin 42-10, Western Kentucky 63-0 // Losses: @ #7 Tennessee 17-24, @ Vanderbilt 35-40 // Obligatory 6-2 WKU qualifying as a "key win" mention. Bama is 6-2, but they've played an incredibly tough schedule. Their worst opponent is 4-4 USF. They have some really good wins, passable losses (imagine saying that about Vandy preseason), they belong here for now
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Key Wins: @ #14 Texas A&M 23-13, #23 Louisville 31-24, vs. Navy 51-14, @ Georgia Tech 31-13 // Losses: Northern Illinois 14-16 // Man that NIU loss just keeps getting weirder and weirder. It's dragging them down, but their wins are good enough that I'm putting them here in the top 10
11 SMU Mustangs Key Wins: #16 Pittsburgh 48-25, @ #23 Louisville 34-27, @ Duke 28-27, TCU 66-42 // Losses: #2 BYU 15-18 // SMU doesn't always pass the "blew people out" test, but they pass the ranked wins test and the loss test. It should be smooth sailing from here to 11-1 and an ACCCG appearance in their first year in the conference (lmao)
12 Boise State Broncos Key Wins: #18 Washington State 45-24, @ UNLV 29-24, @ Georgia Southern 56-45 // Losses: @ #1 Oregon 34-37 // Good wins over WSU and UNLV, just about as good as a loss can get vs Oregon, and the Jeanty tax put Boise here in the top 12. There's a real chance at being the 4th autobid and getting a bye if they can get some luck ahead of them
13 Penn State Nittany Lions Key Wins: Illinois 21-7, @ Wisconsin 28-13 // Losses: #4 Ohio State 13-20 // I don't think they're a bad team, but PSU just doesn't have the wins to be placed higher. There's not really any chances to get more ranked wins either besides Minnesota, or if Illinois decides to be good again (I never really believed in them to begin with)
14 Texas A&M Aggies Key Wins: #15 LSU 38-23, Missouri 41-10, vs. Arkansas 21-17 // Losses: #10 Notre Dame 13-23, @ #21 South Carolina 20-44 // Trap game got em. I was wondering if maybe it was too obvious - night game at a sneaky good team right after an emotional big win - but nope, it happened. Still a good team, and they have head to head over LSU so here they go
15 LSU Tigers Key Wins: #17 Ole Miss 29-26, @ #21 South Carolina 36-33, @ Arkansas 34-10 // Losses: @ #14 Texas A&M 23-38, vs. USC 20-27 // I'm not going to punish the USC loss too much because I really think they're a decent team, just getting unlucky in 1 score games. Speaking of 1 score games, both of LSU's top wins are by 3. They still count, but it'll be kept in mind later if they're still in the playoff hunt (especially if Bama is also a really close win)
16 Pittsburgh Panthers
17 Ole Miss Rebels Key Wins: @ #21 South Carolina 27-3, @ Arkansas 63-31, Oklahoma 26-14, Georgia Southern 52-13 // Losses: @ #15 LSU 26-29, Kentucky 17-20 // Man that Kentucky loss is a killer. They have good, dominant wins, a close loss to LSU, and just. that
18 Washington State Cougars Key Wins: Texas Tech 37-16, vs. Washington 24-19 // Losses: @ #12 Boise State 24-45 // Another team that keeps winning their close games. But they have two solid wins, two more that just barely miss the cut for "key wins" (Fresno and SJSU), and here you are
19 Kansas State Wildcats Key Wins: @ #22 Colorado 31-28, @ #25 Tulane 34-27 // Losses: @ #2 BYU 9-38, @ Houston 19-24 // What the hell was that? Houston sucks, we know this (although they're actually 3-3 in conference now so maybe not?). It destroys their otherwise really solid resume
20 Iowa State Cyclones Key Wins: @ Iowa 20-19, Baylor 43-21 // Losses: Texas Tech 22-23 // The only thing Iowa State had going for them is being undefeated, and now they don't have that. Instead, they have being 7-1 going for them. I really considered dropping them farther, but it's pretty hard to justify SC over them right now. That could change later
21 South Carolina Gamecocks Key Wins: #14 Texas A&M 44-20, @ Oklahoma 35-9 // Losses: @ #9 Alabama 25-27, #25 LSU 33-36, #17 Ole Miss 3-27 // SC is 5 points away from being 7-1 and probably in the top 5. The resume doesn't completely support them being ranked, but I've watched quite a few of their games and damn is this a good team (unless they decide not to show up like vs Ole Miss)
22 Colorado Buffaloes Key Wins: Cincinnati 34-23, Baylor 38-31, @ Colorado State 28-9 // Losses: #19 Kansas State 28-31, @ Nebraska 10-28 // I never would've imagined that Colorado could be flying under the radar, but they really are. They've been a different team since the Nebraska loss. If they beat Texas Tech this week things will get a lot more serious
23 Louisville Cardinals Key Wins: @ #24 Clemson 33-21, Georgia Tech 31-19 // Losses: #6 Miami 45-52, @ #10 Notre Dame 24-31, #11 SMU 27-34 // This is partially a quality losses ranking... actually it's not partially, it's very much a quality losses ranking. But can you really blame me when they lost by 1 score to 3 top 11 teams and just now beat Clemson?
24 Clemson Tigers Key Wins: NC State 59-35 // Losses: vs. #2 Georgia 3-34, #23 Louisville 21-33 // I feel vindicated for not taking Clemson sky-high like a lot of others were. They hadn't played anyone since Georgia, and sure enough they lost again to the next good team in Louisville. 6-2 keeps them up here, as does name brand, but yeah
25 Tulane Green Wave Key Wins: @ Louisiana 41-33 // Losses: #19 Kansas State 27-34, @ Oklahoma 19-34 // Not the AAC team you expected to see, huh? I may as well explain why no Army, and it's simple - their best win is 4-4 East Carolina with a fired coach. Maybe if they beat North Texas this week I'll reconsider. As for Tulane, they played really well against KSU and are ULL's only loss of the season, so I like them more than Missouri (blown out vs the two ranked teams they played) or Vandy (lost to Missouri)

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