Back to poll results >>

throwaway_6786 Ballot for 2024 Week 12

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 12, 2024, 9:52 a.m.

Overall Rationale: It's all about the games on the field. I forgot to make a ballot last week due to election chaos, but I'll try to keep it consistent from now on.

Rank Team Reason
1 Oregon Ducks Pretty obvious #1 right now.
2 BYU Cougars Undefeated with two nice wins over a top 10 SMU and a top 20 K-State. They've looked sketchy against Oklahoma State and Utah, but you have to reward teams for being undefeated to some degree.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes It's a close call between Ohio State and Indiana, but the fact that Ohio State has a win over a fairly solid Penn State gives them the boost they need to stay at #3.
4 Indiana Hoosiers Had Indiana blown Michigan away, I might've put Indiana at #3, but their struggles keep them at #4 for the time being. A bye week is followed by a trip to Columbus for a showdown that will likely decide who gets into the B1G Championship Game.
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish still have that NIU stain on the resume, but they've picked up three decent/good wins (TA&M, Louisville, and Navy), and they've been crushing teams with regularity as of late.
6 Tennessee Volunteers The win over Alabama looks better after the Tide thrashed LSU and the Vols got a ho-hum win over a hapless Mississippi State team. Now comes judgement: Tennessee will have to go to Athens and play Georgia in a game that will have serious SECCG implications. If Tennessee wins, their spot in the CFP is all but assured.
7 SMU Mustangs They've had a few sketchy games (Duke and Nevada), but their wins over Louisville, Pitt, and (to a lesser degree) TCU bolster their resume above all the 2-loss teams to #7. It helps that BYU is still undefeated and SMU gave them a ride in that game.
8 Boise State Broncos Not the cleanest-looking win, but considering how many other great Boise State seasons have been ruined by Nevada, I'm sure the Boise faithful will take it. Two nice wins over Wazzu and UNLV plus the super-close road loss against #1 Oregon is the meat of Boise's resume, and for now, it's keeping them above all the two-loss teams. What an impressive year so far for these Broncos.
9 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama's managed to rack up some nice wins (Georgia + two wins over 3-loss LSU/South Carolina), but their loss to Vanderbilt isn't aging well, which is holding them back considerably. It doesn't help that Georgia lost to Ole Miss as badly as they did.
10 Penn State Nittany Lions A nice bounceback win over Washington, but I'm still not totally sold on this team, especially since their best win is over a 6-3 Illinois. They've got a few more games left, and if they win them all, they'll probably get into the CFP, but I'm not sure just how high they'll be able to go without a marquee win on their resume.
11 Georgia Bulldogs Will the real Georgia please stand up? They've looked like the dynasty against Clemson/Texas/2nd half Alabama, but they've looked iffy at best against Ole Miss/Kentucky/1st half Alabama. For now, their two ranked wins give them some stability, but losing the way they did leaves them in a precarious spot with Tennessee still on the schedule.
12 Texas Longhorns The Georgia loss has some downward pull for Texas as well, though not as much. Texas has had the unfortunate luck of playing teams when they were hyped/ranked (Michigan and Oklahoma) and then having to watch as those teams fall apart and those wins lose their luster. They still look great, but without any marquee wins and a blowout loss at home against a 2-loss team on the resume, Texas badly needs a win that they can really stake their resume on.
13 Miami Hurricanes I'll be honest, I thought that Miami was going to lose a game at some point before the CFP, but I didn't think GT with 2 quarterbacks having to play would be the ones to deliver that loss. Miami does have a ranked win against Louisville, and the only reason why they're not above Texas is because of the extremely narrow games against VT and Cal. If the Hurricanes win out, they should still make the CFP.
14 Ole Miss Rebels And just like that, Ole Miss saves their season with a stunning, resounding upset over the Bulldogs (the first non-Alabama team to beat Georgia in four years). However, the loss to LSU looks worse and the loss to Kentucky has become a horrible loss, so it's difficult to just throw Ole Miss above Georgia even with the win as Georgia's losses are not nearly as bad. Still, Ole Miss is back in the CFP race.
15 Army West Point Still undefeated, one of only four remaining FBS teams that can say that. Sometimes, you have to win a defensive struggle, and Army did so with methodical drives and stingy defense en route to a 14-3 win. Their schedule still leaves a lot to be desired, but now they play ND at Yankee Stadium, a rematch of the famous 1946 scoreless tie. Let's see if Army can do what Navy could not.
16 Washington State Cougars Wazzu just keeps on winning and keeps their slim playoff hopes alive. At this point, they'll need a lot of things to bounce their way, but they've shown great resiliency and skill so far. They'll play the New Mexico Lobos before they play the only Pac-12 (Pac-2) conference game against Oregon State.
17 Kansas State Wildcats On bye, and got a few breaks to go their way with other teams around them losing. K-State still has plenty of talent, but they'll have to win out at this point to have any chance after the Houston loss. If they can win out, however, they might get another chance at BYU, and if they can avenge their only loss, that should look great in the eyes of the committee.
18 Texas A&M Aggies Similarly to K-State, TA&M is on bye and licking their wounds after a blowout loss to South Carolina. Luckily, they still have control of their own destiny for the SECCG and the CFP. A couple of easier games against New Mexico State and Auburn are followed by the long-awaited revivalry against Texas.
19 Clemson Tigers Nice way to bounce back with a 24-14 road win after a tough home loss. Now, Clemson goes to Pittsburgh to face Pitt in a game that both teams badly need to stay in contention for the CFP.
20 Colorado Buffaloes Still waiting to see Colorado get a real marquee win, but coming back in the 2nd half and beating a decent Texas Tech on the road was fairly impressive. If Colorado can win out, they're in the Big 12 Championship Game, and as long as they have their stars, they have a shot to beat anyone.
21 South Carolina Gamecocks Not sure what to make of South Carolina with three losses, but their win over Texas A&M left me very impressed with the direction of this team. They've still got two games left against Mizzou and Clemson with a cupcake Wofford in between. We'll see if they can wreak havoc as we head down the stretch.
22 Louisville Cardinals Louisville has the win over Clemson and all of their losses have been by 7 points against ranked teams, two of which are in the top 10. The Cardinals don't have the best resume you've ever seen, but for now, it's enough to be ranked.
23 LSU Tigers LSU's fall after their loss to Alabama was cushioned by Ole Miss beating Georgia, but to lose by almost 30 points at home leaves me no choice but to drop them substantially, especially since that's the third loss of the season for these Tigers. The good news for LSU is that the rest of their schedule is light (Oklahoma, Vandy, and Florida), so 9-3 should get them to a good bowl game.
24 Tulane Green Wave I have reservations about this choice, but Tulane has given Louisiana their only loss and they competed with ranked K-State all the way to the end. It definitely has the feeling of a team that got in because there were few other good choices, but Tulane has looked pretty good as of late, so here they are (for now) at #24.
25 Iowa State Cyclones This last pick was a really tough decision. In the end, the fact that Iowa State has the win over Iowa and lost so narrowly against Texas Tech leaves me to put them right at the edge of the rankings. They've still got a chance to get back into things with a win in Farmageddon, but they have no room for error anymore. I considered Arizona State, Pitt, UNLV, Navy, Mizzou, Duke, Louisiana, Syracuse, and TCU, but none of them were quite good enough.

Back to poll results >>