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Due_Connection179 Ballot for 2024 Week 14

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 24, 2024, 4 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I watch games all day Saturday then for the games I don't watch I go through the games play-by-play (plus read articles; listen to podcasts) to see what happened instead of just looking at the box score. Every 4 weeks I also do a "reset of my polls to make sure I'm looking at everything from film to SOS to key wins. For my preseason poll, it will be a combination of players/coaches returning + incoming players (recruiting class + transfer portal).

Rank Team Reason
1 Oregon Ducks Last Week #1 // Bye Week
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Last Week #3 vs #2 Indiana // Won 38 - 15 // Ohio State completely dominated Indiana in this one. They allowed SIX YARDS to Indiana in-between the opening drive TD and the closing-drive TD. This defense is championship ready, and I can't wait for the Oregon rematch in a couple weeks.
3 Texas Longhorns Last Week #4 vs Kentucky // Won 31 - 14 // Went as expected.
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Last Week #5 vs #20 Army // Won 49 - 14 // Notre Dame just hates our military after beating both Army and Navy by 5 TDs.
5 SMU Mustangs Last Week #7 at Virginia // Won 33 - 7 // Went as expected.
6 Indiana Hoosiers Last Week #2 at #3 Ohio State // Lost 15 - 38 // My rankings are probably generous, but this Indiana team is 10 - 1 currently, and they don't deserve to drop as far as some of these analysts are saying.
7 Miami Hurricanes Last Week #8 vs Wake Forest // Won 42 - 14 // Went as expected (and yes, this includes being up 20 - 14 after 3 quarters then blowing them out 22 - 0 in the 4th).
8 Penn State Nittany Lions Last Week #9 at Minnesota // Won 26 - 25 // Penn State survived a scare that 2 other top 10 teams couldn't. It wasn't pretty, but at this point in the season, a win is a win and it's time to move on to the next week.
9 Georgia Bulldogs Last Week #13 vs UMass // Won 59 - 21 // Something that will be overlooked this week because of the upset losses is Georgia giving up 250 rushing yards to a 2-win UMass team.
10 Arizona State Sun Devils Last Week #18 vs #6 BYU // Won 28 - 23 // The Arizona State Sun Devils, who two weeks ago were unranked and in a one score nail-biter against UCF, is now the favorite to win the Big 12 (we won't talk about the last 50 seconds against BYU though...).
11 Tennessee Volunteers Last Week #15 vs UTEP // Won 56 - 0 // Went as expected.
12 Boise State Broncos Last Week #12 at Wyoming // Won 17 - 13 // Just like the last two weeks, Boise State has shown me zero reason to move them up while they play these one-score games vs 2-win Mountain West teams. The Broncos will stay at my #12 until they prove they are more than a one-player team.
13 Clemson Tigers Last Week #16 vs The Citadel // Won 51 - 14 // Went as expected.
14 Iowa State Cyclones Last Week #19 at Utah // Won 31 - 28 // Squeaked by the Utes, but they now control their destiny to win the Big 12. Win against Kansas State then (probably) Arizona State, and Iowa State will save their season, win the Big 12, and (probably) be the 4-seed in the CFP.
15 BYU Cougars Last Week #6 at #18 Arizona State // Lost 23 - 28 // Two weeks ago, BYU was riding high after a huge comeback win in the Holy War, and now they have played their way out of the CFP. Rough way to end the season, but even if they lose next week and finish 9 - 3, this season has to be viewed as a huge win for their first in a power conference.
16 Alabama Crimson Tide Last Week #10 at Oklahoma // Lost 3 - 24 // Alabama's offense looked dreadful. I would say that this knocked them out of the CFP, but the AP voters & CFP committee have shown in the past to overlook big brand teams losing if they show out the next week. Don't be shocked if Alabama somehow is the 11-seed if someone like Indiana, Miami, or SMU lose again before the conference championships.
17 Ole Miss Rebels Last Week #11 at Florida // Lost 17 - 24 // Unlike Alabama, this loss to Florida does lock the Rebels outside of the CFP. 3 losses to unranked teams while also having a win against Georgia has to kill Rebel fans on the inside.
18 South Carolina Gamecocks Last Week #21 vs Wofford // Won 56 - 12 // Went as expected.
19 Illinois Fighting Illini Last Week #22 at Rutgers // Won 38 - 31 // Very fun game to watch. Highly recommend if you have a chance to go back to watch it this week.
20 Kansas State Wildcats Last Week #24 vs Cincinnati // Won 41 - 15 // Went as expected.
21 Colorado Buffaloes Last Week #14 at Kansas // Lost 21 - 37 // After looking so good the last month, Colorado let Kansas knock yet another Big 12 team out of the CFP. They need a lot of help to even make the Big 12 Championship now, so I guess, good luck next season after replacing your two star players + probably your HC.
22 Syracuse Orange Last Week #23 vs UConn // Won 31 - 24 // I'm not happy about moving them up after struggling at home vs UConn, but it is the time of the season that I'm struggling to rank the teams in the back of the top 25. A lot of similar teams ranked 22 - 30 in my rankings.
23 Texas A&M Aggies Last Week #17 at Auburn // Lost 41 - 43 (in 4OTs!) // This is the Game of the Week, and could be Game of the Year (if Oregon vs Ohio State didn't exist), but Texas A&M came out on the wrong end of it. If they won, they would be ranked 13th with a chance to beat Texas which would secure both a CFP spot + a SEC championship spot, however we live in the real world, and Texas A&M will now only be playing spoiler against Texas.
24 Missouri Tigers Last Week NR at Mississippi State // Won 39 - 20 // I can't believe Mizzou is ranked again, but here we are.
25 Army West Point Last Week #20 at #5 Notre Dame // Lost 14 - 49 // Losing by 35 is terrible, however, they still are a 1-loss American team, and since my #26 & #27 are Tulane & Memphis right now, it felt right to keep Army in the top 25.

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