Welcome to another season of “Nicole explains her AP ballot, which will still leave readers very angry because that’s what polls do.”
We’ll start with a team that I didn’t vote for: Michigan. Not after what we saw in Ann Arbor on Saturday night — with or without the controversial last-second touchdown. The Wolverines were outplayed by Western Michigan, inept offensively for much of the game and pushed around at the line of scrimmage repeatedly. They did not comport themselves like a top-25 team. The No. 17 preseason ranking I’d given Michigan had been based on the assumption that quarterback Bryce Underwood would be better than he was last year with a new offensive coaching staff. I didn’t think he’d regress! I also figured he’d have a reliable rushing attack to help him out, and that didn’t materialize in Week 1, either.
So, it doesn’t matter to me that Michigan got the second put back on the clock and connected on its second attempt at a Hail Mary. Based on the entirety of the Wolverines’ performance in that game, I dropped them out of the Top 25 entirely. So did most of of my peers. The Wolverines were unranked this week.
That was the most interesting decision I had to make with my ballot ahead of Week 2. Results from the first weekend of the season were very chalky, and we only had one ranked-on-ranked matchup. Still, I decided to overreact to certain performances, some impressive and some somewhat concerning.
I moved LSU up four spots and Miami up two after dominant wins (over Clemson and Stanford, respectively). It’s a small sample size against ACC opponents who might not be very good this season, but it was enough for me to say, unequivocally, that both the Tigers and Hurricanes look like top national title contenders.
I did drop Oregon two spots after the Ducks eked out a seven-point win over Boise State, simply to make room for LSU and Miami. I didn’t want to punish Oregon too much beyond that because I think the Broncos are very good (as evidenced by my ranking them this week) and my pick to make the College Football Playoff out of the Group of 6.
Ole Miss moved up in my ballot, but I still have the Rebels significantly lower than my peers do. Ole Miss is five spots lower on my ballot than it is in the official poll, which I’m OK with. I know Trinidad Chambliss and co. will put up monster offensive numbers, but I have a lot of questions about the Rebels’ defense — and my concerns were validated in the second half of the opener against Louisville. Sure, Ole Miss might be able to win a lot of games via shootout this year. But I think that might be the only way the Rebs will be able to beat good teams, and that’s why I’m a little more hesitant than my fellow voters to go all-in on them.
By the way, I kept Indiana in my top spot despite the Hoosiers’ uncharacteristic defensive struggles because I trust coordinator Bryant Haines — and because I trust that Curt Cignetti will get his team better over the course of the season. And the offense, now led by Josh Hoover, still showed a lot of good.
Stray thoughts/observations:
- I moved Iowa up six spots after the Hawkeyes beat Northern Illinois, 40-0. Forty points?! For the Iowa offense?! Without even deciding for sure on a starting quarterback?! I’m intrigued.
- Other AP voters were unenthused by what they saw from Washington in its season-opener, much like I was. I still think the Huskies have a shot to be a Big Ten/CFP dark horse, but a lot needs fixing to get there.
- I’m surprised USC isn’t getting more national attention. Everyone wants to opine on the size of the Trojans’ crowds but not on the amazing freshman class? No takes on Gary Patterson’s defensive impact showing up already? Or Jayden Maiava’s Heisman Trophy chances? I suspect that my peers are waiting to move USC up until they see the Trojans face Oregon in a couple weeks.
