Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — If you've got any school flags lying around, planting them at the 50-yard line of your most hated rival is so en vogue right now. It's certainly not demure.
The regular season went out with a bang over the Thanksgiving weekend, with a few fist fights and upsets all around — and that's not even taking into account your uncle's political leanings being brought up at the dinner table.
It's just another day in the life of the blessed sport of college football. Please don't ever change.
But the fighting is only going to be more pronounced as schools now jockey for position for a College Football Playoff berth after a 12-game season. It's madness, but it's our madness.
The following is the ballot I submitted to the Associated Press that will be counted in the consensus rankings that will be released Sunday afternoon.
1. Oregon
Ye old faithful.
Oregon is undefeated and handled its rival with relative ease (can't say the same thing for many other schools around the country). What happened to the good old days of college football, where you could just throw a bunch of cash at the program, have good coaches to maximize talent and sustain the blue blood honor. I kid, but Oregon is about the most sure thing this season, which means the Ducks will lose soon.
2. Texas
Texas failed to score any points in the second half, but a win over Texas A&M is worth more than any of that. The Longhorns are not a perfect team and vulnerable, but they've done enough right things to be mentioned near the top.
3. Notre Dame
Just keep winning. Just keep winning. Just keep winning.
The Fighting Irish are playing great ball right now and seem to be peaking at the right time. Notre Dame feels like a sneaky, underrated team coming into the postseason, and I truly think they can complete with the best.
4. Penn State
Penn State took care of business against Maryland and now gets a shot at an undefeated Oregon in the Big Ten title game. Can the Nittany Lions do more than just look good on paper? Against Ohio State it was more the same, but what about newcomer Oregon. The championship game should tell us a lot about this team.
5. Georgia
Ughhhhhhhhhhhh ... I hate Georgia at No. 5 and I already regret the Bulldogs here — even if I put them there. The thing is, they find ways to get wins, even if it's not pretty. This is a flawed pick, for sure, but there's more than enough reason to leave them in the top five, but I could also drop them to No. 15 and feel confident, too (well, maybe).
Georgia has to stop playing with its food if it wants to be taken seriously, though — or we just continue to feed into the SEC nonsense.
6. Indiana
A 66-0 win over Purdue is impressive, even if Purdue isn't great. There's no denying this team's talent, but the resume continues to be the biggest knock. And it doesn't help that the toughest game played came against an Oho State team that is so hot and cold (more on them later).
7. Tennessee
I really want to fully embrace Tennessee this season, and see the Vols as a contender for a national championship. But something feels off and I can't quite put my finger on it just yet.
8. Ohio State
This was the year. There was a massive influx of cash, a down Michigan team on the other side, and nothing really standing in the way of Ohio State this year. Well ... mostly nothing. For as much as Penn State has an Ohio State problem, Ryan Day and Ohio State have a Michigan problem. It's a heated rival, but Ohio State had no business losing to Michigan. Period.
9. Boise State
Boise State keeps chugging along as the representative of the Group of Five teams ready to "steal" a Week 1 bye to the playoffs. The Broncos have been mostly great this year, especially with Ashton Jeanty leading the charge. It's a great time to be a Broncos fan.
10. SMU
Nipping at the heels of Boise State is an SMU team ready to represent the ACC. It's been mostly a theme of consistency this season for SMU, and there doesn't appears to be an exit.
Dropping out: Kansas State, Tulane
Checking in: Missouri, Syracuse
In consideration (alphabetical): Duke, Iowa, Louisville, Memphis, Navy, Texas Tech
If you can't see my full ballot below, click here.
