Bud Elliott and Jason Kirk join Dan Rubenstein to explain their rankings. In addition, here are some thoughts from two other voters on their top four teams:
Steven Godfrey
Four weeks into the season, we’re #blessed with 12 to 15 teams that could all vie for the third or fourth spot in the Playoff, but no real overall No. 1. Michigan State’s resume win over Oregon took a perception beating this week, but it’s impossible to argue against Sparty’s consistency. We’re still a week away from sussing out frontrunners in the SEC and a long way from testing the leaders in the B1G, so as long as we’re working with a null set, I’ll take the most boring, reliable option possible.
Ryan Nanni
Utah jumped to No. 1 in my rankings because I think Oregon and Michigan are two of the best wins on anyone’s resume this year. Both are top-30 wins according to F/+, and both were pretty convincing; the Utes didn’t trail in either of those victories. It feels like Utah’s getting penalized for not being a name program as much as some of the other teams on the ballot. That or everyone’s expecting them to get lit up by Cal in two weeks.
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Related: Who are your four?