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There’s an old, stupid saying that goes, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” It’s pure BS, obviously, because most of what ends up killing us is what we originally don’t know. People used to think cigarettes were healthy and eugenics was a good idea. In Medieval times, people only bathed a few times a year and figured that was enough to stay clean. You see, all of these people didn’t know about stuff. It didn’t work out that well for them. So, call this the “questions edition” of Poll Dancing, as we are 25 percent through the season and every team has created at least one or two questions about its profile.
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1. Florida State: The hardest thing about winning a title? Repeating. Can FSU continue to take everyone’s best shot and have the internal giddy-up to win week after week, having to be as perfect as it needs to be against its opponents?
2. Oregon: Is this the Oregon team that can win a drawn-out slugfest in which the opponent uses ball control and a slow pace to keep the Ducks off the field?
3. Auburn: Can the Tigers win in Tuscaloosa? That’s seriously my only question about Auburn at this point, angry Nick Saban with a title game berth on the line.
4. Oklahoma: On third down and short in a close game with the season on the line (because it will happen), can the Sooners finally run the ball when everyone knows they need to and get out of Dodge with a win?
5. Alabama: Can the passing game be diverse enough to win a close football game against a good team when Amari Cooper inevitably gets keyed on?
6. Notre Dame: The schedule is pure hell coming up … can the Irish get three of four from FSU, USC, Stanford, and ASU, cementing themselves a playoff berth?
7. Texas A&M: Do the Aggies have enough defense to reasonably be a title contender? It’s improved, but is it enough?
8. Michigan State: As good as they are, the Spartans looked tired against Oregon in the second half … should they run into a fast-paced, no-huddle attack in the playoffs, can they hold up on both sides?
9. UCLA: Can UCLA be the UCLA of this past Thursday and not the UCLA of the previous three weeks? ASU was missing Taylor Kelly, but Taylor Kelly doesn’t play free safety and that was as nasty as the Bruins’ offense has looked all season.
10. BYU: Do the Cougars need to beat everyone by 50 going forward to have a shot? How will the pressure of an unbeaten season affect their play if it comes to that point?
11. Mississippi State
12. Baylor
13. Ole Miss
14. USC
15. Nebraska
16. Arizona
17. Stanford
18. LSU
19. Georgia
20. Clemson
21. Ohio State
22. Kansas State
23. Oklahoma State
24. West Virginia
25. Maryland
