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Luigiatl Ballot for 2025 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 7, 2025, 1:41 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Using this space for teams that just missed the rankings. // SMU: A tough loss at home to Baylor kicks them out, although the game could easily have gone the other way, in which case they'd still probably be comfortably ranked. Still, results matter, and SMU has more to prove. // Michigan: Oklahoma controlled the game very well against Michigan, and with a somewhat shaky game against a New Mexico team that almost lost to Idaho State this week, I don't feel comfortable keeping Michigan in the rankings. They have a get-right game against Central Michigan before B10 play starts. // Missouri: A great win over Kansas gives Missouri an argument to be included, but we still don't know much about Kansas or Missouri at this point. However, if Pribula can keep it going, Missouri can expect great things. // TCU: TCU was on bye, but the win over North Carolina looks a little bit better after North Carolina got a win in Charlotte. I don't penalize teams on bye, but at this stage some teams that have played two games have just impressed more.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes The top 7 remains the same for me as not much has really changed after all of the top teams blew out their cupcake opposition.
2 Penn State Nittany Lions
3 Georgia Bulldogs Gunner Stockton seems adept at getting the ball where it needs to go. Georgia has a very big game at Tennessee this weekend; since they're neck-and-neck with Penn State and LSU, they'll fall with a loss, and rise with a win.
4 LSU Tigers LSU, too, has a big game coming up, although at home against a much more manageable Florida team. Nussmeier looks great as always.
5 Oregon Ducks You'd think Oklahoma State were a FCS team with how Oregon handled them. If Penn State falters, Oregon could easily snatch up that #2 spot in the Big Ten.
6 Miami Hurricanes
7 Texas Longhorns
8 Illinois Fighting Illini Illinois gets the big win! The scoreline might flatter the Illini a bit, but there's no denying that this is a solid, well-coached team. In the Big Ten, I would put Ohio State up top, Penn State and Oregon duking it out for second & third, and then Illinois, before quality gets a lot less consistent with still relatively unproven USC and Indiana teams.
9 South Carolina Gamecocks
10 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa State has two P4 wins, though the win over Kansas State looks less impressive every week. Still, Iowa is a good team, and Iowa State has the resume to bump them up to the top ten.
11 Florida State Seminoles I don't know exactly how a Florida State fan would react if you told them two weeks ago they would be scoring 77 points in a game. What I do know is that this is a good, powerful team that will be duking it out with Miami for the top of the ACC.
12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Lost the bye a little as other teams (Iowa State & Florida State) got great wins.
13 Tennessee Volunteers Joey Aguilar looks great, and it should be a great offensive battle between Georgia and Tennessee this weekend. This team could easily break into the Top 10 with a win over Georgia.
14 Clemson Tigers Clemson got the win, but it looked ugly against a very bad Troy team. Clemson has the talent, but will have to start looking good soon before they drop further. A win over Georgia Tech would really go a long way.
15 Texas A&M Aggies
16 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma controlled the game against Michigan, rocketing them up from being unranked last week. I think they're a similar team to the teams I have ranked around them, but get the edge based off resume.
17 Texas Tech Red Raiders Two cupcakes, two blowouts, but Texas Tech has done what they should do well. The good times should keep up in the game against Oregon State.
18 Ole Miss Rebels A little bit scary against Kentucky, but they got the win. Kewan Lacy bolsters a reasonably deep offense.
19 Auburn Tigers
20 Utah Utes
21 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama makes it back in after Florida State looks even better, and demolishing ULM. Teams ranked around them, like SMU and Michigan, have worse losses, but Alabama still have some ground to make up to teams who haven't stumbled yet.
22 USC Trojans
23 USF Bulls A great win at Florida propels USF up. Boise looked competent this week, too, so you can't leave USF out with their strong early resume.
24 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana still haven't been tested, but they looked dominant against Kennesaw and there's clearly some juice left from last year. With other teams faltering, and Cignetti's pedigree, they can sneak back in the rankings.
25 BYU Cougars BYU only falls a bit due to other teams rising. A P4 win combined with their earlier Week 1 stomping give justification for BYU to stay in the rankings, but remain on the precipice. Their B12 schedule starts off fairly easy, so it's on them to prove themselves and keep winning.

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