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Tornadohunter24 Ballot for 2025 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 9, 2025, 10:58 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Another week, another fun college football slate of results to digest. And there were certainly some upsets to consider, some blown pre-season expectations being revealed, and some crazy game endings. But let's cut to the chase - you're just here to gawk at my stupidity for ranking USF #1, aren't you. Alright, no way around it then; on the face of it, that's a ridiculous rank, right? Well, not as much as it may seem at first glance. South Florida is the only team to have knocked off two ranked teams (preseason #12 Boise State, last week's #21 Florida) so far, one of which was a blowout and another was an away game at what is traditionally one of the toughest venues to win in for away teams. No other team has that kind of resume. Other teams have signature wins, sure, against teams I expected to do well in my previous polls, but none of them have 2. By resume, USF is the best team in the country... so far. That will likely change once the P4 conferences start finding out who their champion is (or even as soon as this weekend with Miami, who knows). REMINDER: In my top 25, I'm including at least 5 spots for the G5 (at least until conference play begins in earnest), as an indicator of who I think is favored to make a run at the Playoffs out of those conferences. I also love pre-conference play variance, so you'll see a lot of that too. In addition, this poll, by nature, is meant to be overreactive. I'm not here to try to be predictive - I want this to be strictly resume, even if that resume consists of a single game. I'm not here trying to justify every single one of my top 25 staying in the top 25 week-to-week; that's just lame. And it's not the point of what I want to accomplish when doing these rankings. || FURTHER INSIGHT: Two weeks ago, I submitted a ballot that was a *preseason poll*. It was submitted with 0 actual game analysis or even games played beyond a spring game. Why should it still dictate the rankings after the games begin to be played? Inevitably, it will still hold some amount of weight because it's not as if those rankings were entirely made out of the blue - we still have star ranking composites, camp reports, returning production, last year's records, and so forth. Hence why a team like Ohio State is #2 even though Texas, their opponent, is now unranked. Similar stories exist for pretty much everyone, really. So, a better question: why is the top 25 the way that they are? Well, I'm glad you asked, random stranger I made up in my head (and am once again reusing) to dictate this interaction! Essentially, every team in said top 25 has played a Power 4 (or previously-ranked opponent, in the case of USF for Week 1; and yes, for the sake of my sanity, I'm including Oregon State and Washington State as "P4-equivalent" until next year) opponent in the first two or three games and emerged victorious and has remained undefeated. In honor of that scheduling quirk, I've ranked all of the winners and organized them by most impressive to least impressive resume so far based upon margin of victory, perceived opponent strength, location of the game, and any other important or relevant factors. Does this make the poll have unreasonable amounts of instability? Probably! Do I care? Not really. And it's still early (most teams haven't even started conference play yet) - everyone who deserves to be ranked will become ranked again soon enough. I'm not the committee; just keep winning, and things will fall into place. || * All FBS Ranks are given by this poll, unless stated otherwise. All FCS Ranks comes from the weekly STATS poll. Now onto the housekeeping. | Honorable Mentions/NEXT 10 OUT: California Golden Bears [2-0], Nebraska Cornhuskers [2-0], Penn State Nittany Lions [2-0], Georgia Bulldogs [2-0], Texas Tech Red Raiders [2-0], Texas Longhorns [1-1], Notre Dame Fighting Irish [0-1], Clemson Tigers [1-1], Appalachian State Mountaineers [2-0], NC State Wolfpack [2-0] | Dropping Out: #14 California Golden Bears [2-0], #15 Nebraska Cornhuskers [2-0], #16 Penn State Nittany Lions [2-0], #17 Georgia Bulldogs [2-0], #20 Texas Tech Red Raiders [2-0], #21 Florida Gators [1-1], #22 Arizona State Sun Devils [1-1], #23 James Madison Dukes [1-1], #25 Western Kentucky [2-1, 1-0 in conference] | PRESEASON POLL: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/65801/ | WEEK 1/LAST WEEK: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/66202/

Rank Team Reason
1 USF Bulls [2-0] (+6) | 2024 Record: 7-6 (T-6th Place in the American) | 2025 Results: W 34-7 vs Boise State Broncos [1-1], W 18-16 @ last week-#21 Florida Gators [1-1] | NEXT: @ #3 Miami Hurricanes [2-0]
2 Ohio State Buckeyes [2-0] (-1) | 2024 Record: 14-2 (#1, National Champions, 4th Place in the B1G) | 2025 Results: W 14-7 vs Texas Longhorns [1-1], W 70-0 FCS Grambling State Tigers [1-1] | NEXT: vs Ohio Bobcats [1-1]
3 Miami Hurricanes [2-0] (-) | 2024 Record: 10-3 (#20, 3rd Place in the ACC) | 2025 Results: W 27-24 vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish [1-1], W 45-3 vs FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats [0-2] | NEXT: vs #1 South Florida Bulls [2-0]
4 Oregon Ducks [2-0] (+14) | 2024 Record: 13-1 (#3, B1G Champions) | 2025 Results: W 59-13 vs FCS Montana State Bobcats [#4, 0-2], W 69-3 vs Oklahoma State Cowboys [1-1] | NEXT: @ Northwestern Wildcats [1-1]
5 Iowa State Cyclones [3-0, 1-0 in conference play] (-) | 2024 Record: 11-3 (#14, Big 12 Runners-Up) | 2025 Results: W 27-24 vs Kansas State Wildcats [1-2] (Neutral Site: Dublin, Ireland), W 55-7 vs FCS South Dakota Coyotes [#12, 0-2], W 16-13 vs Iowa Hawkeyes [1-1] | NEXT: vs Arizona Wildcats [2-0]
6 LSU Tigers [2-0] (-4) | 2024 Record: 9-4 (T-4th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 17-10 @ Clemson Tigers [1-1], W 23-7 vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs [1-1] | NEXT: vs Florida Gators [1-1]
7 Florida State Seminoles [2-0] (-1) | 2024 Record: 2-10 (17th Place in the ACC) | 2025 Results: W 31-17 vs Alabama Crimson Tide [1-1], W 77-3 vs FCS East Texas A&M Lions | NEXT: vs Kent State Golden Flashes [1-1]
8 Illinois Fighting Illini [2-0] (+11) | 2024 Record: 10-3 (#16, T-5th Place in the B1G) | 2025 Results: W 52-3 vs FCS Western Illinois Leathernecks [0-2], W 45-19 @ Duke Blue Devils [1-1] | NEXT: vs Western Michigan Broncos [0-2]
9 Auburn Tigers [2-0] (-1) | 2024 Record: 5-7 (T-13th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 38-24 @ Baylor Bears [1-1], W 42-3 vs Ball State [0-2] | NEXT: vs South Alabama Jaguars [1-1]
10 Oklahoma Sooners [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 6-7 (T-13th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 35-3 vs FCS Illinois State Redbirds [#7, 1-1], W 24-13 vs Michigan Wolverines [1-1] | NEXT: @ Temple Owls [2-0]
11 Tennessee Volunteers [2-0] (-1) | 2024 Record: 10-3 (#11, 3rd Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 45-26 vs Syracuse Orange [1-1] (Neutral Site: Atlanta, Georgia), W 72-17 vs FCS East Tennessee State Buccaneers [1-1] | NEXT: vs Georgia Bulldogs [2-0]
12 South Carolina Gamecocks [2-0] (-8) | 2024 Record: 9-4 (#18, T-4th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 24-11 vs Virginia Tech Hokies [0-2] (Neutral Site: Atlanta, Georgia), W 38-10 vs FCS South Carolina State Bulldogs[1-1] | NEXT: vs #21 Vanderbilt Commodores [2-0]
13 TCU Horned Frogs [1-0] (-2) | 2024 Record: 9-4 (T-5th Place in the Big 12) | 2025 Results: W 48-14 @ North Carolina Tar Heels [1-1] | NEXT: vs FCS Abilene Christian Wildcats [#13, 1-1]
14 Missouri Tigers [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 10-3 (#24, T-4th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 61-6 vs FCS Central Arkansas Bears [1-1], W 42-31 vs Kansas Jayhawks [2-1] | NEXT: vs Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns [1-1]
15 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets [2-0] (-3) | 2024 Record: 7-6 (T-4th Place in the ACC) | 2025 Results: W 27-20 @ Colorado Buffaloes [1-1], 59-12 vs FCS Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs [1-1] | NEXT: vs Clemson Tigers [1-1]
16 Utah Utes [2-0] (-6) | 2024 Record: 5-7 (T-13th Place in the Big 12) | 2025 Results: W 43-10 @ UCLA Bruins [0-2], W 63-9 vs FCS Cal Poly Mustangs [1-1] | NEXT: @ Wyoming Cowboys [2-0]
17 Tulane Green Wave [2-0] (-4) | 2024 Record: 9-5 (American Runners-Up) | 2025 Results: W 23-3 vs Northwestern Wildcats [1-1], W 33-31 @ South Alabama Jaguars [1-1] | NEXT: vs Duke Blue Devils [1-1]
18 Michigan State Spartans [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 5-7 (T-12th Place in the B1G) | 2025 Results: W 23-6 vs Western Michigan Broncos [0-2], W 42-40 (2OT) vs Boston College Eagles [1-1] | NEXT: vs FCS Youngstown State Penguins [2-0]
19 BYU Cougars [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 11-2 (#10, 3rd Place in the Big 12) | 2025 Results: W 69-0 vs FCS Portland State Vikings [0-3], W 27-3 vs Stanford Cardinal [0-2] | NEXT: @ East Carolina Pirates [1-1]
20 Mississippi State Bulldogs [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 2-10 (16th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 34-17 @ Southern Miss Golden Eagles [1-1], W 24-20 vs last week-#22 Arizona State Sun Devils [1-1] | NEXT: vs FCS Alcorn State Braves [0-2]
21 Vanderbilt Commodores [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 7-6 (T-11th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 45-3 vs FCS Charleston Southern Buccaneers [0-2], W 44-20 @ Virginia Tech Hokies [0-2] | NEXT: @ #12 South Carolina Gamecocks [2-0]
22 Ole Miss Rebels [2-0, 1-0 in conference play] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 10-3 (#13, T-4th Place in the SEC) | 2025 Results: W 63-7 vs Georgia State Panthers [0-2], W 30-23 @ Kentucky Wildcats [1-1] | NEXT: vs Arkansas Razorbacks [2-0]
23 Memphis Tigers [2-0] (+1) | 2024 Record: 11-2 (#25, T-3rd Place in the American) | 2025 Results: W 45-10 vs FCS Chattanooga Mocs [0-2], W 38-16 @ Georgia State Panthers [0-2] | NEXT: @ Troy Trojans [1-1]
24 Texas State Bobcats [2-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 8-5 (T-2nd Place in Sun Belt West Division) | 2025 Results: W 52-27 vs Eastern Michigan Eagles [0-2], W 43-36 @ UTSA Roadrunners [0-2] | NEXT: @ Arizona State Sun Devils [1-1]
25 UNLV Rebels [3-0] (NEW) | 2024 Record: 11-3 (2nd Place in the Mountain West) | 2025 Results: W 38-31 vs FCS Idaho State Bengals [0-3], W 38-21 @ Sam Houston Bearkats [0-3, 0-1 in conference play], W 30-23 vs UCLA Bruins [0-2] | NEXT: @ Miami RedHawks [0-2]

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