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Zef_Apollo Ballot for 2025 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 15, 2025, 4:27 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I am going to do my best to completely revisit the entire top 25 each week. I want to reward whole resumes that will change as we learn about all teams progressing through the season. I value teams who are playing good football against good opponents. There is a prereq to being in my ballot and that you have to have won at least one game to be eligible (sorry ND, I feel like you'll make it in here eventually).

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Far from perfect, I still think the Buckeyes deserve the spot at the top of the mountain. They have two of the best players in college football and are unblemished. I need more data before I give anyone else this spot but the Buckeye's have only allowed 16 points through 3 games. Sure, two of those games have been against pretty bad competition and we're all side-eyeing Texas at the moment, but They have the talent, coach, history, and resume to suggest that they deserve this spot.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Very nearly put UGA at the #1 spot following the win over Tennessee because they won through great adversity. However, they also have looked a little sluggish against bad competition at other points this year and did need a bit of luck to end up winning it in the end.
3 Miami Hurricanes They have looked pretty good this year. They deserve respect for beating Notre Dame (although they are winless at this point) and a pretty good USF. However, uncertainty about how good either of those opponents are yet holds me back on moving Miami up however they somehow look as good as or better than last year through 3 games.
4 Florida State Seminoles Very few data points but they came out with fire in their eyes. I think their QB may be a true gamer. It may be copium as I'm a Bama fan but they have no noted weaknesses yet in the season.
5 LSU Tigers I have LSU on fraud watch but can't rationalize dropping them any farther than 5 without more information. They have two wins over power teams that are loaded with top talent. However, both Clemson and Florida may be bad. They can't score more than 20 points on anyone. Nuss has 3 TDs and 2 Ints through three games. I'm concerned that LSU's offense will not be able to keep up with the hype. I think the defense may be improved from years past but I think the stats are misleading, I think Florida may just be that bad.
6 Oklahoma Sooners I think they looked impressive against a pretty good Michigan team, especially on defense.
7 Oregon Ducks Oregon looked great against what's probably a pretty bad Oklahoma State and good against Northwestern and I have faith that they will be a top tier team but am unsure if we'll find out anything substantial about this team until they take on Penn State in two weeks.
8 Texas A&M Aggies Almost certainly this team will disappoint everyone over the course of the rest of the season but the offense looks fun. A good win over Notre Dame who has a star studded team even if they are winless.
9 Penn State Nittany Lions For the love of God, I cannot understand why Penn State is in anyone's top 5 let alone top 2 and receiving #1 votes. They've looked good, sure, but have not played a single team with a pulse. They'll rise through the rankings as they keep winning, especially if they beat Oregon in 2 weeks but until then...kind of outskirts of the top 10 area.
10 Iowa State Cyclones I don't know if Iowa state has looked great against anyone they've played but they keep winning and they're the only 4-0 team right now with wins over Kansas State and Iowa. I think they deserve this spot until they lose or other teams have more impressive wins.
11 Tennessee Volunteers This is my first ranking of the season and I don't know where I would have placed Tennessee prior to this week but they were a missed field goal away from beating UGA. I think this team is surprisingly really good, maybe better than last year. However, I acknowledge the Neyland Stadium voodoo that's apparently enough to make a game close but not guarantee a win. They don't have any super impressive wins and I know, I know - quality loss but Tennessee looked really, really good for a lot of the game.
12 Illinois Fighting Illini Undefeated and I think it's fair to put them higher but I am not convinced based on their resume, although the Duke win is pretty good.
13 Ole Miss Rebels Impressive look from a backup QB and was able to stave off what I think is a pretty good Arkansas team, at least offensively. However, close game against kentucky too makes me think that this team has some problems on defense.
14 Alabama Crimson Tide The FSU loss is looking less bad each week and the team seems to be rebounding in a appropriate way. If this offense gets clicking I think it can be the scariest pass attack in the country. Unsure if they'll ever be able to defend the option and haven't beaten anyone great.
15 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets I love Haynes King. I want to put them a little higher but I'm now worried about how good Clemson actually is and I am very low on Colorado as a whole, but good wins regardless.
16 Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt beat South Carolina so badly I'm now more convinced that South Carolina was just bad. I think it's probably a little bit of both, but I fear that Diego Pavia is a true gamer and god help us but Vanderbilt probably should win it's next two games easily. They should win their next two games and should be top15 in the AP before going into their gauntlet of Alabama, LSU, Mizzou, Texas, Auburn, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I see them winning at least 2 of these for sure and wouldn't be surprised if you said more. I'll need to see more before I fell comfortable rating them higher, though. The entire offense runs through Pavia.
17 Texas Longhorns This will undoubtedly be controversial but Arch Manning has looked just terrible. I can't shake the feeling that having them any higher is due to 1. preseason hype/AP rankings, 2. Arch hype, and 3. reading too much into the OSU loss. Texas has a very favorable schedule for the SEC and can recover but I can't comfortably say anything about this team other than I'm worried for them. The offense is struggling against pretty bad comp. The defense has looked good, but is it because they have played bad comp + a freshman starting QB for OSU? Keep in mind OSU's offense looked pretty slow against Ohio, too. I need more data to move them up. I think they were secretly overrated last year and this year I feel it more strongly.
18 Michigan Wolverines Justice Haynes looks great. Underwood can look good at times but as we saw against Oklahoma can be prone to mistakes or just not being enough. I think they have a pretty good defense though and if Underwood can get passes going then it's enough for Haynes to run amok. I think they're improved from last year.
19 Missouri Tigers Honestly, a really fun team to watch. They've not played a tough schedule yet but they have some ballers on offense. Missouri this year may be who we thought South Carolina would be.
20 Auburn Tigers Baylor win aged well when they beat Kansas State. However, their offense seems uninspired and one directional. The seemed slow to get going against South, too. I have concerns about Jackson Arnold, too. I'm not sure what Auburn will do if the run isn't working.
21 Mississippi State Bulldogs America's team? good win for them taking on Arizona St two weeks ago and they looked solid against a bad Alcorn state. I have concerns about their lower than expected win over southern miss. I don't think state stays ranked for long but they deserve it right now.
22 USC Trojans Positive outlook with a prolific offense against lesser opponents.
23 Utah Utes Undefeated but haven't played anyone, UCLA may be one of the worst teams in the country which is unfortunate as it's their only power opponent they've played.
24 Texas Tech Red Raiders Looking good but haven't played anyone really
25 Indiana Hoosiers Looking good but haven't played anyone really.

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