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thatoneguyD13 Ballot for 2025 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 21, 2025, 10:47 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Early season rankings are based largely on expected results versus other ranked teams, and as the season goes leans more heavily on actual resume. By the end of the season, rankings are based entirely on resume. I lean heavily into head to head results and results against common opponents. I also sort teams into 6 tiers based on championship/playoff likelihood. Tier 1: Championship Frontrunners, near lock to make playoffs Tier 2: Championship Contenders with excellent chance of making playoffs Tier 3: Decent possibility to make playoffs, unlikely to compete for championship Tier 4: Outside playoff shot Tier 5: Unlikely to make playoffs but not quite eliminated Tier 6: No shot at playoffs

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Tier 1.
2 Oregon Ducks Tier 1.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Tier 2.
4 Miami Hurricanes Tier 2. Didn't look quite as good against Florida as I thought they would. Still a good team, and a championship contender, but I'm less confident on them than I was. Big test in two weeks.
5 Penn State Nittany Lions Tier 2. I had second thoughts about ranking Penn State ahead of Georgia last week, so am correcting for this week.
6 Oklahoma Sooners Tier 3. Two solid home wins, one against my #15. After killing Kent St they'll get a big test in Texas.
7 Florida State Seminoles Tier 3.
8 LSU Tigers Tier 3. LSU is good, don't get me wrong, but their two signature wins are now a combined 3-5. Ole Miss next week will clear some things up.
9 Texas Longhorns Tier 3. Arch is looking better. We'll see how he does against Florida next week.
10 Texas A&M Aggies Tier 3.
11 Ole Miss Rebels Tier 3. Convincing win over Tulane for sure. If they beat LSU we might have to talk about them as a contender.
12 Indiana Hoosiers Tier 3. Holy crap Hoosiers. Probably better than last year. Looking like a playoff team.
13 Alabama Crimson Tide Tier 4.
14 Tennessee Volunteers Tier 4.
15 Michigan Wolverines Tier 4. Road conference wins are always worth something. Even if it was a bit sloppy.
16 Vanderbilt Commodores Tier 4. Is Vandy for real? Maybe. They look good so far.
17 Texas Tech Red Raiders Tier 4. Top team in the Big 12 so far with a big road win @Utah. Defense looks for real.
18 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Tier 4.
19 Iowa State Cyclones Tier 4.
20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tier 4.
21 Missouri Tigers Tier 4.
22 Mississippi State Bulldogs Tier 4.
23 Illinois Fighting Illini Tier 4. I still think Illinois is a decent team, but that beating by Indiana was crushing.
24 Memphis Tigers Tier 4.
25 USC Trojans Tier 4.

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