Back to poll results >>

LightningDusty Ballot for 2025 Week 8

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 12, 2025, 4:03 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Casual Fan Takes and Resumé

Rank Team Reason
1 Indiana Hoosiers ↑6 Slaughtering of Illinois is still impressive even after the Illini lost to Ohio State and that road win over Oregon could age to be one of the best in the country.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes ↑3 Texas win looks a lot better now. Beating Illinois handily helps, too.
3 Miami Hurricanes ↓2 USF and Notre Dame wins still look pretty good. Florida and FSU? Not so much...
4 Texas A&M Aggies ↓1 Controlled the Florida game well. Unbelievably stout 3rd down defense.
5 Ole Miss Rebels ↓1 What the actual hell was that? I want to believe Ole Miss deserves this top five slot, and then they fiddle around and nearly lose to Wazzu. Fortunately the LSU and Tulane victories bolster you here. Can't screw around and expect to beat UGA.
6 Texas Tech Red Raiders ↑2 They're still undefeated and look relatively good doing so.
7 Alabama Crimson Tide ↑2 By far the best one loss team in the country with an excellent resumé. That FSU loss is starting to stink, though. Without that, they'd have a strong argument to be #1.
8 Georgia Bulldogs ↑2 Appear to be vulnerable, but you can't count out Kirby Smart. I wouldn't be surprised if they hand Ole Miss their first L next week.
9 Tennessee Volunteers ↑2 Offense fly and defense die. Alabama could put 50 up on them if everything clicks into place. I truthfully might be overrating them. Alabama will reveal if this team is at all legit or not.
10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets ↑3 Tough. Resilient. Consistent. They're never going to blow you away, but physical and disciplined football deserve respect.
11 BYU Cougars ↑4 I really thought you were about to drop that game to Arizona and make ranking you real tricky. Dodged a bullet. The Holy War should be a blast.
12 Oregon Ducks ↓6 Indiana is a fantastic team, so this drop for a somewhat understandable loss may seem a bit harsh. However, take a look at their schedule. No even remotely quality wins to be seen ANYWHERE. Oklahoma State? Abysmal. Oregon State? Hollow. Penn State? Don't make me laugh. Northwestern? Sadly the best win they have.
13 Oklahoma Sooners ↓11 What a disappointment. I truly thought this team was elite. Not when you can't score a single TD against Texas AGAIN. Still full of potential, but you might end up with four losses at the end of the year with a brutal 5 game stretch to finish the season.
14 LSU Tigers ↓2 Cool, ya beat South Carolina. Go beat Vandy and you'll get my attention.
15 Missouri Tigers ↓1 Spirited fight from a quality football team. Losing to Alabama by three is nothing to be ashamed of.
16 Vanderbilt Commodores ↑1 Moves up because the Alabama loss became a tad more quality. QUALITY LOSS!!!!!
17 Memphis Tigers ↓1 I truthfully only moved you down one and Vandy up one for the sake of organization and consistency. I don't see much of a gap between any of the one loss SEC teams ranked #13-16.
18 Virginia Cavaliers = A team that didn't move! The shocking FSU win that got you here suddenly doesn't look great, but your resumé is still worth a top 25 ranking. Watch out for Washington State next week.
19 USC Trojans ↑NR Dismantled Michigan quite magnificently. Oregon looks vulnerable, and the rest of their B1G Ten slate appears manageable. Is this a B1G Championship and playoff dark horse? Feels weird to associate that term with USC of all teams, but I feel like they're flying under the radar.
20 Nebraska Cornhuskers = Survived against Maryland in a game this team almost certainly loses any of the past like ten years. Another B1G Ten dark horse. That USC vs. Nebraska game will prove which one of you is a real conference threat. Unless you fall to Minnesota or Northwestern...
21 Cincinnati Bearcats = Can you make it to 7-1 going into the Utah game? Oklahoma State SHOULD be an easy win, though Baylor could prove more difficult. Interesting team!
22 USF Bulls ↑3 USF has scored 63, 54, and 63 points respectively in their last three games. Two of those teams are complete trash, but serving up an ass whooping to previously undefeated North Texas must be commended. You and Memphis have separated yourselves as the G6 playoff spot frontrunners. Navy and UNLV are lurking, but I wouldn't put either of them on your level yet.
23 Utah Utes ↑NR Look, the loss to Texas Tech was tough, but Utah has annihilated everyone else on their schedule. Do the same to BYU and you'll skyrocket into the top fifteen.
24 Louisville Cardinals = Do they deserve to be ranked? Ehhhh... maybe not, but I thought the effort against Virginia last week was valiant enough. You'll either be outta here real fast or jump up high depending on the result versus Miami.
25 Washington Huskies ↑NR This spot could've gone to a few different teams, but I give the nod to Washington for... I guess being 5-1 in a strong conference with no horrific losses and a couple okayish wins? #24 and #25 were tossups, so I'll label a few honorable mentions on the cusp of being ranked. If they win and a some more lower ranked teams lose, expect to see them here next week. HM (in no particular order): Navy, UNLV, Tulane, Notre Dame, and Texas.

Back to poll results >>