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HieloLuz Ballot for 2025 Week 12

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Nov. 10, 2025, 10:54 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I use a computer ranking which is a pure resume based points system. Teams are assigned a tier based on their rating (1-7). Points are gained for wins, subtracted for losses, based on the opponents tier. Small modifiers for game closeness and SOS based on Opponent's record. | I use this to sort teams into buckets, then give ranks based primarily on quality wins (top 50 teams), worst losses, and head to head. | | | | Week 11 | Biggest Risers: T136= Cal (+18) , T25= Notre Dame (+10) | Biggest Drop: T136= Maryland (-23) , T25= SDSU (-21) | New teams: Georgia Tech, Illinois, Tulane, Iowa | Dropped from rankings: Virginia (17), Memphis (18), San Diego State (24), Navy (25) | Next 5: Memphis, Pitt, Virginia, Cincinnati, East Carolina | Worst Team UMass (-256.053) | | | | Playoff projections *Conference Autobid | | Rose: 1. Indiana* | Sugar: 4. Texas Tech* | Cotton: 3. Texas A&M* | Orange: 2. Ohio State | 5 v 12: 15. USF* @ 5. BYU | 6 v 11: 11. 13. Louisville* @ 6. Notre Dame | 7 v 10: 10. Ole Miss @ 7. Alabama | 8 v 9: 9. Georgia @ 8. Oregon | | | |

Rank Team Reason
1 Indiana Hoosiers Quality wins: Oregon |2|, Illinois |3|, Iowa |3|. Losses: None Solid wins away from home give Indiana the top seed over Ohio State
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Quality wins: Texas |3|, Illinois |3|, Washington |4|, Minnesota |4| Losses: None Bucket B ↓
3 Texas A&M Aggies Quality wins: Notre Dame |2|, LSU |4|, Mizzou |4| Losses: None TAMU remains firmly in 3rd place since they are undefeated, but there's still a large gap between them and the top 2
4 Texas Tech Red Raiders Quality wins: Utah |2|, BYU |2|, Houston |4| Losses: Arizona State |4| The only team with 2 tier 2 wins puts them solidly in the bucket B with space between them and the C. But the loss will prevent them from climbing higher. No tough games remain, so other teams can close the gap. Bucket C ↓
5 BYU Cougars Quality wins: Utah |2|, East Carolina |3|, Arizona |4|, Iowa State |4| Losses: Texas Tech |2| The best of Bucket C with lots of quality wins
6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Quality wins: USC |2|, Boise State |4|, NC State |4|, Navy |4| Losses: Miami (FL) |3|, Texas A&M |2| Only behind BYU due to having 2 losses, win against Pitt this week and they'll almost certainly jump up.
7 Alabama Crimson Tide Quality wins: Georgia |2|, Vanderbilt |3|, Mizzou |4|, Tennessee |4|, LSU |4| Losses: Florida State |5| The best wins out of Bucket C, but the loss to Florida State holds them down.
8 Oregon Ducks Quality wins: Iowa |3| Losses: Indiana |1| Finally picked up a quality win, and their loss is the best of anyone in this bucket. Lots of opportunities to end the year. Top 4 team if they win out.
9 Georgia Bulldogs Quality wins: Ole Miss |2|, Tennessee |4| Losses: Alabama |2| Head to head results with Alabama and Ole miss are the biggest reason for their current spot. They have multiple chances for quality wins the end the year.
10 Ole Miss Rebels Quality wins: Tulane |3|, Oklahoma |3|, LSU |4| Losses: Georgia |2| Better overall resume than Georgia, but head to head matters in the same Bucket. Bucket D ↓
11 Utah Utes Quality wins: Cincinnati |3|, Arizona State |4| Losses: Texas Tech |2|, BYU |2| Them and USC are basically identical, but their losses are slightly better.
12 USC Trojans Quality wins: Michigan |3|, Nebraska |4| Losses: Illinois |3|, Notre Dame |2| See above. But they have a hard schedule to end the year. Win and they're in Bucket E ↓
13 Louisville Cardinals Quality wins: James Madison |3|, Pitt |3|, Miami (FL) |3| Losses: Virginia |3|, Cal |5| Largely here because of a pair of H2H wins over other teams in the bucket. The cal loss is bad, but they have the best wins of the group
14 Miami Hurricanes Quality wins: Notre Dame |2|, USF |3| Losses: Louisville |3|, SMU |4| Miami has the best single win of the bucket, and neither loss is bad.
15 USF Bulls Quality wins: North Texas |3|, Boise State |4| Losses: Miami (FL) |3|, Memphis |3| Very hard team to place, mostly thanks to Texas, see below
16 Texas Longhorns Quality wins: Oklahoma |3|, Vanderbilt |3| Losses: Ohio State |1|, Florida |5| If it wasn't for head to head, Texas would be near the bottom of this bucket, but H2H over OU (and in turn Michigan) and Vandy places them here, Hard to compare with the teams above them.
17 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Quality wins: Wake Forest |4|, Duke |4| Losses: NC State |4| A very hard team to place, but the 2-1 record vs quality opponents lands them here. But they lack any sort of signature win that others have.
18 Oklahoma Sooners Quality wins: Michigan |3|, Tennessee |4| Losses: Texas |3|, Ole Miss |2| Best losses of the bucket, and decent wins, but the H2H loss to Texas holds them lower as long as they remain in the same bucket
19 Vanderbilt Commodores Quality wins: LSU |4|, Mizzou |4| Losses: Alabama |2|, Texas |3| Basically identical resume to Michigan, but they are ahead in points by 0.780 thanks to three tier 5 wins, opposed to Michigan's 1
20 Michigan Wolverines Quality wins: Nebraska |4|, Washington |4| Losses: Oklahoma |3|, USC |2| See Vandy
21 North Texas Mean Green Quality wins: Navy |4| Losses: USF |3| A 1-1 record vs quality opponents is fine, but I prefer teams with more data points
22 James Madison Dukes Quality wins: None; Tier 5 wins: Old Dominion (51) Losses: Louisville |3| No quality wins means they are at the bottom of this bucket. They could be lower, but point wise they are at the very top of the bucket and #13 Bucket F ↓
23 Illinois Fighting Illini Quality wins: USC |2|, Duke |4|, Losses: Indiana |1|, Ohio State |1|, Washington |4| Illinois gets the honor of the highest ranked 3 loss team due to being one of only 3 remaining teams to have a tier 2 win (the other being Arizona State |4|, and Florida State |5|. None of their losses are bad either
24 Tulane Green Wave Quality wins: ECU |3|, Memphis |3|, Duke |4| Losses: Ole Miss |2|, UTSA |6| Considered leaving them out due to the awful loss to UTSA, but they have a number of quality wins to justify their ranking.
25 Iowa Hawkeyes Quality wins: Minnesota |4| Losses: Iowa State |4|, Indiana |1|, Oregon |2| A hard team to rank, with only 1 quality win, but close games in all 3 losses gives them an edge, and none of the losses are bad. Other bucket F teams are: Memphis (out due to H2H with Tulane and awful UAB |7| loss), Pitt (out due to awful West Virginia |6| Loss), Virginia (Very similar resume to Iowa, but played many close games against bad teams, and lower in points), and Cincinnati (lowest of all the bucket in points)

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