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thatoneguyD13 Ballot for 2025 Week 13

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 16, 2025, 1:37 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 results. 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 who are highly likely to make the playoffs, Tier 2: Playoff Teams who could conceivably win the championship but are behind Tier 1, Tier 3: Playoff Possibilities who are unlikely to compete for a championship, Tier 4: Teams with an outside shot at making the playoffs, Tier 5: Teams that are highly unlikely to make the playoffs, Tier 6: Teams that are eliminated from playoff contention. Tiers 5 and 6 don't enter into the top 25 until very late in the year.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Tier 1.
2 Indiana Hoosiers Tier 1.
3 Texas A&M Aggies Tier 1. Flipped IU and TAMU again. The escape at home vs SCAR was fun but made me feel less confident about the Aggies slightly.
4 Georgia Bulldogs Tier 1. An excellent team who can do everything except beat Alabama apparently.
5 Ole Miss Rebels Tier 2.
6 Texas Tech Red Raiders Tier 2. They get a week off before what should be an easy finish to the conference schedule. This team should be a shoe-in for the playoffs at this point.
7 Oregon Ducks Tier 2.
8 BYU Cougars Tier 3. A surprisingly difficult team to figure out. Only one loss, but it was a bad one. A lot of close wins. But a solid resume.
9 Oklahoma Sooners Tier 3. Remarkable record against the schedule they've played. Definitely the top 2-loss team.
10 Alabama Crimson Tide Tier 3.
11 Miami Hurricanes Tier 3.
12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Tier 3.
13 USC Trojans Tier 3. If the Trojans can beat Oregon, they're a playoff team.
14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Tier 3. Not a great game, but a road win in conference is always tough.
15 Virginia Cavaliers Tier 3. Louisville's loss hurt UVA's best win, and no longer have the transitive advantage over Miami, which moves them down despite the solid win @Duke.
16 Vanderbilt Commodores Tier 4. At this point, the line between tiers 3 and 4 is what happens if you win out. I'm not 100% sure Vandy makes it if the win out, but everyone above them would.
17 Utah Utes Tier 4.
18 Michigan Wolverines Tier 4.
19 Texas Longhorns Tier 4.
20 Tennessee Volunteers Tier 4.
21 Houston Cougars Tier 4.
22 North Texas Mean Green Tier 4. James Madison's overall resume is just a hair less impressive to me than North Texas.
23 James Madison Dukes Tier 4.
24 Arizona State Sun Devils Tier 4.
25 Pittsburgh Panthers Tier 4.

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