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redrumsoxLoL Ballot for 2025 Week 15

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Dec. 2, 2025, 10:11 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Going into the conference title game, Ohio State just showed everyone why they are the best team in the country with a dominant victory in Ann Arbor against their rival Michigan. They are guaranteed a place in the playoffs and most likely a Top 2 spot, but they can clinch the top spot with a win against Indiana next Saturday
2 Indiana Hoosiers Similarly for Indiana, they have looked very strong all year and can clinch themselves the top seed in the playoffs with a win in the Big 10 title game next week
3 Georgia Bulldogs Except for one loss against Alabama, Georgia has looked the part of a National championship contender and they have the opportunity to avenge that loss on Saturday afternoon
4 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech is such a crazy story this season, the Red Raiders along with Indiana have created the blueprint for how to turn around your program in the new revenue share era. A win in the Big 12 title game will likely clinch a top 4 seed in the playoffs along with a first round bye
5 Oregon Ducks Oregon is off next week, but their victory against Washington in rivalry week clinched their spot in the playoffs, but they won’t have the opportunity to get themselves a bye in the first round. They will likely be rewarded with a favorable match up in the first round
6 Texas A&M Aggies The Aggies finally fell this past weekend to their rivals in Austin Texas, but with that being their first loss, they are still going to be getting themselves into the playoffs and will have a chance to make a great run later in December
7 Ole Miss Rebels While this team is great and I rank them based on their performance from earlier in the season, this team is currently a mess with Lane Kiffin abandoning the team mid season along with other members of the coaching staff. I am not sure if the playoff committee will hold this against them like they did to Florida St when Jordan Travis was injured
8 Oklahoma Sooners The Sooners have had some lows this season but they have also had some really high highs and that is why they belong in the Top 10 and will be in the upcoming playoffs
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ever since starting off the season 0-2, Notre Dame has looked incredible and has settled into this 9th spot in the nation and will likely be in the playoffs as well. I believe there is a chance they could get left out if BYU and Alabama both win their conference title games, but that is part of the risk that Notre Dame faces with not being in a conference
10 Alabama Crimson Tide Bama will be looking to secure their playoff spot by repeating their victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship game on Saturday afternoon. They are currently looking like they will be the final at large spot in the playoffs, but if BYU manages to win against Texas Tech that would bring Alabama to the outside looking in so they need to win to guarantee their spot in the playoffs.
11 BYU Cougars As mentioned a few times, BYU will match up against Texas Tech on Saturday night with a chance to get revenge on their only loss of the season. Losing that game likely means they would be the first team left out of the playoffs so it is a do or die game to keep their national championship hopes alive
12 Utah Utes Realistically I don't see a way for Utah to get into the playoffs because I don't expect the committee to punish Alabama & BYU for losses in their conference title games
13 Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt had a great season, but their two losses leads them to falling just short of the playoffs
14 Miami Hurricanes Miami played very well this season, but a couple in conference losses means they will not get a chance to win their conference championship and are going to be left out of the playoffs
15 Texas Longhorns Texas has shown the ability to beat anyone they play this season with wins over Oklahoma & Texas A&M, but particularly their loss to Florida doomed them this season
16 Virginia Cavaliers Virginia will have a chance and will be favored to win their conference championship game and qualify for the playoffs through that pathway.
17 Michigan Wolverines A tough loss to Ohio State guarantees that the Wolverines will not be making the playoffs. A good season for them with good wins, but too many losses to be considered elite.
18 James Madison Dukes I firmly believe that James Madison is the best G5 team. If I was on the committee and JMU won their conference title, they would be getting a spot in the playoffs. But as it is, I predict the committee will bring in the AAC champion to the playoffs, so JMU is essentially cheering on Duke to win the ACC and mix things up a bit.
19 Tulane Green Wave As mentioned before I expect the winner of the AAC to make the playoffs, and Tulane is in a good position to do so. They are hosting North Texas on Friday night in a game that I predict to be a playoff qualifier. They did just have their coach take a new job, but so did their opponent so that might be on both teams minds.
20 North Texas Mean Green North Texas has had a great season powered by their very high scoring offense. They go on the road to Tulane to try to claim a spot in the playoffs. As mentioned they did just lose their coach to Oklahoma St, so whichever team can battle through that adversity better will win this game.
21 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets GT will not be playing the ACC title game so their season will end with a respectable bowl game.
22 USC Trojans USC was always a good team this year, but missed out on a couple wins they needed to make to be considered a playoff contender.
23 Arizona Wildcats A good win for the Wildcats against in-state rival Arizona St brings these cats into my Top 25.
24 Houston Cougars Houston ends the regular season on 9 wins which is always a great accomplishment for a Big12 team.
25 UNLV Rebels UNLV gets into the Mountain West championship game and I see their match against Boise St as a real toss up, although it will be in Boise. At this spot I do want to mention there is an outside chance of UNLV making the playoffs. If Duke wins the ACC and JMU manages to lose the Sun Belt title game, a 11-2 UNLV Mountain West champion is perhaps the best choice to be the 5th conference champion in the playoffs.

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