Ballot Type: Computer
Submitted: Dec. 8, 2025, 2:37 p.m.
Overall Rationale: Computer model that minimizes the squared error difference between projected spread and actual spread, adjusted for home field advantage (~2.5pts) and with a decay to put more weight in recent games and less weight in games earlier in the season. Ratings are in parentheses in description for select teams.
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
|
| 2 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
|
| 3 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
Defense wins championships but defense is not looked upon kindly by the model |
| 4 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
They lost to good teams by a small amount and beat bad teams by a big amount. Couldn't draw it up better to have a big disagreement between the model and the voters |
| 5 |
Oregon Ducks
|
|
| 6 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
|
| 7 |
Utah Utes
|
Very underrated team according to the model |
| 8 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
Big jump, but still only 1/13th of the full data |
| 9 |
Vanderbilt Commodores
|
|
| 10 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
|
| 11 |
USC Trojans
|
|
| 12 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
|
| 13 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
Don't get blown out by FSU if you want to be a top 10 team |
| 14 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
|
| 15 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
|
| 16 |
USF Bulls
|
|
| 17 |
Washington Huskies
|
|
| 18 |
BYU Cougars
|
Solid wins but blowout losses |
| 19 |
Arizona Wildcats
|
|
| 20 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
Loss against Oregon and against Indiana boost their rating more than any of their actual wins |
| 21 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
|
| 22 |
SMU Mustangs
|
|
| 23 |
Texas Longhorns
|
Don't lose to Florida if you want to be a top 10 team |
| 24 |
Florida State Seminoles
|
You can't explain their win against Alabama and neither can my model |
| 25 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
0.00 |
| 2 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
0.84 |
| 3 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
0.00 |
| 4 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
1.32 |
| 5 |
Oregon Ducks
|
0.00 |
| 6 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
1.20 |
| 7 |
Utah Utes
|
2.19 |
| 8 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
-3.73 |
| 9 |
Vanderbilt Commodores
|
1.26 |
| 10 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
-0.79 |
| 11 |
USC Trojans
|
1.74 |
| 12 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
5.08 |
| 13 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
0.00 |
| 14 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
-3.13 |
| 15 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
-2.13 |
| 16 |
USF Bulls
|
6.72 |
| 17 |
Washington Huskies
|
7.93 |
| 18 |
BYU Cougars
|
-1.68 |
| 19 |
Arizona Wildcats
|
0.04 |
| 20 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
5.18 |
| 21 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
-0.04 |
| 22 |
SMU Mustangs
|
3.07 |
| 23 |
Texas Longhorns
|
-1.87 |
| 24 |
Florida State Seminoles
|
1.18 |
| 25 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
-0.19 |
Omissions:
| Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|
James Madison Dukes
|
1.13 |
Tulane Green Wave
|
1.79 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
1.02 |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
0.30 |
Navy Midshipmen
|
0.31 |
Total Score: 55.86