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Tarmacked Ballot for 2025 Final

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Jan. 19, 2026, 10:45 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Computer analytics such as S&P, Sagarin, etc. / Eye test / Resume (Quadrant wins)

Rank Team Reason
1 Indiana Hoosiers Straightforward
2 Miami Hurricanes Straightforward
3 Ole Miss Rebels Comparable opponents, lends me to give Ole Miss more weight here. Sagarin quadrant you're talking 5-2 versus 3-2 here top 30, so Ohio State does have the better "resume" so to speak. It felt more like the Georgia win, beyond coaching, and Trinidad was just more efficient in tough games.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Ultimately just feel the resume eases out against Georgia a bit more. Same Sagarin quadrant setup where they have two more top 30 wins and a slightly better SOS (12 to 15). I'd lean Ohio State, really felt like they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against IU in the CCG with two 90 yard drives, 0 points, and ultimately losing by 3.
5 Georgia Bulldogs See above.
6 Oregon Ducks Blew out Tech, kind of solidified. Yes they were blown out, but IU also blew out Alabama. I think both teams just faced a very well executing and prepared team.
7 Texas A&M Aggies Could argue any of these three in any order. I'll reward A&M for the close win against Miami, missed field goals or not.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide OU win resets head to head, Indiana trouncing Oregon makes it hard to punish either team.
9 Oklahoma Sooners First game felt more fortunate due to turnovers. With the 1-1 I just think Alabama's common opponents (i.e. LSU and others) leans more towards Alabama.
10 Texas Tech Red Raiders I genuinely can't argue them over Texas. Their marquee win really struggled to beat GT, and that's BYU's real resume win. THAT BEING SAID, Tech arguably played one bad game all year against Oregon. I give them some injury weight against ASU and even then, Texas struggled against an MSU that beat ASU in a tight game. Tech doesn't have the Florida loss either. Looking at the whole season, I lean towards rewarding Tech for just the overall dominance.
11 Texas Longhorns Resume was great, Michigan win solidified Arch's second half turnaround.
12 BYU Cougars
13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Close loss to Miami and A&M, but also just not anything to be rewarded for. Their best marquee win (USC) lost to a backup QB in TCU that further hurts them. I think BYU should be rewarded for winning their postseason here.
14 Iowa Hawkeyes Biggest jump, but largely on the back of their win over Vandy and IU's eventual Natty
15 Vanderbilt Commodores Still a great season. Not really an argument to reward either UVA or Utah compared to their bowl game.
16 Utah Utes Not much movement with Nebraska
17 Virginia Cavaliers Solid win over Mizzou.
18 SMU Mustangs Really loved this team analytically all year and Miami's run proved it. Great postseason win.
19 USC Trojans I mean, the TCU loss is ugly.
20 Michigan Wolverines Good but not great tier, the Texas game really felt like they should've played closer given the opt out situation heavily favored UM
21 Arizona Wildcats Straightforward, great season
22 Washington Huskies Straightforward, great season
23 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Yes, they lost. No, i'm not moving them out. Haynes played a great game and they really just fumbled away (literally in the BYU red zone) a win here. I love what Key is doing and I won't be biased on timing when their resume is still a firm top 25 one.
24 Missouri Tigers Poor QB situation but it is what it is. Can't say they're worse than Houston
25 Houston Cougars Straightforward Next 4 out here are a mix of Tennessee, JMU, Tulane, and Illinois

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