Ballot Type: Human
Submitted: Jan. 21, 2026, 10:09 p.m.
Overall Rationale: Wins and losses matter most. Well, not much drama at the top as this should be a unanimous champion. Still, I did quite a bit of shuffling in here since some teams played multiple games. These rankings are a reflection of the full body of work of a team, with emphasis on head-to-head as well. Notre Dame, by chickening out of a bowl game, got punished by way of if teams even remotely close to them won a bowl game, they got vaulted over them. There was a logjam of 9-4 teams in both the B1G and ACC that was tough to sort out, but I eventually went with what I did mostly by head-to-head. Just know if you went 9-4 in those two conferences, you were very close to making the cut. Congrats to the Hoosiers on a historic and magical season. You can ask for any more specific details in the reddit comment I will make.
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
|
| 2 |
Oregon Ducks
|
|
| 3 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
|
| 4 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
|
| 5 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
|
| 6 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
|
| 7 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
|
| 8 |
BYU Cougars
|
|
| 9 |
Utah Utes
|
|
| 10 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
|
| 11 |
Texas Longhorns
|
|
| 12 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
|
| 13 |
James Madison Dukes
|
|
| 14 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
|
| 15 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
|
| 16 |
Tulane Green Wave
|
|
| 17 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
|
| 18 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
|
| 19 |
Navy Midshipmen
|
|
| 20 |
TCU Horned Frogs
|
|
| 21 |
Houston Cougars
|
|
| 22 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
|
| 23 |
USC Trojans
|
|
| 24 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
|
| 25 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
0.00 |
| 2 |
Oregon Ducks
|
0.95 |
| 3 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
0.00 |
| 4 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
0.00 |
| 5 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
0.00 |
| 6 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
0.00 |
| 7 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
-0.40 |
| 8 |
BYU Cougars
|
0.24 |
| 9 |
Utah Utes
|
0.88 |
| 10 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
1.60 |
| 11 |
Texas Longhorns
|
0.00 |
| 12 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
-0.73 |
| 13 |
James Madison Dukes
|
0.36 |
| 14 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
-0.32 |
| 15 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
-0.12 |
| 16 |
Tulane Green Wave
|
0.00 |
| 17 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
0.47 |
| 18 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
-1.03 |
| 19 |
Navy Midshipmen
|
0.53 |
| 20 |
TCU Horned Frogs
|
1.37 |
| 21 |
Houston Cougars
|
0.00 |
| 22 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
3.21 |
| 23 |
USC Trojans
|
0.00 |
| 24 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
0.00 |
| 25 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
-0.88 |