Ballot Type: Computer
Submitted: Aug. 19, 2026, 12:39 p.m.
Overall Rationale: '''
TERR-Q (Transitive Extrapolated Round Robin Quicksort):
1) Construct a simulated round robin amongst all FBS teams
2) For each simulated "game", if Team A has beaten Team B more times than Team B has beaten Team A, Team A records a simulated "win" and Team B records a simulated "loss". If Team A has not played Team B or they have played twice and split their games, we look at first-layer transitive wins: i.e. we look at the number of teams x such that Team A has beaten x where x has beaten Team B and we look at the number of teams y such that Team B has beaten y where y has beaten Team A. The simulated "win" goes to Team A if |x| > |y| and Team B if |x| < |y|. If |x| = |y|, we look at second-layer transitive wins: i.e. we look at the number of chains x,x' and y,y' such that Team A > x > x' > Team B and Team B > y > y' > Team A. If |(x,x')| > |(y,y')|, Team A records the simulated "win". If |(x,x')| < |(y,y')|, Team B records the simulated "win". If |(x,x')| = |(y,y')|, we move onto third-layer transitive wins. We continue this process until either Team A or Team B has recorded a simulated "win" or until we've looked up to eighth-layer transitive wins.
3) We split the ranked teams at the largest adjacent gap between simulated round robin records, preferring the gap whose midpoint is closest to .500 when multiple gaps are equally large. We run steps (1), (2), and (3) within each subset until subsets contain only one team, using the entire season's results at each layer of recursion.
'''
[Early-season tiebreakers are last season's final TERR-Q standings)
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
|
| 2 |
Oregon Ducks
|
|
| 3 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
|
| 4 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
|
| 5 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
|
| 6 |
Texas Longhorns
|
|
| 7 |
BYU Cougars
|
|
| 8 |
Utah Utes
|
|
| 9 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
|
| 10 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
|
| 11 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
|
| 12 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
|
| 13 |
Tulane Green Wave
|
|
| 14 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
|
| 15 |
Navy Midshipmen
|
|
| 16 |
Illinois Fighting Illini
|
|
| 17 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
|
| 18 |
Houston Cougars
|
|
| 19 |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
|
| 20 |
Army West Point
|
|
| 21 |
Duke Blue Devils
|
|
| 22 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
|
| 23 |
Iowa State Cyclones
|
|
| 24 |
TCU Horned Frogs
|
|
| 25 |
SMU Mustangs
|
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
0.40 |
| 2 |
Oregon Ducks
|
0.00 |
| 3 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
0.48 |
| 4 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
0.89 |
| 5 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
0.00 |
| 6 |
Texas Longhorns
|
0.00 |
| 7 |
BYU Cougars
|
0.99 |
| 8 |
Utah Utes
|
1.90 |
| 9 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
-3.62 |
| 10 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
0.00 |
| 11 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
-1.09 |
| 12 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
0.00 |
| 13 |
Tulane Green Wave
|
11.73 |
| 14 |
North Texas Mean Green
|
11.00 |
| 15 |
Navy Midshipmen
|
9.90 |
| 16 |
Illinois Fighting Illini
|
4.72 |
| 17 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
-1.03 |
| 18 |
Houston Cougars
|
0.55 |
| 19 |
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
5.75 |
| 20 |
Army West Point
|
5.22 |
| 21 |
Duke Blue Devils
|
4.10 |
| 22 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
1.04 |
| 23 |
Iowa State Cyclones
|
2.13 |
| 24 |
TCU Horned Frogs
|
1.03 |
| 25 |
SMU Mustangs
|
-0.54 |
Omissions:
| Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
3.21 |
LSU Tigers
|
1.69 |
USC Trojans
|
2.12 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
1.91 |
Washington Huskies
|
0.96 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
0.59 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
0.53 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
0.51 |
Louisville Cardinals
|
0.29 |
Missouri Tigers
|
0.06 |
Total Score: 79.98