Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Aug. 23, 2026, 7:15 a.m.

Overall Rationale: First divide teams into tiers, then sort within each tier. For early season polls, tiers are determined by projected finish, to be reevaluated once there are enough results to do so. For the preseason poll, rankings reflect expected Week 0 and 1 results – if there are no upsets, the rankings won't change.

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2	LSU Tigers
3	Oregon Ducks
4	Texas Longhorns
5	Indiana Hoosiers
6	Ohio State Buckeyes
7	Georgia Bulldogs
8	SMU Mustangs
9	Alabama Crimson Tide
10	Michigan Wolverines
11	Miami Hurricanes
12	Texas A&M Aggies
13	Texas Tech Red Raiders
14	BYU Cougars
15	Penn State Nittany Lions
16	Iowa Hawkeyes
17	USC Trojans
18	Ole Miss Rebels
19	Virginia Cavaliers
20	Washington Huskies
21	TCU Horned Frogs
22	Pittsburgh Panthers
23	Arizona Wildcats
24	Nebraska Cornhuskers
25	Virginia Tech Hokies

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	0.51
2	LSU Tigers	1.75
3	Oregon Ducks	0.00
4	Texas Longhorns	0.00
5	Indiana Hoosiers	0.00
6	Ohio State Buckeyes	-1.68
7	Georgia Bulldogs	-0.68
8	SMU Mustangs	2.22
9	Alabama Crimson Tide	0.25
10	Michigan Wolverines	1.04
11	Miami Hurricanes	-1.18
12	Texas A&M Aggies	0.00
13	Texas Tech Red Raiders	0.00
14	BYU Cougars	0.00
15	Penn State Nittany Lions	0.58
16	Iowa Hawkeyes	1.21
17	USC Trojans	0.00
18	Ole Miss Rebels	-0.58
19	Virginia Cavaliers	2.89
20	Washington Huskies	0.00
21	TCU Horned Frogs	4.03
22	Pittsburgh Panthers	3.13
23	Arizona Wildcats	0.29
24	Nebraska Cornhuskers	1.19
25	Virginia Tech Hokies	0.00

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
Oklahoma Sooners	3.45
Tennessee Volunteers	0.59
Utah Utes	0.39
Houston Cougars	0.31
Louisville Cardinals	0.29
Missouri Tigers	0.06

Total Score: 28.30