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TheUltimate721 Ballot for 2026 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 23, 2026, 10:20 p.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes
2 Oregon Ducks
3 Georgia Bulldogs
4 Indiana Hoosiers
5 Miami Hurricanes
6 Texas Longhorns
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8 Texas A&M Aggies
9 Ole Miss Rebels
10 Oklahoma Sooners
11 Texas Tech Red Raiders Here's the thing: Brendan Sorsby was not going to affect this team's W/L total whatsoever. He's simply not a needle moover in the way they were hoping he would be. They also lost *a ton* of talent on defense, but thankfully they have a lot of oil money to make up for it.
12 BYU Cougars The gap between BYU and Tech is a lot smaller than ever before, mostly because of what Tech has lost, but don't underestimate BYU this year. They've got a great opportunity in non-conference too with their matchup with Notre Dame.
13 USC Trojans
14 Alabama Crimson Tide I honestly wanted to drop Alabama more, because Nick Saban is not walking through that door again, but the latter half of the poll is a lot less clear so I think them finishing on the bubble could be realistic.
15 LSU Tigers LSU did not have a playoff quality roster last year and I don't think they do this year. I think putting them as a top ten team right away is really irresponsible. I think predicting them on the bubble is a better.
16 Washington Huskies Washington has to be careful, they face a dangerous conference schedule with USC, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon, but they've got to travel on the road to Sparty in November and Nebraska in a blackout, neither of which will be easy environments. Hell, they shouldn't overlook their conference opener with Minnesota either. Returning Demond Williams after the transfer scare should be a reason for optimism, but Denzel Boston is in Cleveland now. If things get ugly for the Huskies, they could wind up missing a bowl altogether.
17 Utah Utes They should be right in the mix for the Big 12 with Tech and BYU. I don't think they're going to miss a beat with the transition from Kyle Wittingham to Morgan Scalley
18 Clemson Tigers Clemson has an early opportunity to get back in the polls by spoiling Lane Kiffin's debut in the other Death Valley. They're talented enough, and the ACC is weak enough, that frankly they should still be in the mix.
19 SMU Mustangs
20 Arizona Wildcats
21 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa has another bum at QB again this year but who gives a shit they're going to win 8 or 9 games and beat the shit out of an SEC in the music city bowl again because that's just what they do
22 Boise State Broncos
23 Louisville Cardinals
24 Houston Cougars
25 Penn State Nittany Lions Given that this roster is majority Iowa State transfers I reserve the right to call them Iowa State East. Iowa State was not a bad team by any means last year, but historians will recall they finished 8-4 in a relatively weak Big 12. I think predicting them to dominate the Big Ten, a tougher conference, right away is a bit premature, but they'll at least be decent and have some upside to them.

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