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smartkeg Ballot for 2026 Week 2

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 9, 2026, 9:47 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I mostly used the eye test as Week 1 is fairly low signal. I tried to reward teams who competed well against strong(er) opponents, which is why I have LSU at 1 as I view their win (and thus season at this point) as the best in the country and have Louisville and Boise St ranked despite their losses. To separate between spots, I weighted performance in high-leverage situations (Ole Miss, Louisville, SMU). The goal is to rank who I believe are the best teams right now, not who started the season highest or who has the best record. First team out for me is Texas Tech.

Rank Team Reason
1 LSU Tigers Best performance in the country. LSU annihilated a P4 team that was supposed to be good.
2 Miami Hurricanes Dominant win against a conference opponent. Mensah might be the best QB of this Miami era and he seemed to fit in seamlessly.
3 Indiana Hoosiers Defending national champion, still look explosive, and Hoover fits right in. Right there with Miami besides some defensive questions.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Look great as ever, but haven't played anyone.
5 Georgia Bulldogs Look great as ever, but haven't played anyone.
6 Ole Miss Rebels Defense looked shaky, but they deserve credit for a neutral site victory against a good-looking Louisville team and a QB who can lead them in crunch time.
7 Oregon Ducks Looked shaky at home. Deserves some credit for playing what I believe is a strong team in Boise St.
8 Texas A&M Aggies I like how A&M looked and returning their QB is huge.
9 Texas Longhorns Offense is humming and better than I thought they would look. Huge game next week against tOSU to hopefully provide some clarity on these rankings.
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Looked elite in the 2nd half against a P4 team.
11 Alabama Crimson Tide Very strong, and almost the same story as Penn St. Toss-up between those 2 teams.
12 Penn State Nittany Lions Familiar statement: Look great as ever, but haven't played anyone. Below tOSU, Texas, Georgia, etc as its a newer team that I have less data points on.
13 USC Trojans Deserve some credit for 2 solid wins this season and some visible improvement in Week 2.
14 BYU Cougars In a similar situation to A&M with what I view as a less talented team.
15 Oklahoma Sooners Can't ask much more, I just have them lower than similar teams because I don't believe as much in Mateer/Venables down the stretch. Huge game against Michigan coming up which will give this team an opportunity to rise up the rankings.
16 Virginia Cavaliers Beat a legit ACC opponent soundly. They look like a playoff team.
17 Iowa Hawkeyes Elite defense and no reason to believe this team will ever play differently.
18 Louisville Cardinals Lville had as close of a loss as you can get against Ole Miss on a neutral site. Keinholz looks legit and this team might compete for a playoff spot.
19 Tennessee Volunteers Looked dominant against Furman, stays right around my preseason projection for them.
20 UCLA Bruins Dominant win against Cal and should be an upgraded version of JMU last year. Dark horse for playoffs IMO.
21 Boise State Broncos Hung with Oregon in Autzen. Probably the best G6 team on the board.
22 SMU Mustangs Not an inspiring performance, but a road win in the ACC among tough conditions is enough to be ranked here.
23 Washington Huskies Not a glamorous win by any means, but rivalry win against a FBS team is enough to make T25 here.
24 Virginia Tech Hokies Dominant win and I think an underrated team.
25 South Carolina Gamecocks Beat who was in front of them. This is moreso a vote of confidence for Lanorris Sellers and the new coaching regime than anything.

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