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Pyromania1983 Ballot for 2026 Week 2

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Sept. 8, 2026, 6:15 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Mixed between my own opinions and what the stats say. Some recency bias still from last year. Tough to determine exact seeding and the lower end of the poll this early in the year.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs TN State is a nobody, but I had Georgia high last week and they delivered. Still not as high on Ohio State as Georgia at this point (which could change soon) and Oregon (the team I had in first) did themselves no favors.
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Still has an argument for the best team out there. Julian Sayin was amazing in game 1. If this team beats Texas in their next game, they likely move up to number 1 in my poll.
3 Miami Hurricanes Higher on this team, even with the loss Carson Beck at QB. Darian Mensah is a beast and a huge addition from Duke. With this team's schedule, and the way they looked in their first matchup, they should be locked in to a Playoff spot and potential top-5 finish by regular season's end.
4 Texas Longhorns Easy win over a nobody. Arch looked good. The team's got really good wide receivers. Tough one next week against Ohio State.
5 Indiana Hoosiers Despite the loss of number 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, new QB Josh Hoover looked great and extremely efficient. A Curt Cignetti team will always be competitive no matter the resources. Defense needs to clean a few things up but definitely a great team.
6 Oregon Ducks Had them at number 1 in my preseason poll. VEEEEEERY unconvincing win over Boise State. My poll will be unforgiving in some aspects, especially when factoring in stats and analytics.
7 LSU Tigers Was high on this team in preseason, and they performed extremely well against Clemson. Have some tests in their third and fourth games against fellow ranked teams Ole Miss and Texas A&M. That stretch will likely define their season prospects.
8 Texas A&M Aggies Very good team, just like last year. Playing a nobody but the team looked great, with both offense and defense clicking.
9 Notre Dame Fighting Irish A bit lower on Notre Dame than the national consensus. They did move up a spot for a strong win over Wisconsin, though it was close in the first half. They will have to gradually make their way up my poll, especially with the schedule they have as a non-conference team.
10 Penn State Nittany Lions Matt Campbell's new Penn State team looked every part the role of a contender. Defense was rolling. New starting QB and Iowa State transfer Rocco Becht was extremely efficient and got almost half the game off with the early lead the Nittany Lions were able to build. With their schedule and the way the team looked in Week 1, they are a darkhorse Playoff team at season's end.
11 Texas Tech Red Raiders A little lower on Texas Tech than the consensus though they did move up 5 spots this week for me because of how low they were last week. I think this spot is right, especially after an unconvincing performance against a bad team.
12 Oklahoma Sooners Defense was absolutely dominant, shutting out UTEP and forcing two fumbles. Team will be very good this year. Their offensive ability to mix pass and big rush plays will keep defenses guessing all year.
13 USC Trojans Team has looked better than expected and go from unranked to 13th for me. Two strong wins to start the season in Weeks 0 and 1 have gotten this team out to a great start. if only their fans would care -- this team is going to be very good this year.
14 Alabama Crimson Tide Unconvinced by Kalen DeBoer's Alabama team. They played well in Week 1, though the first half of their schedule is much easier than the second half, when they face all of Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M, LSU, and Auburn.
15 Ole Miss Rebels Was pretty high on this team, but their win over Louisville last night kept the Cardinals in the game longer than they should have been. Still a win over a then-ranked opponent so a win is a win. Just not sure if they're top-10 yet. Lost the turnover battle and did a bad job converting 3rd downs.
16 BYU Cougars BYU looked great over a nobody Utah Tech team, with both sides of the ball rolling, especially the offense. Kalani Sitake will always keep a team like this competitive, especially when the schedule provides for a some really good results this year.
17 Tennessee Volunteers A bit higher on Tennessee than the consensus, the team looked great against a bad Furman squad. They want to stack up wins in the early season as the 2nd half schedule becomes tougher.
18 Iowa Hawkeyes A team whose offense doesn't always look very pretty, Iowa put up 40 points on an NIU team that recently in the past few years beat Notre Dame (though this year's NIU is SO MUCH worse). We'll have to see how Iowa looks once B1G play starts -- things could get very ugly (not necessarily record-wise but just the style of football being played). For now, the team look like they will win some games to start the year.
19 Washington Huskies Unconvincing win over Washington State. I kept this team out last week from my poll, but they still win and I used my own personal reasoning to put them in line with the consensus, albeit a bit lower than others.
20 Michigan Wolverines Undeserving "win." Still shows up 1-0 in the record book and standings. Still dropping 3 spots after a terrible performance. Any loss here in the early season and this team is getting dropped completely, with a tough time to claw back up.
21 Mississippi State Bulldogs Higher on Mississippi State than others. Dropped 62 over LA-Monroe in their first game. Tough schedule will eventually get to them, but they looked really good early on. My second straight week with the Bulldogs in the Poll.
22 Houston Cougars Had Houston 19th. The team struggled a bit against Oregon State but stay ranked for now. An early loss drops them completely and they will have to fight a bit and look great to move back up.
23 Utah Utes Left Utah out altogether last week, and still have them a bit lower than others do. I think BYU is the alpha of the in-state rivalry, Texas Tech is the best Big 12 team for now. Utah can definitely make some noise with their schedule though.
24 Duke Blue Devils Recency bias from last year. Had them ranked at the end of last year, especially after winning the ACC title. Many will not have them ranked, but I will keep them here until they give reason not to be here. Manny Diaz is a great coach, and his defense looked stellar in Week 1. Beating a team that was in the Playoffs last year in Week 1 is a major accomplishment (even with Tulane's changes into this season). With Duke's schedule, look out for potentially 9 wins.
25 Virginia Cavaliers Team was firing on all cylinders with new QB Beau Pribula at the helm. After barely missing out on the Playoffs last season due to losing in the ACC title game, Virginia has an even better QB and overall team to make things happen this year.

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