Ballot Type: Human
Submitted: Sept. 8, 2026, 11:24 a.m.
Overall Rationale: Mostly results based. Rewarding P4 wins more than cupcake wins. Will be extremely volatile week-to-week until about halfway through the season when we can get a feel for how consistently good teams are.
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
LSU Tigers
|
Banished Clemson to the Shadow Realm. Clemson clearly isn't the team they used to be, but this is easily the most impressive win of the season so far. |
| 2 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
Similar to LSU, but against a (probably?) worse opponent. |
| 3 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
P4 win at a neutral site, took them a while to get going but eventually handled business against the Wisconsin Punters. |
| 4 |
USC Trojans
|
Two blowout G6 wins might not mean a whole lot, but it's 1 more win than most teams. If their defense continues to play well, watch out. |
| 5 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
Beat the brakes off of an NC State team that people are/were expecting to be in the upper-half of the conference. |
| 6 |
UCLA Bruins
|
Beat a decent Cal team in a rivalry game and looked pretty good doing it. |
| 7 |
Texas Longhorns
|
Beatdown a team that will likely compete for a conference championship. A lot of people (including myself) thought this might be a closer game. |
| 8 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
Beat up what should be a decent G6 team. Offense looked great. |
| 9 |
Oregon Ducks
|
Typical Oregon early year hiccup game against what seems to be a solid Boise St. team. |
| 10 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
Handled a G6 team, but may have some injury issues at corner moving forward. |
| 11 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
Took care of business against a bad G6 team. |
| 12 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
See #11. |
| 13 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
See #11. |
| 14 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
Beat a decent ECU team. |
| 15 |
SMU Mustangs
|
"P4" "win". |
| 16 |
Memphis Tigers
|
Wins against a good G6 and average G6 team has to count for something. |
| 17 |
Washington Huskies
|
Rivalry win against a WSU team that looked better than I think people were expecting. |
| 18 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
Handled a bad FCS team. |
| 19 |
Utah Utes
|
See #18. |
| 20 |
North Dakota State Bison
|
Throttled Jacksonville state, and handled their cupcake. |
| 21 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
Beat up an FCS team. |
| 22 |
BYU Cougars
|
See #18. |
| 23 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
Beat an FCS team by a lot fewer than you would have hoped for. |
| 24 |
Houston Cougars
|
Can't tell if Oregon State is decent or if Houston just had the yips. |
| 25 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
They can score points? |
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
LSU Tigers
|
0.63 |
| 2 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
0.24 |
| 3 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
0.00 |
| 4 |
USC Trojans
|
1.41 |
| 5 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
2.59 |
| 6 |
UCLA Bruins
|
8.11 |
| 7 |
Texas Longhorns
|
0.00 |
| 8 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
1.57 |
| 9 |
Oregon Ducks
|
0.00 |
| 10 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
-0.30 |
| 11 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
-1.53 |
| 12 |
Oklahoma Sooners
|
0.00 |
| 13 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
0.00 |
| 14 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
0.00 |
| 15 |
SMU Mustangs
|
0.00 |
| 16 |
Memphis Tigers
|
1.84 |
| 17 |
Washington Huskies
|
0.26 |
| 18 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
-2.19 |
| 19 |
Utah Utes
|
0.00 |
| 20 |
North Dakota State Bison
|
2.15 |
| 21 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
0.00 |
| 22 |
BYU Cougars
|
-0.89 |
| 23 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
-1.06 |
| 24 |
Houston Cougars
|
0.00 |
| 25 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
-0.41 |