Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 8, 2026, 12:21 p.m.

Overall Rationale: I'm always going to be very fluid in my rankings while we're still "getting data". Not a lot to go on playing so many cupcakes this week, but beating P4 teams or playing conf. games right now carries weight so LSU, SMU, UVA, got bumps.

Auburn and Colorado got nods that I would have been hesitant about ranking them as high (or at all before) and maybe they might not still be here after Week 4 if other teams rack up good/better wins or they start looking sloppy, but for now it is what it is and they won good OOC games. Similarly losing to those teams is no huge knock if you played well while everyone is playing Directional FCS teams, so I'm not penalizing a good Louisville team for that game with Ole Miss too harshly, and Boise hung in there with Oregon instead of playing a nobody.

Ohio St, UGA, Miami, ND, Oregon, IU, OU, Texas is all splitting hairs however you wanna rank them, we know they're all good but nobody played anyone important, but ND ransacked a P4 team, so props there and they get the #1 for now.

I have some questions about all 4 of these - Ole Miss, LSU, SMU, and UVA - but they all beat conference mates or other P4 teams, and mileage can vary on that cluster and their order, but good wins from all of them regardless how good I think they might be end up being by season's end.

Next tiers I think TTU, BYU, USC are all Top 20 teams but proved nothing... Houston, Bama, Penn State, Auburn, A&M, Tennessee... I'm putting Bama, Houston, PSU ahead here for beating G5 schools instead of 50-0'ing an FCS team, and Auburn winning against another P4 team gets them their spot. They might screw around and lose it next week, but good enough for Week 1.

Washington & Colorado won a rivalry game and a game on the road against another P4 team, so again, rewarding that. And I'm not kicking Louisville out or not-ranking Boise for losing to Oregon when both teams played pretty well in those games.

It's just EARLY and everything is fluid.

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Georgia Bulldogs
4	Miami Hurricanes
5	Oregon Ducks
6	Indiana Hoosiers
7	Texas Longhorns
8	Oklahoma Sooners
9	Ole Miss Rebels
10	LSU Tigers
11	SMU Mustangs
12	Virginia Cavaliers
13	Texas Tech Red Raiders
14	BYU Cougars
15	USC Trojans
16	Alabama Crimson Tide
17	Houston Cougars
18	Penn State Nittany Lions
19	Auburn Tigers
20	Texas A&M Aggies
21	Tennessee Volunteers
22	Washington Huskies
23	Colorado Buffaloes
24	Louisville Cardinals
25	Boise State Broncos

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	0.56
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	0.00
3	Georgia Bulldogs	0.00
4	Miami Hurricanes	0.00
5	Oregon Ducks	0.00
6	Indiana Hoosiers	0.00
7	Texas Longhorns	0.00
8	Oklahoma Sooners	0.21
9	Ole Miss Rebels	0.00
10	LSU Tigers	0.00
11	SMU Mustangs	0.79
12	Virginia Cavaliers	1.16
13	Texas Tech Red Raiders	0.00
14	BYU Cougars	0.00
15	USC Trojans	0.00
16	Alabama Crimson Tide	-0.20
17	Houston Cougars	1.15
18	Penn State Nittany Lions	0.00
19	Auburn Tigers	3.76
20	Texas A&M Aggies	-1.32
21	Tennessee Volunteers	0.00
22	Washington Huskies	0.00
23	Colorado Buffaloes	1.22
24	Louisville Cardinals	0.00
25	Boise State Broncos	0.00

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
Utah Utes	0.66
Iowa Hawkeyes	0.69

Total Score: 11.71