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smartkeg Ballot for 2026 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 15, 2026, 2:21 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I heavily weight current-season performance, opponent quality, game control, efficiency, margin, and the eye test, while using prior-season performance, returning talent, and preseason expectations only as supporting evidence of underlying team strength. Wins and losses are evaluated in context: a strong performance against an elite opponent can be more informative than a dominant win over a weak opponent, while a competitive loss to a great team can be more valuable than an unimpressive win over a mediocre one. Conversely, a poor performance against a weak opponent is meaningful negative evidence. Other supporting evidence: quarterback play and performance in high-leverage situations.

Goal: rank who I believe are the best teams right now.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Impressive win with an amazing comeback. I think wins like this provide evidence that a team can perform under pressure. Clear #1 for me.
2 LSU Tigers Demolished Clemson with the most complete performance of the season.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes They just lost by one point to the new #1 after dominating that team for 45 minutes. Collapsed, but look like an excellent team as this program has always been.
4 Miami Hurricanes Haven't played anyone strong yet but have a conference win and look dominant.
5 Indiana Hoosiers Look great but it's hard to put them higher than this due to the quality of their opponents. Get the tiebreaker over Georgia solely due to being the defending champs, for what I view as basically equal teams.
6 Georgia Bulldogs Look great but it's hard to put them higher than this due to the quality of their opponents.
7 Ole Miss Rebels This week didn't tell me anything about this team, keeping them high due to the impressive clutch win against Louisville.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Resoundingly defeated what I think is a good/well-coached Kentucky team.
9 Texas A&M Aggies Two convincing wins and I think ASU is a quality opponent.
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Look great with some sloppy moments, haven't been tested yet.
11 Tennessee Volunteers Looked great in a road test against Georgia Tech, deserve credit for the P4 road win.
12 USC Trojans Deserve some credit for 2 convincing wins this season. Offense could be elite.
13 BYU Cougars Arizona is a solid opponent and their QB and defense looked good.
14 Michigan Wolverines Looked terrible in Week 1 and solid in Week 2 against an Oklahoma team I have ranked. Underwood looked better, defense looked great, and the team is probably much better than what they showed in Week 1 but since that's half of the season, I can't have them jump too high yet despite a good win.
15 Penn State Nittany Lions Defense looks solid, wonky win this week against Temple so I had a few teams that looked more consistent ahead of them.
16 Virginia Cavaliers Get credit for trouncing NC State. Very good team that has a chance to win the ACC this year.
17 Louisville Cardinals Close loss to Ole Miss + blowout win vs Nova = this is probably a very good team.
18 UCLA Bruins I think this team is underrated. 2 FBS wins against what I think are solid teams, great coach, dynamic QB, and have continuity from the JMU transfers.
19 SMU Mustangs They have a tough road conference win and an FCS cupcake walk. Jennings is a good QB and this regime is consistent.
20 Utah Utes This team looks excellent. Dominated a P4 team Week 1 and kept it rolling.
21 Missouri Tigers Haven't done enough to be higher, but they have a P4 road win. Have looked slightly better than Iowa so they get the tiebreak with essentially the same resume.
22 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa gonna Iowa. Rivalry win is good enough to keep them at 21.
23 South Carolina Gamecocks They've dominated the teams in front of them. Vote of confidence for Sellers.
24 Oklahoma Sooners Close loss to Michigan. Amazing defense and talent but very shaky QB that will limit their ability to win close games.
25 Virginia Tech Hokies I could've put any team that dominated 2 cupcakes here but giving a vote of confidence for James Franklin

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