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elnino550 Ballot for 2026 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 13, 2026, 11:13 a.m.

Overall Rationale: There is going to be some big shake-ups here compared with my pre-season and week1 rankings as we have learnt a lot more about some of the main contenders. There is still plenty of teams who have played no one so I can only go on their projected roster quality and pre-season expectations, but I am going to try and respect the best resumes we have so far. Texas have the best win and I believe they deserve to be the number one, Ohio State only narrowly lost away from home and I think they've proved they will still be an elite team.

Other teams that just missed out - Oregon, Louisville, Mississippi State, VA Tech, Washington


Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns They have the best resume in the country with a win over OSU and a 2-0 start, they also have one of the deepest pre-season projected rosters. This is an easy number one.
2 Miami Hurricanes They didn't do anything to be knocked-off the number one spot in my rankings, they have beaten up 2 cupcake teams more than their expected win total. I do believe this roster is elite on both sides of the ball, the issue is their schedule is a complete joke and will they really be tested until the Notre Dame game in November.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wisconsin could be an improved team this year and Notre Dame beat them up, their first test will be at BYU in October, until then I expect them to beat up on their schedule, the same as Miami if other teams have better wins then they will drop for having a weaker schedule.
4 Georgia Bulldogs I don't expect Arkansas to put a fight next week, but Oklahoma's defence will be their first real test.
5 LSU Tigers The way they dealt with Clemson has to be respected as part of their resume in what is a loaded roster, the game next week against Ole miss will help us see where both teams really are.
6 Ole Miss Rebels See above.
7 Indiana Hoosiers They haven't had anyone on their schedule yet even compared with the teams above, so it's just hard to rank them, I expect a win but at least the game in 2 weeks against Northwestern can give us some more information.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide No wins on the resume to the calibre of Clemson and Louisville yet, but the second half performance was very impressive against Arkansas, I expect this team to improve on offense too as Russell gets even more confidence - and he has a huge ceiling that will assist DeBoer's run game that has historically struggled.
9 Texas A&M Aggies
10 Ohio State Buckeyes Have to be the highest ranked 1-1 team, and it feels harsh to have them as low as 10th, but next week will cause a lot more shake-ups with teams facing real opponents for the first time. I would be slightly concerned that that OSU's offence will rely solely on Sayin to Smith (They had 2 elite WR2s the last 2 years with Egbuka and Tate that they will hope to find), but the new look defence showed plenty of flashes that they will still be top tier.
11 BYU Cougars They look to be comfortably the best Big 12 team so far, as TTU have slightly struggled against inferior opponents BYU beat a very good Arizona team.
12 USC Trojans Haven't played anyone, but they have health with their schedule with ease and have a loaded roster and number one recruiting class. This team will be a real threat to the Big 10 and national title.
13 Texas Tech Red Raiders Have struggled but they still have a loaded roster and have started 2-0, and got to think there's plenty of room for improvement.
14 Tennessee Volunteers
15 Utah Utes
16 Missouri Tigers
17 SMU Mustangs The score against FSU didn't do them justice, they dominated this game and I believe they're the 2nd best team in the conference, the game against Louisville next week is huge in terms of who will make the ACC title game / get an at-large spot in the CFP.
18 Virginia Cavaliers
19 Houston Cougars
20 Iowa Hawkeyes
21 Penn State Nittany Lions
22 Michigan Wolverines The Underwood-led passing game still looks like it will struggle but they showed improvements with their run game over the game against Western, and their defence especially pass rush showed flashes of being elite, they deserve to be one of the 1-1 teams in the top-25 for now.
23 Florida Gators
24 Oklahoma Sooners It could end up being a similar team to last year, with an elite defence and a struggling offense.
25 Oklahoma State Cowboys Yeah I'm adding them despite the loss to Tulsa. Don't let the scoreline against Oregon fool you, they dominated this game, their ceiling with this Mestemaker led offense is sky-high.

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