Ballot Type: Computer
Submitted: Sept. 13, 2026, 2:23 p.m.
Overall Rationale: '''
TERR-Q (Transitive Extrapolated Round Robin Quicksort):
1) Construct a simulated round robin amongst all FBS teams
2) For each simulated "game", if Team A has beaten Team B more times than Team B has beaten Team A, Team A records a simulated "win" and Team B records a simulated "loss". If Team A has not played Team B or they have played twice and split their games, we look at first-layer transitive wins: i.e. we look at the number of teams x such that Team A has beaten x where x has beaten Team B and we look at the number of teams y such that Team B has beaten y where y has beaten Team A. The simulated "win" goes to Team A if |x| > |y| and Team B if |x| < |y|. If |x| = |y|, we look at second-layer transitive wins: i.e. we look at the number of chains x,x' and y,y' such that Team A > x > x' > Team B and Team B > y > y' > Team A. If |(x,x')| > |(y,y')|, Team A records the simulated "win". If |(x,x')| < |(y,y')|, Team B records the simulated "win". If |(x,x')| = |(y,y')|, we move onto third-layer transitive wins. We continue this process until either Team A or Team B has recorded a simulated "win" or until we've looked up to eighth-layer transitive wins.
3) We split the ranked teams at the largest adjacent gap between simulated round robin records, preferring the gap whose midpoint is closest to .500 when multiple gaps are equally large. We run steps (1), (2), and (3) within each subset until subsets contain only one team, using the entire season's results at each layer of recursion.
'''
[Early-season tiebreakers are last season's final TERR-Q standings]
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
|
8.44 |
| 2 |
Duke Blue Devils
|
5.96 |
| 3 |
USC Trojans
|
1.29 |
| 4 |
Oklahoma State Cowboys
|
21.06 |
| 5 |
Oregon Ducks
|
4.91 |
| 6 |
Texas Longhorns
|
-0.27 |
| 7 |
LSU Tigers
|
0.00 |
| 8 |
USF Bulls
|
16.67 |
| 9 |
Penn State Nittany Lions
|
0.81 |
| 10 |
Michigan Wolverines
|
1.90 |
| 11 |
Nebraska Cornhuskers
|
13.43 |
| 12 |
UCLA Bruins
|
2.95 |
| 13 |
Michigan State Spartans
|
11.95 |
| 14 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
-1.26 |
| 15 |
Texas A&M Aggies
|
-1.37 |
| 16 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
-3.58 |
| 17 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
-1.31 |
| 18 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
0.00 |
| 19 |
Washington Huskies
|
1.48 |
| 20 |
Florida Gators
|
0.16 |
| 21 |
Pittsburgh Panthers
|
0.81 |
| 22 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
2.47 |
| 23 |
Cincinnati Bearcats
|
1.93 |
| 24 |
Auburn Tigers
|
0.00 |
| 25 |
Mississippi State Bulldogs
|
0.00 |
Omissions:
| Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|
Miami Hurricanes
|
4.15 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
4.32 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
2.80 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
1.86 |
BYU Cougars
|
2.53 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
1.27 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
1.44 |
Utah Utes
|
1.43 |
SMU Mustangs
|
1.14 |
Virginia Cavaliers
|
0.57 |
Houston Cougars
|
0.43 |
Missouri Tigers
|
0.47 |
Louisville Cardinals
|
0.15 |
Total Score: 126.57