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T-Thugs Ballot for 2026 Week 3

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 14, 2026, 10:18 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Each week I rerank all the teams based solely on their resumes so far. Due to this, my poll usually ranks in the controversial polls to start the season, but starts to line up more with everyone else as we have more data. Some teams that we know are good but who haven't played anyone (Indiana, etc.) won't be ranked or teams that lost their only real matchup so far (Ohio State) might not be ranked even though they're probably better than teams I do have ranked. I don't hold to my previous week rankings though so once they start winning real games, they'll be ranked accordingly. This week the ordering is a little bit of a crapshoot. Lots of teams with a win over a mediocre/bad p4 team so it's a little bit tough to say whose win is the best. I gave it my best shot on who has the best wins, but I think things will really start to take shape over the next couple weeks as teams start hitting conference schedules.

Also it should be noted that I counted Western Michigan's game against Michigan as a win for Western Michigan, like the Sagarin rankings.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Texas is my #1 team following their victory over AP#1 Ohio State. I think this is the best win of the season so far.
2 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss i still have as #2 thanks to their win over AP ranked Louisville.
3 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tulsa jumps way up in my poll thanks to being 2-0 with a (now) really impressive win over Oklahoma State, who just beat Oregon.
4 Western Michigan Broncos Western Michigan I have here thanks to their win over Michigan (I'm following Sagarin in counting this as a win for Western Michigan). This win now looks extra impressive because Michigan beat Oklahoma. Broncos are 2-0. In 2 weeks, they play Boise State and we'll see if they're a real contender for the G5 bid.
5 LSU Tigers LSU is 2-0 and has a total blowout victory over Clemson that has them high in my poll for now. Have a chance to jump up to the top 2 if they beat Ole Miss this weekend.
6 UCLA Bruins UCLA is 2-0 and has a win over California. I'm counting Cal as a solid p4 win because they in turn have their own p4 win over Syracuse.
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame is 2-0 with a dominant victory over Wisconsin. Can get a second p4 win over Michigan State this week.
8 Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M is 2-0 with a big win over Arizona State. They play Kentucky this week and can get a second p4 win but really have a shot to move in 2 weeks against LSU.
9 Virginia Cavaliers Virginia is 2-0 with a blowout win over North Carolina State. Could pick up a second p4 win this week against West Virginia.
10 BYU Cougars BYU is 2-0 with a nice win over Arizona.
11 Duke Blue Devils Duke is 2-0 with a nice win over Illinois.
12 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama is 2-0 with a blowout win over Kentucky.
13 Miami Hurricanes Miami is 2-0 with a dominant win over Stanford. Can pick up a second p4 win this week against Wake Forest. I think Miami is probably really good and will move them up as they rack up wins. Stanford I think kinda stinks.
14 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State is 2-0 with a blowout win over Minnesota at their place. Nice win. Have a chance to prove they're legit this week vs South Carolina.
15 Missouri Tigers Missouri is 2-0 with a nice win over Kansas. Can move up in a couple weeks when they play Mississippi State.
16 Auburn Tigers Auburn is 2-0 with a win over Baylor.
17 SMU Mustangs SMU is 2-0 with a win over Florida State
18 Utah Utes Utah is 2-0 with a blowout victory over Arkansas
19 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa is 2-0 with a p4 win over Iowa State.
20 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt is 2-0 with a win over UCF
21 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati is 2-0 with a win over Boston College. This one is a little difficult to rank because Boston College in turn has a p4 win over Rutgers, so part of me thinks they belong up by UCLA, but because Rutgers also got dominated by UMass I'm not going to count that as anything special for Boston College. just a normal/weakish p4 win for Cincy.
22 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest is 2-0 with a p4 win over Purdue.
23 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee is 2-0 with a p4 win over Georgia Tech. I'm counting this as one of the least impressive p4 wins (for now) just because Ga Tech is 0-2. I think it will actually turn out to be a decent win. Tennessee will have a huge chance to move bigtime in my poll in 2 weeks when they play Texas.
24 Colorado Buffaloes Colorado is 2-0 with a win over Georgia Tech (0-2). Can pick up a second p4 win this week against Northwestern.
25 UMass Minutemen Umass is 2-0 with a p4 win over Rutgers (0-2). I gave them the last spot in my rankings because they have a p4 win. I don't think any undefeated team with a p4 win is left outside my poll and I haven't ranked any teams that don't have a p4 win.

Next teams out: USC, Indiana, Rutgers

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