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GrimmacingGrinny Ballot for 2026 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 20, 2026, 9:36 a.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Texas continues to have the best win in the country and moves on to face Tennessee in what should be a pivotal matchup.
2 Georgia Bulldogs While it was not 77-0, a 28 point win to open conference play allows Georgia to keep on rolling.
3 Indiana Hoosiers A solid, if not underwhelming performance by the Hoosiers took down WKU. I have some questions about Hoover and the offense, but the defense may be able to carry the team to the playoffs.
4 Ole Miss Rebels What a game. Trinidad looked like the best QB in college football for stretches of that game, and Ole Miss showed they can win when the pressure is on. Despite stumbling in the third quarter, Ole Miss was able to keep things on track and come through when needed. Next week they face a Florida team that is also off to a 3-0 start and could be a very interesting game.
5 Miami Hurricanes Mensah is having an incredible season, and is on pace to be a heisman candidate. Wake Forest certainly put up a fight, but Miami was able to rely on their defense when needed.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes OSU rolled Kent St 59-3, and will face an Illinois defense that has struggled thus far.
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The new look MSU Spartans kept this a game for 3 quarters, with the Fighting Irish eventually pulling away to a 27-10 victory.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Norvell almost had it. FSU led for a portion of the first half, but Alabama came storming back to hang 50 on FSU. It does become a question of whether these slow starts that have popped up against FSU & last week against Kentucky will eventually bite Alabama.
9 BYU Cougars BYU ran for 332 yards and won 41-23 over Colorado St, a very solid performance from LJ Martin leading the way for the Cougars.
10 Texas Tech Red Raiders After the first quarter, it seemed like Houston may run away with the game. Texas Tech was struggling offensively with Castellones throwing an interception and then a 3 & out. After the first quarter though, the defense was able to force enough stops on a good Houston team and Hammond led Tech to a narrow victory.
11 LSU Tigers After a brutal first half, the defense fought back and held Ole Miss to just 8 in the second half. It was too much ground to make up, as Leavitt threw an interception on 4th & goal. There were long stretches in this game where Leavitt seemed to depend on his legs too much, and missing his wide open TE in the end zone was a stark contrast to the excellent QB on the other team. Kiffin now moves to 1-9 in games versus top 10 opponents on the road.
12 USC Trojans This game had all the makings of a trap game, as USC had to travel cross country and face Oregon next week, but it was Rutgers who have struggled immensely so far this year. However, Rutgers put up a fight and the “defense” of USC continues to look suspect.
13 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee made short work of Kennesaw St. and will move their attention to Alabama as they make their way to Rocky Top next week.
14 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa won 55-0 over Northern Iowa, while rushing for 422 yards and 10.3 yards per carry. I’m not certain what to make of the Iowa offense, as they have trounced the 2 non P-4 opponents and scraped by Iowa State.
15 Michigan Wolverines Despite trailing early in this game, Michigan’s offense settled into a rhythm and won by an easy margin of 35. They now host Iowa, in a game that profiles as similar to the Oklahoma game in that it features 2 good defenses. It will simply be a question of what offense can capitalize and who turns the ball over, something the Wolverines have struggled with.
16 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State beat Buffalo soundly by a margin of 55-13. While PSU has yet to face serious competition, and likely won’t until they host USC in October, the team looks solid under Campbell.
17 Louisville Cardinals After another good win for the Cardinals, they have a fascinating resume. A close loss to Ole Miss on the road, and this win over SMU lead me to believe they could contend for the ACC.
18 Utah Utes Utah soundly beat Utah State, 33-0. Clearly in the upper echelon of contenders for the B12, the strong QB play of Dampier could help lead them to the playoffs.
19 Florida Gators A 3-0 start, and a win over Auburn in Jordan-Hare while putting 44 on the scoreboard is an incredible start to the season. While Florida has to host Ole Miss next week, I think this offense is capable but there are questions surrounding the defense.
20 Duke Blue Devils Nate Sheppard leads the country in rushing yards with 528 through 3 games. An insanely talented back, and a team that is capable of putting up points. With a relatively weak schedule moving forward, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this team win 9 or 10 games.
21 Mississippi State Bulldogs Kemario Taylor is a stud. The Bulldogs were down early in this game and fought their way back, winning comfortably before a desperation FG & onside kick attempt. Mississippi State’s schedule is brutal for the rest of the year, but I think they are the better team than Missouri which is what this slot came down to. Especially after Missouri’s atrocious showing against Troy, where they narrowly escaped and benefited from multiple turnovers. Luckily, the two teams will get to settle it next week, when they face each other.
22 Houston Cougars Houston played extremely well for a majority of the game against Texas Tech. The offense sputtered a bit early in the 4th Quarter with consecutive drives of 4 plays. A close game, in Lubbock against a top contender that came down to a 2 point conversion attempt.
23 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Tulsa handled East Texas A&M 42-0, and perhaps more importantly for their resume Oklahoma State won 59-0 over Murray State. Tulsa faces Arkansas next week, and if they want to have any hope of fighting for the G6 bid they need to show they can beat another P4 team.
24 Virginia Tech Hokies The James Franklin era has moved to 3-0, with a win over a decent Maryland team in College Park. Grunkemeyer continues to look good for VT, throwing for over 300 yards and 3 TDs.
25 Oregon Ducks Oregon took some time to try and sort things out by blowing Portland State to smithereens. With a final of 84-0, Oregon is now able to focus on USC as they will travel to the Coliseum next week.

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