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jrich960608 Ballot for 2026 Week 4

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 21, 2026, 10:45 p.m.

Overall Rationale: This is a personal human poll with varying degrees of ranking methodology. No methodology weighs higher than another. I rank my teams off of performance, power rankings, and resume, and I try to watch every game I can to add a personal feel for each team, so eyeballs play a factor as well.

Rank Team Reason
1 Ole Miss Rebels The best resume in the country, the best QB in the country. I really struggled and flipped Ole Miss and Texas back and forth so many times, Texas has the best win up to this point, but Ole Miss has #2 and #3 IMO. That Louisville win looks better and better. Ole Miss heads into a dangerous spot here in week 4, The Swamp will be absolutely slamming, Florida’s offense seems to be elite, and Ole Miss is coming off one of the biggest high’s in regular season history.
2 Texas Longhorns Texas didn’t look like the #1 team this week. The Ohio State win here is doing a ton of heavy lifting here, because honestly, Texas has looked like the #1 team in the country for only one quarter against quality competition, and we know exactly the one I’m talking about. With that being said, Texas has every opportunity to take back #1 with a big game on deck and Ole Miss heading into a very hostile environment. They may still have the highest ceiling, one of if not the top roster this year. I’d to see a full game vs a P4 team where Texas looks like their potential.
3 Georgia Bulldogs I know Georgia has played no one (sorry Arkansas). However, if you asked me right now which team looked poised to win the national championship, it’s Georgia (yuck). For crying out loud the Bulldogs are doing drills during TV breaks during Arkansas because it wasn’t enough. Stockton is playing the best ball of his career, Frazier is a monster. I think the defense will continue to improve (Kirby Smart), they mostly need it on the DL. The offense will have a tough test this week against a tough OU defense, but they should get tired relatively early with how the Oklahoma offense is looking.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Despite winning 59-3, Ohio State carried some of the same issues that plagued them during the 4th quarter against Texas, it could be the Texas hangover (most likely), or it could be a cause for concern. Regardless, they are still uber talented, with a BIG10 opponent in Illinois on the docket this weekend they can hope to get back to form.
5 Miami Hurricanes Miami has so much talent, and I was hoping for a reason to move them higher, but they didn’t cover, went 5/13 on 3rd down and gave up 330 yards to Wake Forest. I do believe Wake isn’t as bad as some people probably think, but Miami easily could have covered this game spread. To me, the defense lacks the same intensity they showed last year and I’d like to see that improve. They suffered some injuries Saturday, but they won’t play anyone who should seriously threaten them until ND.
6 Indiana Hoosiers We won’t know anything serious about Indiana until week 6. Unfortunately.
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The 2nd half performance was very impressive defensively. ND also doesn’t play anyone serious until BYU week 8, but I think the physicality is there, the defense is there. Something about the offense isn’t title contender for me, yet. Please fast forward to a big game (same with Miami/Indiana).
8 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama is not moving this week. The Kentucky win looks a LOT better, but once again Alabama seems to have Regigigas’ “Slow Start” ability (anyone get this reference? No?) Alabama will lose if they continue this trend, you cannot seriously compete in the SEC or B10 by only playing 2 quarters to your potential. Russell is FAST, and shows young mistakes which is fine, but the talent is there. The defense is very good, I’m not sold on the running game until I see it for a full game. The start of this game against a bad FSU team was reminiscent to last year.
9 LSU Tigers I’m not going to punish a team for going into Ole Miss and having a chance to tie it at the end. I think the Clemson game didn’t do LSU any favors because it’s clear Clemson is bad. I think Leavitt is good with his legs but clearly has steps to take as a passer, the defense is good, maybe really good, but they are lacking the whole package as of week 3. I wish they would utilize the running backs more because that’s a good group.
10 Louisville Cardinals The Cardinals are for real, offensively. That RB room is for real, Lincoln is for real, the WRs make plays where it counts. The Ole Miss loss is the closest you can be to a quality loss. I think SMU is an impressive football team this year, and we obviously know how good Ole Miss is offensively, so I’m not ready to sell on this Louisville defense because they’ve had some really tough challenges, but I’d like to see some improvement there. Keep climbing Cardinals!
11 Utah Utes Up to this point, Utah has been the most impressive team in the B12. Watch out, BYU and Tech.
12 BYU Cougars They look good, and I fully expect them to get better.
13 Mississippi State Bulldogs Welcome to the show Kamario. What most impressed me this week from this team was starting the game in an hostile environment down 16-0, and then doing what they did. Taylor settled in, and the rocket ship took off from there.
14 Tennessee Volunteers HUGE test this week. Neyland will be rocking, can Tennessee take that next step?
15 USC Trojans No matter what, you cannot beat Rutgers by 7. You just can’t. Huge test this week again at home, but defensively they have GOT to improve to be any sort of serious contender.
16 Iowa Hawkeyes 55-0? Iowa? Iowa Hawkeyes? Did hell freeze over?
17 Texas Tech Red Raiders I was down on Tech through two weeks of the season, and I still don’t think they are as good as expected so far this year. Houston is a good team, and that was a great game. A win is a win, but they would lose as of right now to the two teams above them in conference in my opinion.
18 Penn State Nittany Lions Still waiting on real competition, can’t get that Temple game out of my mind, but they have all the opportunity with that schedule.
19 Houston Cougars Played a really tough game, came up inches short. Houston will continue to make noise, and I’d love to see a rematch with Tech.
20 Florida Gators Offense? Explosion. Defense? Please put up a full 4 quarter performance. 7 sacks vs Auburn was very nice. Baugh very well may be the best RB in college. I was not thrilled with the last 10 minutes, they seemed to lose full effort and the secondary really needs to step it up against Ole Miss or Florida will give up some major passing yards. 16 penalties? Really? Florida has a chance to clean it up and skyrocket in the rankings.
21 Michigan Wolverines I really really don’t want to be ranking Michigan, but here we are. Technically 3-0, but that offense is not good. The first half vs UTEP was scary for them, but they closed it out nicely.
22 West Virginia Mountaineers What a win! Virginia was looking to be a contender and then WVU goes into their home and wins by 11. Impressive stuff.
23 Missouri Tigers Well, that was not a good game. I’m sure this is one they will want to wipe from memory. Mizzou has a gauntlet coming up, let’s see how they perform.
24 Kansas State Wildcats Why is no one talking about this K State defense? Johnson seems to be improved, the energy around the team is EXCITING. Hoping for more games to see just how good they can be.

25 UCLA Bruins UCLA a quiet 3-0? 2-0 vs P4 teams? I’ll call UCLA going into Oregon 4-0.

(I wanted to rank UK, but you can’t erase that 2nd half sperformance against Alabama. Very impressive showing against A&M @ their own house.

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