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ResearchFlaky5912 Ballot for 2026 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 27, 2026, 10:44 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Drop outs:
Louisville [despite the losses coming to a great team and an OK team, two losses is just too many at this point. Best win SMU also looks sus as SMU might be really bad.] ;
PSU [no good win, loss after playing first real opponent. Coaching was miserable - playing and coaching scared. Becht did not look good or even decent.] ;
USC [Rutgers win looks worse in hindsight. Couldn't get within a score of Oregon with a backup QB, horrific clock/play management in the last two minutes.] ;
West Virginia [loss to OKSt. Win against Virginia still looks good, but not good enough to make up for that loss, unlike Oregon over USC.] ;
Kansas St [just outside of the top 25. Loss is worse than Auburn's and no win is as good as Auburn's.] ;
Missouri [not being punished for losing a game I expected them to lose, just no space for them where, like KSt, their best win and worse loss are not as "good" as Auburn's.]

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Longhorns Despite looking questionable against Tennessee, I'm a firm believer that #1 should stay #1 unless proven otherwise. Also has the best win in the country, and Tennessee not a bad team itself.
2 Georgia Bulldogs According to my eye test, the best team in the country. Does not have the resume to be #1.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Jumping over Indiana with Wisconsin's win at Happy Valley making ND's win against them look better.
4 Miami Hurricanes Not as much jumping over Indiana as it is Indiana falling behind them. Played as expected in a non-game.
5 Indiana Hoosiers Slips behind Miami and ND after looking not great against Northwestern. Still, a win is a win and defending champ benefit-of-the-doubt keeps them in my top 5.
6 Florida Gators Very strong 24-point win over Ole Miss, which is, in my book, the second best win in the country. This team looks and feels ascendant. Huge leap for the team with the most positive momentum in the country.
7 Alabama Crimson Tide Bama looked very good against a decent South Carolina team, but there was no room for them to move up.
8 Ohio State Buckeyes OSU looked very good against Illinois but, like Bama, has no room to reasonably move up.
9 BYU Cougars Bye week. No movement.
10 Texas Tech Red Raiders TT plays as expected in a non-game.
11 Ole Miss Rebels Huge loss by 24 in the swamp, but still has two great wins over LSU and Louisville, which, all considered, places them just outside the top 10
12 LSU Tigers Dominant win over A&M, but the loss to Ole Miss looks worse after their Florida drubbing, so they fall a spot despite a great performance. Early on, it's best to keep the losers of head-to-head matchups below the team they lost to, until there's more to go on, in my view.
13 Iowa Hawkeyes Big win in the Shoe for Iowa on a last-second TD pass. Looks like a scrappy team that can win a lot of games. If Michigan ends up being actually bad, this win will look much less impressive as the season goes on. For now, its a big win for a rising program.
14 Tennessee Volunteers Gets jumped by Iowa after losing at home to Texas on a day where Texas did not look good. Still, they covered against #1, so no reason to drop them.
15 Utah Utes Utah continues to play well with a 14 point win at Iowa State. Played as expected for their ranking.
16 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State pulls off the win against Missouri at home. 7 spots feels like a lot for a one-score win over a (now) unranked team, but a lot of teams in front of them lost, helping them float higher up.
17 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky also floats up after playing as expected against South Alabama. Jumped by Mississippi State as they now have the better win between the two.
18 UCLA Bruins UCLA goes from unranked to #18 after annihilating Maryland in Maryland. Maryland is terrible this year, but a 50+ point win over a Big 10 team should not be ignored. The squad looks solid.
19 Cincinnati Bearcats After beating Kansas State, Cincinnati essentially takes their place. Nothing impressive about their resume, but they looked like a top 25 team Saturday.
20 Michigan Wolverines After losing at home to Iowa, Michigan would have dropped a few spots. But a lot of teams fell out in front of them, keeping them put. #20 feels like a good place to put a team that is probably decent, but inconsistent. Their best win (Oklahoma) looks a little worse after Saturday; if that keeps happening, they'll start sliding.
21 Duke Blue Devils Duke comes in from unranked as just the second ACC team in my top 25. They have not looked fantastic, but they have been winning games in the manner that a fringe top 25 team should. Wins over struggling Tulane and Illinois are good to keep them inside the top 25 for now, but may not be as impressive down the stretch.
22 Nebraska Cornhuskers A solid win over Michigan State brings Nebraska into the top 25. Again, nothing particularly special about this squad, but, as there are less and less x-0 teams, the fact that a team is x-0 will itself be an argument for top 25. That line of thinking bolsters Nebraska's claim.
23 Houston Cougars Houston only beats Georgia Southern by 14. Still, they played #10 pretty evenly for ~most~ of the game. They rise one spot despite a lot of teams falling out that were in front of them.
24 Oregon Ducks I agonized about putting Oregon higher after (1) 14-point win against USC in the Colosseum (2) despite losing to Tulsa, OKSt might not be that bad? Overall, USC was a fraudulent top 25 last week and Oregon beating them in the fashion they did says more about USC than Oregon, in my opinion, holding Oregon back. Ultimately, Oregon's best win is against a USC team that could be really bad and their loss is to a team that lost to Tulsa. If either of those things change, they can rise quickly.
25 Auburn Tigers This last spot could have easily gone to a few honorable mentions (Kansas St, Louisville, etc.), but I think Auburn fits. Only loss is 5 points to a very good-looking Florida team and, even though Vandy is struggling, Vandy is no longer x-0 thanks to them. Ultimately, I reward Auburn for an SEC win where the other teams I considered are coming off a loss.

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