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Bereft13 Ballot for 2026 Week 5

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Sept. 27, 2026, 12:34 p.m.

Overall Rationale: First a power ranking of teams is created, then it is used to algorithmically determine a strength of record ranking of teams. These are combined to rank the teams, with power weighted higher early in the season and SoR weighted higher late in the season. Power rankings are a mixture of human and computer inputs. Current weight: 80/20 in favor of Power.

This week, I made a deliberate shift away from preseason expectations toward what teams have actually shown so far this season. This hurt teams like Louisville, SMU, LSU, Ole Miss, BYU, etc. It also helped teams like Utah, Nebraska, Northwestern, & Duke. Nebraska is an extremely strange case. The computers raised them from 23 to 16 this week, while I brought them all the way to 12 from last week's 41 in my personal power ranking. I think 12 is very likely overrating Nebraska. The biggest reason they are this high is that Michigan State performed about as well against them as they did against Notre Dame, who are still considered an elite team. This obviously does not mean Nebraska are as good as ND, but it does make it hard to put ND in the top 5 and Nebraska outside the top 15 in a power ranking. Nebraska's other games are blowouts over bottom-half FBS teams or equivalent. They really do not tell us much. Most likely, they will also blow out Maryland next week in Lincoln, and we still won't know how good they are.

LSU ends up above Ole Miss here due to being higher in the power ranking, which is entirely down to the computers (LSU: 10, Ole Miss: 23). I don't agree with them on that, but that's why those two are in the "wrong" order. Also, shoutout Northwestern entering the rankings following their Quality Loss to Indiana. Last note is, I'm pretty surprised to see Boise State here. Normally we don't get G5/6 teams until later in the season, when one of them builds up a top-25 SoR and that carries enough weight. This week though, my respect for them in my power ranking was enough to overcome the computers' hate and get them in. I would absolutely not count on them to stay ranked though. Their next 5 opponents are outside the top 60 in the power ranking.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Power: 1, SoR: 9; LW: 5
2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Power: 4, SoR: 6; LW: 3
3 Miami Hurricanes Power: 3, SoR: 11; LW: 2
4 Texas Longhorns Power: 6, SoR: 1; LW: 1
5 Indiana Hoosiers Power: 5, SoR: 8; LW: 7
6 Alabama Crimson Tide Power: 7, SoR: 2; LW: 4
7 Florida Gators Power: 8, SoR: 3; LW: 13
8 Ohio State Buckeyes Power: 2, SoR: 35; LW: 10
9 Utah Utes Power: 9, SoR: 12; LW: 12
10 Texas Tech Red Raiders Power: 12, SoR: 5; LW: 9
11 Iowa Hawkeyes Power: 14, SoR: 4; LW: 19
12 Nebraska Cornhuskers Power: 11, SoR: 17; LW: NR (34)
13 Oregon Ducks Power: 13, SoR: 18; LW: 20
14 UCLA Bruins Power: 15, SoR: 14; LW: 24
15 Mississippi State Bulldogs Power: 18, SoR: 7; LW: 18
16 Tennessee Volunteers Power: 10, SoR: 44; LW: 14
17 LSU Tigers Power: 17, SoR: 26; LW: 11
18 Ole Miss Rebels Power: 20, SoR: 16; LW: 6
19 BYU Cougars Power: 21, SoR: 13; LW: 8
20 Michigan Wolverines Power: 19, SoR: 21; LW: 21
21 Northwestern Wildcats Power: 16, SoR: 41; LW: NR (29)
22 Houston Cougars Power: 22, SoR: 31; LW: 23
23 Duke Blue Devils Power: 28, SoR: 10; LW: NR (26)
24 Boise State Broncos Power: 24, SoR: 29; LW: NR (37)
25 Auburn Tigers Power: 26, SoR: 22; LW: NR (41) | Next 5: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, USC, Wake Forest, Kentucky | Dropped: Louisville, Kansas State, SMU, USC, Texas A&M

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