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Jakesnake42 Ballot for 2026 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 27, 2026, 5:59 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Early season polls are always a tough balancing act between preseason expectations, rewarding beating supposedly good teams, blowing out bad teams, and how much to punish "quality losses". I am a much bigger fan of later in the year when we can go entirely by the resume.

Rank Team Reason
1 Indiana Hoosiers Friday Night Scare vs. Northwestern had me reconsidering my policy of IU #1 till otherwise proven but we've gone this far and at the end of the day. Wins are win. Last Week: #1
2 Texas Longhorns Clearly best resume in ball so adding a win @ the other UT. Last Week: #2
3 Georgia Bulldogs Metrics are starting to learn with UGA as the "best" team in ball and the way they dismantled OU....i get it. Last Week: #5
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Jeremiah Smith is HIM Last Week: #4
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Wisconsin win looks better now! Last Week: #6
6 Miami Hurricanes Game vs Wake starting to make more sense now. Last Week: #7
7 Florida Gators Yeah, yeah i KNOW i was wrong about them, not gonna like my previous bad take on this team prevent them from jumping up high now. Last Week: NR
8 Texas Tech Red Raiders Feels like it might be a while till we learn the true quality of this team. Last Week: #8
9 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama's offense looks good enough to win a national title....the defense; however...big test for that defense next week against Miss St. Last Week: #10
10 Ole Miss Rebels Tough road loss against da Gators. Not going to hammer them too hard for that at the end of the day. Last Week: #3
11 LSU Tigers Always fun when a team demolishes someone and then you drop them in the rankings. Happens sometimes! The teams around you ALSO play, never static Last Week: #9
12 Utah Utes The predictive metrics LOVE this team. Time will tell how right they are. Last Week: #15
13 Iowa Hawkeyes REVENGE FOR WMU! Does NOT get any easier...go shock the world. Last Week: #16
14 BYU Cougars Bye week, nothing really to add. Last Week: #13
15 Mississippi State Bulldogs Good ranked win over Missouri. Probably should've had them ranked last week but had bad memories from last season's start. Last Week: NR
16 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee showed they can hang with the big boys but at some point you will have to get over the hump. Probably won't be this year but this is a young team. Last Week: #11
17 Oklahoma State Cowboys That Tulsa loss is gonna look stranger by the week isn't it. Don't like the loss but wins over Oregon and WVU sure make it easier to swallow. Last Week: #19
18 Oregon Ducks Get well soon Moore. Nice road win against USC however to keep the season on track. Last Week: #20
19 UCLA Bruins What is in the WATER with these JMU coaches.....I really think UCLA could really be contender fast....get an extra week to prepare for Oregon. Last Week: NR
20 Boise State Broncos Boise State showed why they are the class of the G6 last week. Not hard to envision a 12-1 Boise State in the playoff giving one of the big boys a fight. Last Week: #21
21 Nebraska Cornhuskers It feels like we do this with Nebraska every other year when they start out well then collapse in B1G play. Darn predictive metrics being high on them. Last Week: NR
22 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt has looked good so far this year....but all those games have been at home....a Friday Night Trip to Blacksburg looms large.... Last Week: NR
23 Virginia Tech Hokies On the other side of this matchup, this is the first true test for the Hokies all year long. Maryland and BC are not exactly *good* P4 teams. We'll learn a lot about Franklin's (and my) squad this week. Last Week: NR
24 Houston Cougars Not exactly a great bounceback performance this week against GaSo...might be a good time to have their bye. Last Week: #25
25 Duke Blue Devils Shoutout a 4-0 start for the Blue Devils. Will give them the nod for a road P4 OOC win against Illinois a week ago. Last Week: NR

Dropped; #12 USC, #14 Penn State, #17 Louisville, #18 Tulsa, #22 WMU, #23 Michigan, #24 SMU

Also Considered: JMU, Cincinnati, NDSU

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