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jrich960608 Ballot for 2026 Week 5

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Sept. 28, 2026, 10:34 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 Texas Longhorns For the second week in row I’d like to start with Texas has only looked like a complete #1 team in the country for 1 quarter total. Their defense has all the potential and performance of being #1, but the offense needs to start being consistent before they start losing. I’m not sure what it is with Manning, but he’s very up and down, though many fail to point out the offensive line isn’t doing him any favors. They are back to #1 due to resume after the Ole Miss Massacre, but they can lose it just as easily as they lost it the last time if they continue to perform the way they have.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Without a doubt, Georgia is playing like the #1 team in the country. The biggest weakness that can be pointed out is schedule, but if anyone knows anything about football, you can tell when a team has it clicking on all cylinders. Oklahoma did give a lot of gifts to Georgia, but Georgia capitalized and still showed no signs of slowing down. UGA boasts the #1 scoring offense, and the #17th scoring defense in the country. Their first big test will be against an Alabama team that seems to have figured out some of its issues.
3 Miami Hurricanes Team one of many that has played absolutely no one but continues to win and ….wait? What? Wake Forest from the top rope! In last weeks poll, I knocked Miami a little for beating Wake by 12. Wake then decided to beat my #10 team Louisville! Miami is getting a bump this week for continuing to perform and their resume getting a boost which is the #1 thing holding them back.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes If I had to pick a team to play Georgia in the national championship at this very moment, it would be the Buckeyes. Yes, Julian Sayin still needs to stop focusing only on Smith and needs to take another step, and yes, the defense has some holes it needs to patch, but it’s week 4, and they still flash absolute elite levels of play. Hell, they got Illinois’ DC fired after the game (or was it because they put 9 men on the field during a goal line stand? Sorry Illini fans, I had to throw that in) (no one reads this anyways JRich960608, shut up)
5 Florida Gators oh man oh man oh man. You can talk about the Ole Miss hangover, and yes Lacy did not play, but anyone who watched this game could tell you that it did not matter a lick. UF held the best QB in America to 28, picked him off and strip sacked him, scored 52 with 302 yards rushing, all while missing a pick 6 which resulted in an Ole Miss touchdown, taking their foot off the gas in the last 2 minutes of both halves, and missing two touchdown throws on two different drives. This game could have been a lot worse. Through 4 games Florida has given up 2 sacks only, two turnovers only that were just unlucky drops by receivers, and boasts the #2 offense in the country. The defense is making strides each game. They face a trap game @ Mizzou this weekend who is coming off of a loss to Miss St.
6 Alabama Crimson Tide Last week my main talking point was how Alabama seems to start very slow and wake up in the second half. Well, for one game after that poll, they utterly dominated a struggling P4 team to the point where SCAR started to implode internally. Russell played his best game yet and the sky is the limit for this Crimson Tide iteration, can they put it all together? Williams had his best game in a long time and they’re finally running the ball!
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame is on a shortlist of many teams where they are playing no one, but they’re performing as they should, so I won’t raise you, and I won’t drop, you barring a big change behind or in front them. That defense is scary! I still don’t know if the offense is championship ready, and we likely won’t know that until Miami.
8 Mississippi State Bulldogs What a game. The Bulldogs continue to resume boost, especially with Minnesota getting it done on their end. MSST keeps playing teams close, but this early in the year it doesn’t really matter as long as you win against good competition. They continue to flash a “what could be” potential. This weekend I expect them to take their first loss, but if they win? Look out, world.
9 Indiana Hoosiers Similar to Notre Dame, you’re not playing anybody, but the difference here is you didn’t look that good. Teams with better resumes and performances against better competition WILL pass you. Don’t get me wrong, Fitzgerald has Northwestern trending in the right direction, but you shouldn’t beat them by one score if you’re truly a contender. I do have immense trust in this staff so who’s to say by the end of year they won’t look very improved.
10 Ole Miss Rebels From #1 to #10. I fear the Rebels defense will be an extreme liability moving forward with the schedule of offenses they have to play. Ole Miss will have to outscore quite a few teams, but the potential is still there and they can put it together.
11 LSU Tigers #11 because you lost to an Ole Miss team that just got annihilated, you did do your job against a terrible A&M team, and they certainly have room to improve to the level of contender. I’d like to see more consistency in the play calling, the defense remains really good.
12 Utah Utes I maintain that the Utes are the best team in the BIG12 currently! Would you be willing to bet Tech or BYU beat Iowa State the way they did last Saturday? The defense is incredible, the run game is nasty and they look better and better!
13 Iowa Hawkeyes While this wasn’t the prettiest game, it was certainly an Iowa game. A win is a win, dramatic or not. You took a punch, and you punched back. Huge test this weekend, a likely loss.
14 BYU Cougars Bye week
15 Oklahoma State Cowboys This is a real head scratcher. You just beat WVU who was red hot, you beat Oregon, you look great, yet you lost to Tulsa, who just got thumped by ARKANSAS! College football you are the best sport in the world (duh). Oklahoma State has the potential to put together an incredible season, imagine if the Tulsa game went the other way, they’d be top 10!
16 Oregon Ducks Is Moore really your best QB? Hated the hit, loved the response. Oregon might be recovering and at least the Boise win looks better and better. They still have a long way to go, such a surprise to even say that.
17 Texas Tech Red Raiders Need to see more still
18 Boise State Broncos Boise is for real, Memphis is a good team and so is W Mich. would have loved for them to get that Oregon win.
19 Houston Cougars Beat a nobody but I still believe in them even after the Tech loss. I want a rematch neutral field!
20 UCLA Bruins I’m feeling really good about ranking UCLA before the majority about anyone else, they continue to roll and did unspeakable things to Maryland, HUGE game coming up.
21 Virginia Tech Hokies Big test this weekend, I’ll chalk up the BC game to weather but watch out for some more offensive woes. Defense looked good, keep winning.
22 Duke Blue Devils Duke could be really good, I’d like to see some more meat on the schedule. Nate Sheppard is the truth.
23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake, I’m sorry I doubted you, truly. That offense was explosive and clicking wonderfully. Keep winning.
24 Kentucky Wildcats I wasn’t sure where to place Kentucky because I watched that first half against South Alabama, but they continue to win and there isn’t too many other options that compare. The A&M win is losing its luster fast. They have the schedule to keep proving themselves.
25 Tennessee Volunteers You lost by 3 to the #1 team, I can’t drop you out even though it wasn’t pretty. Is the OLINE that bad or is it the Texas effect? I think the QB will be fine, he got exposed for being a freshman. Well, he is one so that’s fine. The defense is good and I love the DLINE. They can improve certainly but it needs to happen fast

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