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ChBass Ballot for 2026 Week 6

Ballot Type: Computer

Submitted: Oct. 4, 2026, 8:16 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Each team's performance is compared to their opponent's opponents' performances, with bonuses for wins & losses depending on the quality of the opponent. FCS games are not taken into consideration.

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide Bama just went into Starkvegas and shut down what is still, overall, the highest performing offense in college football. They are one of two teams with both a top-10 offense and defense, and they will be a force to be reckoned with.
2 Texas Longhorns The longhorns still have the top defense in college football, and move up as everyone else came down to earth this week.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Last week, it was ND and everyone else; this week, they performed like a normal team against a North Carolina team that's power rated #70. Still a top-10 defense, but they just didn't play like the #1 team this week.
4 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana has a top-5 defense and the win against Northwestern is looking better and better as they prove themselves.
5 Mississippi State Bulldogs The Alabama loss doesn't hurt that much; despite their awful performance, cowbell is still averaging nearly 200 yds/game on the ground, over 300 yds/game through the air, and 39 points/game, which is why the model has them as a top-5 team.
6 Utah Utes Undefeated Utah is the only other team besides Bama that boasts both a top-10 offense and defense. Their (Monster) Big XII schedule is a blessing and a curse; when are they going to get tested and get a quality win?
7 Wisconsin Badgers Ok; my poll keeps getting listed among the outliers because Wisconsin is ranked in the top-10. I dug into the wiring of the model to make the case: They passed for 362 on Eastern Michigan, 50 more than any other opponnet, and scored 54 on them, 20 more than any other opponent; they passed for 235 against Penn State, more than double any other opponent, & only allowed 114 passing from the nittany lions, more than half as any other opponent of theirs allowed. Then, they rushed 228 on Michigan State this week, 60 more yards than Notre Dame. Don't get hung up on the "-1" in the record; Wisconsin might just be a good team.
8 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State has a top-10 offense, and the win against Iowa was their toughest test of the year (that they passed).
9 BYU Cougars Undefeated BYU has the second-best defense in college football, but their biggest test has been Arizona.
10 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia flexed the second-best offense against Vandy. Next week will be strength on strength against Bama,
11 Nebraska Cornhuskers Is it 1997? Nebraska is undefeated and has a top-5... offense? Their toughest opponent so far has been Michigan State, so we'll see how this plays out.
12 Northwestern Wildcats Oh, they called us an outlier because we ranked you before the Indiana game... but we can't quit you, Northwestern... They are going to surprise people with their top-10 offense, and be underranked because it's Northwestern, but the numbers see you.
13 Miami Hurricanes Miami also has a top-10 offense, but their strongest competition to date has been Wake Forest, so they have to keep steamrolling until Pitt comes to town.
14 Kentucky Wildcats An ugly win is a win... after stacking up wins against the most chokey teams of the SEC, Kentucky still sits as a top-15 team, despite their mid-level offense.
15 UCLA Bruins Same story here, but a mid-level defense, and undefeated UCLA finds themselves in the rankings. Their toughest opponent was Maryland, who they throttled, but everything will be sorted out at Oregon this Saturday.
16 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt is undefeated, despite their best efforts at times... the defense is carrying the mid-level offense, and more tests are yet to come.
17 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech had to wake up in the second half and remember to beat Colorado, but they are still undefeated. Their toughest opponent was Houston, so they'll need to play complete games against the (Monster) Big XII competition to move up.
18 North Dakota State Bison The Bison are undefeated, and that may not change in the Mountain West.
19 Ole Miss Rebels The win against LSU looks better and better, and the loss to Florida looks worse and worse. The LSU win more than offsets the loss, but they'll need to stack more quality wins when they get the opportunity.
20 Missouri Tigers Mizzou makes up a third of their loss to cowbell by beating the gators handily at home. Their offense is going to have more opportunities to shine against A&M next week.
21 LSU Tigers If there was a world where wins and losses didn't matter, and it was just teams trying to do their best and everyone met in the middle of the field after to high five and share orange slices, LSU would be the number one team in college football. They have the third best defense in college football and can stop anything but spite.
22 Tennessee Volunteers The Auburn win more than made up for the loss to the longhorns, and Tennessee is back in the rankings. They need to work on their passing game.
23 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa played tough against Ohio State, and the loss hurts them as much as, say two Michigan wins would help them.
24 James Madison Dukes James Madison is undefeated, and they may stay that way. Sure, their strongest opponent is Liberty, but undefeated is undefeated.
25 Duke Blue Devils We go from the Dukes to Duke, who is also undefeated. Their strongest opponent yet has been Illinois, and they can run the ball, but they'll have the chance to prove themselves in the next weeks.

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