Back to poll results >>

sgtshenanigans Ballot for 2026 Week 6

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 4, 2026, 10:42 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I try to get my rankings out before the AP or Coach's poll. I am willing to make big changes to my poll after each week of games if new data warrants big changes to avoid poll inertia.

Rank Team Reason
1 Indiana Hoosiers One of the few hard rules that I have is that the champ is the champ until they are beaten. A lopsided win against Rutgers keeps them at one. Some interesting challenges coming up with Nebraska and Ohio State in the coming weeks.
2 Texas Longhorns Texas was two last week and with the bye this week not much reason to change. Wins against Ohio State and Tennessee help a lot as those teams both notched wins this weekend.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia may not have the most daunting schedule in the SEC so far but they once again take care of business this week with another lopsided victory. No change from last week.
4 Miami Hurricanes Once again no change from last week. Solid and lopsided win against a good but not great Clemson
5 Ohio State Buckeyes I moved Ohio State up one here partially because of the lopsided win over what I still think is a pretty good Iowa team and partially because Notre Dame didn't really impress me as much this week.
6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame did it's job on the road and in the rain against UNC however, the defense did not look elite like it has in the past. The final score makes the game seem closer than it really was as ND had control of this game solidly throughout. Wisconsin notches another win making that early season win for ND look like it has a bit more quality.
7 BYU Cougars I moved the Cougars up one here as I felt as though Texas Tech played rather poorly against Colorado despite the lopsided victory. I still feel as though the Big 12 has the biggest log jam of teams and the conference is still anyone's to win or lose.
8 Alabama Crimson Tide I moved Alabama up two here partially on the back of the impressive win over Mississippi State as well as Texas Tech looking pedestrian against Colorado. Alabama plays Georgia next which should be a fun one and should really tell us a lot about who are the power players in the SEC.
9 Texas Tech Red Raiders Don't let the final score fool you this game was far too close for far too long for me to believe that Texas Tech is a legit playoff team. Texas Tech moves down two despite the win.
10 Utah Utes Utah had a bye week but I still moved them down one here based off of the strength of Alabama's win.
11 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss was on a bye but they move up two because of two teams in front of them. This is where I am going to state that sometimes it would be nice to have a computer poll that I could just feed data into as the middle of the SEC seems intent on creating a nice little circle of suck and it's hard to tell who deserves the highest ranking of this group. The win over Louisville is looking worse all of the time and now the loss to Florida also looks worse. So I'm just guessing here that by seasons end Ole Miss will be a bubble playoff team just ahead of the other SEC bubble playoff teams.
12 Oregon Ducks Once again Oregon was on a bye but moves up two because of losses in front of them. Doesn't hurt that both USC and Boise State had wins this weekend.
13 LSU Tigers LSU moves up three due to teams in front of them losing. Cupcake win this week. Win against Clemson really doesn't look as impressive as it might have at the beginning of the season.
14 James Madison Dukes The Dukes move up three do to teams in front of the losing. This is the highest ranked G6 school for me however I have to admit there are other G6 schools that might be deserving of that title including Boise State. And redditors may not like to hear it but the win against Liberty looks better and better as Liberty keeps finding ways to win games.
15 USC Trojans USC moves up three due to losses in front of them. The win at home against Washington did not feel very impressive but a win is a win.
16 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee was one of the biggest movers up for me this week moving from 24 to 16. Several teams above them lost, They had a solid win against Auburn where the game never felt in doubt, and their only loss was a close loss to a highly ranked Texas. As other SEC teams fall in lopsided losses to worse ranked teams the close loss to Texas helps buoy Tennessee.
17 Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska may have one of the weakest schedules of any undefeated team but they are undefeated. I doubt Nebraska belongs here but we'll see next week when Nebraska plays Indiana at home.
18 Florida Gators Again I'll say it I have no idea exactly how to rank the middle tier of SEC schools as they have formed a bit of a circle of suck. I think Florida is a talented team and that will prove itself as the year goes along.
19 Pittsburgh Panthers Pitt is undefeated and needed a missed field goal from Virginia Tech to win the game and that missed field goal looks like it might have actually been good. Pitt wins by the smallest of margins and shoots up from just unranked to here based on their currently undefeated season. However, their starting QB is injured so they might not be here long.
20 Virginia Tech Hokies Hokies played pretty well against Pitt and lost on a field goal that missed by an eyelash. I still think the Hokies are one of the better teams in the ACC.
21 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa gets rolled a week after an emotional win. However that emotional win looks less impressive after Michigan losses the little brown jug to Minnesota.
22 Mississippi State Bulldogs Big loss to Alabama no late game magic for the Bulldogs this week. They don't slide down too far thanks to teams below them either losing or looking less impressive thanks to strength of record issues.
23 Missouri Tigers Big win for Missouri get's them back in my rankings after being pushed outside of my top 30 last week.
24 Houston Cougars Houston won this week but did not look good while doing so. Their loss against Texas Tech seems worse not because I think Texas Tech may be fraudulent. Also with other teams winning big this weekend I moved the Cougars down two spots despite the win.
25 Duke Blue Devils Duke losses the Bye week. Moving down two spots on the strength of big wins for other teams. Other teams close to the top 25 (in no particular order): Boise State, Kentucky, Wisconsin, SMU, UCLA, Wake Forest.

Back to poll results >>