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ninjatown23 Ballot for 2026 Week 6

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 4, 2026, 11:58 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Viewer judgment, prior poll position

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs Playing the the best football in the country currently.
2 Texas Longhorns One of the nation’s top defenses, offense not seeming to click.
3 Indiana Hoosiers Defending national champions continue to play their brand of football. Last week’s Northwestern game looks less concerning each week.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Big road win against Iowa pushes them up. Should only be a couple spots behind Texas due to how close they played them on the road.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide Massive win over Mississippi State. As expected, Kalen Deboer has this offense humming. Keelon Russell builds rapport with each performance.
6 Miami Hurricanes Another one of the nation’s best offenses, not cracking top 5 due to weak strength of schedule thus far.
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pretty much the same reason as Miami, but has a more solid defense than offense.
8 Texas Tech Red Raiders Undefeated with a solid win over Houston.
9 Utah Utes Utah is undefeated and has looked better than BYU in my opinion. They sneak into the top 10 at number 9.
10 LSU Tigers LSU has looked impressive and their only mark is against an amped up Ole Miss team on the road. Which they lost by one possession. LSU sneaks into my top 10.
11 BYU Cougars An unimpressive win over TCU this week, but a conference road win nonetheless. BYU stays undefeated.
12 Ole Miss Rebels Although they have a head to head win vs. LSU, it was on their home field with every reason to play their hearts out. The rest of their performance has is much less impressive than their one possession win over LSU. A 3 point win vs. 2-3 Louisville and getting blown out at Florida hurts their case. Chambliss is holding them as a top 15 team.
13 Oregon Ducks The road loss to Oklahoma State is negated by the road win vs. USC with backup Dylan Raiola playing the majority of the game. Oregon is a team that can matchup with anybody on any given Saturday.
14 Missouri Tigers A massive win over Florida catapults Missouri into the top 15. The fact that it was a home game and their one loss to Mississippi State by one possession on the road puts them just behind Oregon whose top 25 win came on the road.
15 Houston Cougars Losing by 2 to Texas Tech on the road is doing some heavy lifting here. Houston’s performance outside that game has been solid. They sneak into my top 15.
16 Boise State Broncos Boise State’s only blemish is a one score road loss to Oregon. They have performed as expected since that loss. If Oregon rises, Boise State should too barring any upset losses.
17 Florida Gators Florida was dismantled by Missouri, but the week prior they dismantled Ole Miss. Tough team to place if they play this different on the road vs. at home, they move down a few spots below Missouri.
18 UCLA Bruins Undefeated UCLA scores points. Maybe a bit high, but I’m giving them credit for the donut in the loss category.
19 Mississippi State Bulldogs And just like that, Kamaria Taylor’s Heisman chances disappear. A bad home loss to Alabama moves them down in the rankings.
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys Oklahoma State would likely be a top 10 team if it weren’t for that season opener loss to Tulsa. They appear to be playing better football now.
21 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa was manhandled by Ohio State and they were a play away from losing to an average Michigan team. Their defense keeps them in the top 25, but their offense leaves a lot to be desired.
22 USC Trojans While USC is 4-1, their defense is pitiful and they lack home field advantage. They narrowly escape Washington this week at home.
23 Duke Blue Devils Duke is an undefeated Power 4 team. They could be ranked higher if their showings were more impressive. But they’ve gotten the job done 4 games into the season.
24 Northwestern Wildcats While it’s likely Penn State was overhyped, the last two weeks of Northwestern football puts them in my top 25. Giving Penn State a historical beatdown and playing Indiana tight on the road shows me this team is better than expected.
25 SMU Mustangs The Louisville loss and close Florida State win will continue to age poorly. SMU gets a win, but doesn’t pass the eye test.

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