IceColdDrPepper_Here Ballot for 2026 Week 6
Ballot Type: Human
Submitted: Oct. 5, 2026, 11:26 a.m.
Overall Rationale: Out: SMU, Kentucky
In: Missouri, Nebraska
Turns our there’s still levels to the SEC as Miss St’s Cinderella run crashes face first into the brick wall that is Alabama. Given Mizzou's domination over Florida, the entire mid-pack of the SEC has been dropped down out of the playoff for now. There will be opportunities to move back up, but with 5 teams at 4-1 with losses all mainly to each other, I can't comfortably put them any higher. Kentucky also struggles against a bad South Carolina team that blew yet another 17 point lead. SMU unfortunately drops to make room for others.
Missouri adds a whole new wrench into the middle of the SEC race, leaving 3 clear cut contenders and 4 teams who all have beaten each other with Mizzou being the latest to win.
I wish I could add Northwestern and Pitt, but there just isn’t enough space for everyone. This year there are about 7 clear cut contenders, another 7 or 8 probable playoff teams, and then a complete crapshoot behind them
| Rank | Team | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
Not the prettiest win over Vandy, particularly on defense, but they got it done on the arm of Gunner Stockton and a much cleaner defensive 2nd half. First real test comes this Saturday in Tuscaloosa |
| 2 |
Texas Longhorns
|
Texas had better dominate this Oklahoma game, otherwise I'm going to start having some real doubts about how far this team can actually go |
| 3 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
Remember those Saban teams where you went in thinking maybe they could get upset and then Bama’s up 40 before the old SEC on CBS music is over? Yeah that’s how this game felt. DeBoer’s got an absolute contender this year and a colossal matchup against Georgia on deck |
| 4 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
|
| 5 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
ND didn’t play great against UNC and I am dropping them behind Bama and Miami for now as they played better this weekend |
| 6 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
|
| 7 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
Ohio State is always going to be good, but I do wonder what happens when Jeremiah Smith isn’t getting 200 yards a game. We saw a glimpse of it in the 2nd half against Texas where they went straight man and brought consistent pressure against Sayin, and we saw their offense sputter hard. If a team can stop, or at least limit, #4 they can beat the Buckeyes. But that’s obviously easier said than done. |
| 8 |
BYU Cougars
|
|
| 9 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
|
| 10 |
Utah Utes
|
|
| 11 |
Oklahoma State Cowboys
|
|
| 12 |
Oregon Ducks
|
|
| 13 |
UCLA Bruins
|
|
| 14 |
Missouri Tigers
|
I mentioned in my overall rationale that Mizzou now holds the upper middle class of the SEC belt. Are any of these next 5 teams playoff worthy? Guess we’ll find out |
| 15 |
Florida Gators
|
Talk about snapping back to reality and saying ope there goes gravity. I’m curious whether this or the Ole Miss game will prove to be a bigger outlier |
| 16 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
Ole Miss’s resume has taken probably the biggest hit of any team in the country. Louisville sucks, LSU’s one decent win over Clemson carries as much weight now as their other buy game results, and now Florida just got demolished by Ole Miss’s ex QB in Austin Simmons |
| 17 |
LSU Tigers
|
As I mentioned in the Ole Miss comments, the bad news is that LSU’s win over Clemson now looks as impressive as their win over McNeese. The good news is that not everyone else in the conference is going to be treating their games as their season's Super Bowl like Ole Miss was so they will have some chances to clearly establish themselves as on the same level as the top 3 SEC teams |
| 18 |
Mississippi State Bulldogs
|
Well that sucked. Miss St had a magical run to start the year and even if they had lost close, I think people would feel better. But instead they got buzzsawed by Bama. I do try to take head to head into account, but that would mean I have to move Miss St up for getting blown out to stay ahead of Mizzou, who just turned in a very impressive performance |
| 19 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
Tennessee seems to be the most obviously weak of the mid-tier SEC teams. They're a solid bowl team but I have serious reservations on calling them playoff hopefuls, let alone contenders |
| 20 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
|
| 21 |
Houston Cougars
|
|
| 22 |
Boise State Broncos
|
|
| 23 |
Duke Blue Devils
|
|
| 24 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
|
| 25 |
Nebraska Cornhuskers
|
Teams Ranked:
| Rank | Team | Unusualness |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Georgia Bulldogs
|
0.12 |
| 2 |
Texas Longhorns
|
0.00 |
| 3 |
Alabama Crimson Tide
|
0.00 |
| 4 |
Miami Hurricanes
|
0.00 |
| 5 |
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
|
0.00 |
| 6 |
Indiana Hoosiers
|
0.00 |
| 7 |
Ohio State Buckeyes
|
0.00 |
| 8 |
BYU Cougars
|
0.00 |
| 9 |
Texas Tech Red Raiders
|
0.00 |
| 10 |
Utah Utes
|
0.00 |
| 11 |
Oklahoma State Cowboys
|
1.80 |
| 12 |
Oregon Ducks
|
0.05 |
| 13 |
UCLA Bruins
|
0.06 |
| 14 |
Missouri Tigers
|
0.00 |
| 15 |
Florida Gators
|
0.00 |
| 16 |
Ole Miss Rebels
|
0.00 |
| 17 |
LSU Tigers
|
0.00 |
| 18 |
Mississippi State Bulldogs
|
0.00 |
| 19 |
Tennessee Volunteers
|
0.00 |
| 20 |
Iowa Hawkeyes
|
0.00 |
| 21 |
Houston Cougars
|
0.00 |
| 22 |
Boise State Broncos
|
0.00 |
| 23 |
Duke Blue Devils
|
0.00 |
| 24 |
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
0.00 |
| 25 |
Nebraska Cornhuskers
|
-0.04 |
Pittsburgh Panthers
USC Trojans