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sgtshenanigans Ballot for 2026 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 11, 2026, 9:40 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 only rules that I have is that the champ is the champ until they lose. That being said I just don’t see Indiana beating Ohio State next week after sneaking past Nebraska this week.
2 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia won this game but there were some questionable officiating calls that if they had gone differently perhaps Alabama would have won. But a win is a win and Georgia survives and advances.
3 Miami Hurricanes Miami is on the bye week so not too much to say. Miami moves up one because of Texas losing.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State kicked down the doors against Maryland this would be more impressive if it was still September (kidding).
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Stanford stinks but even with some key players out for Notre Dame they still handle business easily. This game was basically over after Stanford’s first play from scrimmage. Offensive line for Notre Dame really feels like it is coming together and that is really showing up in the running game.
6 BYU Cougars BYU is the top team of the Big 12 log jam. None of these teams are world beaters but they all remain undefeated and there are vanishingly few undefeated teams at this point in the season. BYU gave up only 200 total yards defense seems strong.
7 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech gets the win over the bye week and moves up two thanks to losses from Texas and Alabama.
8 Utah Utes This week Utah let Kansas hang around until the fourth quarter before pulling away a bit. Utah doesn’t look super impressive but again they are undefeated and there just aren’t many undefeated teams left.
9 Alabama Crimson Tide Despite the Loss to Georgia Alabama only moves down one spot. Thanks to a close loss that could have been a win had the officials called an obvious defensive pass interference at the end of the game.
10 Texas Longhorns I know Texas and Oklahoma go all out for the Red River Shootout but Texas looks fraudulent when they are losing to Oklahoma. Arch Manning throws three touchdowns sure but also throws two devastating pics. Arch might still end up being the first pick of the NFL draft but I don’t think he’s that guy.
11 Ole Miss Rebels This is the spot where I want talk about the beautiful chaos that is college football. Nine of my top twenty-five teams from last week lost. Many of the teams that lost earned their second loss of the season. It seems there are about 5 elite teams and the rest is pure chaos this year. Ole Miss stays where they were last week because while they smoked Vanderbilt both their best win LSU and their “best” loss Florida both take their second loss. Still think Ole Miss is a bubble playoff team.
12 UCLA Bruins UCLA sneaks out of Autzen Stadium with the win. Would things have been different if Dante Moore was playing? Hard to say but Oregon lost and UCLA won. My sleeping on UCLA ends now. UCLA is the biggest benefactor from remaining undefeated while all of the other teams above them fall or look unimpressive in their wins.
13 USC Trojans USC beats a trash Penn State team. Jayen Maiava goes off for 300 yards passing three TDs and no picks. Add in a nice day for King Miller with 100 yards rushing. While I have to take off points for barely surviving against a bad team this game was on the road and it was the annual Penn State white out game so maybe I shouldn't be too hard on USC
14 James Madison Dukes The Dukes barely beats Georgia Southern. James Madison is undefeated and their best win Liberty also won this week helping buoy them over the other teams that lost this week or looked otherwise unimpressive. However I cannot move them up, they remain stationary this week.
15 Tennessee Volunteers The Volunteers managed to make this a close game against possibly the worst team in the SEC Arkansas. I don't think Tennessee has a legitimate QB. It feels obvious that Tennessee is fraudulent (at least offensively) but I'm not too sure there are many teams at this point that are true contenders for the playoffs.
16 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa crushes Washington this game was never all that close but Iowa did let Washington score three touchdowns in the second half. Still solid road win for Iowa after they traveled out to the left coast.
17 Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State moves up five after beating bye. But seriously both Missouri and South Carolina get solid wins this week and Alabama's loss wasn't so bad as losses go. So with quite a few teams above them losing the Bulldogs come out on top.
18 Missouri Tigers Well the Florida win doesn't look anywhere near as impressive as it did last week but with a win against a pathetic Texas A&M and chaos going down in front of them Darth Missou has finished constructing their death star and are set up for a show down with the Rebels (of Ole Miss) next week.
19 Houston Cougars Houston routes Kansas state and a bunch of teams around them fall helping the Cougs jump five spots. Houston has only one very close loss to Texas Tech this season.
20 Kentucky Wildcats The Cardiac cats another week another win in overtime winning by one point 35 to 34. Yes all of that has happened twice in a row maybe instead of cardiac cats they are the copy cats. Either way Kentucky jumps into my rankings for the first time this year, Fun!
21 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern beat Penn State but that's not the accolade people thought it was at the time. As of now the best result for Northwester is a close loss against Indiana which might also not be that great of an accolade I guess we will see. I'm ranking Northwestern here but I don't feel great about it.
22 Wisconsin Badgers Another team that got to watch the chaos while hanging out at home. Only loss on the season is to Notre Dame but no signature wins this season so far. That could change over the next three weeks with games against UCLA, USC, and Iowa
23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest rolls easily against NC State. However, another team who's best result is being competitive against a top 5 team. The win against Louisville doesn't feel that impressive and none of their other wins are worth writing home about. Still we are at a point in the season where only having one loss isn't so bad.
24 Boise State Broncos Broncos make my top 25 for the first time this year. Fresno state kept it close for a while until ultimately won it. The loss to Oregon continues to look worse however the Broncos have been handling business all season after that.
25 Oklahoma State Cowboys I still think the AP and the Reddit poll is over rating OK state. The loss to Tulsa looks worse after Tulsa loses again this week. And the win against Oregon looks worse after they take their second loss. However, the Cowboys win their 4th in a row and benefit from all the chaos in front of them.

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