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Isthmus11 Ballot for 2026 Week 7

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 11, 2026, 11:55 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Most deserving with SoR as a top 2 blends on how I like to rank, with some eye test thrown in as well when teams are close
Especially early in the year, I care more about what I have seen from teams compared to how good I think you might secretly be

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs 6-0, Alabama maybe deserved to win this game with that blown PI call but either way the teams were neck and neck and I think Georgia and Bama both look like the "legit" Natty contenders in the SEC right now.
2 Miami Hurricanes 5-0, bye week
3 Indiana Hoosiers 6-0, really close game against Nebraska this week where the offense did not really look elite but the defense does. Hoover is good enough that I still think this team is a contender even if the offense is not quite the powerhouse they were last week. Nebraska is probably a top 25 team but I need to see them finally get over the hump and actually beat someone in the top half of the B10 before I give them full credit
4 Ohio State Buckeyes 6-0, destroyed a terrible Maryland team even if they did not cover. Really looking forward to the Indiana matchup next week
5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6-0, again destroyed a truly terrible Stanford team that might be the worst team in P4. The BYU game next week will be very telling as to how good this team really is when they play great/elite competition
6 BYU Cougars 5-0, beat a ISU team that is surprisingly decent. Not sure if they can get it done against ND next week but I think its going to be a very close game
7 Alabama Crimson Tide 5-1, lost to Georgia but maybe deserved to win. This team is a potential natty contender once again
8 Texas Longhorns 4-1, finally lost the close game against OK instead of pulling out the miracle win. This defense is elite, Arch needs to play better (and I do not know if he can) for this team to be a legit natty contender. This Oklahoma team is not good and I do not think Tennessee was either, more and more I think the OSU win was more about them collapsing than Texas playing well on offense
9 Texas Tech Red Raiders 5-0, bye week, not much to add to this team still very much in wait and see mode
10 Iowa Hawkeyes 5-1, this is officially the top line on teams that I think can actually win a Natty. This team is good, they could do some damage and make it into the playoffs, I don't think their ceiling is higher than that. Washington is decent and they won convincingly but they were not that competitive against OSU
11 Utah Utes 5-0, beat a decent Kansas team and I think they can beat Tech or BYU but its not likely that they will
12 Ole Miss Rebels 4-1, beat the crap out of a terrible Vandy team so I am back to thinking this is a solid top 15 team but not much better than that. This Circle of Suck in the higher end of the SEC has me confused on how good teams truly are but I still think Ole Miss is the "best of the rest" of those teams
13 Kentucky Wildcats 5-1, hilarious to me that LSU played this team as tight as SCaR did last week. Kentucky deserves a lot of credit for finding ways to win these games but I do not think this team is talented enough to maintain this ranking through SEC play
14 USC Trojans 6-1, this team actually showed up to play at PSU this week. PSUs offense was actually functional and this USC offense was able to be more efficient across the entire game and just picked the PSU defense apart even when they decided to not give up 400 yd rushing this week. When they show how talented they are this team is scary, I still think they are inconsistent enough that they will probably drop another game or two that they should not
15 LSU Tigers 4-2, close loss to a Kentucky team that I believe is much improved from previous years but even still with how much this coach and roster costs this is a game that they simply cannot be losing. This team is really talented but they are borderline out of the playoffs already with MSST, Bama, Texas still to play and the wheels might fall off in Baton Rouge by the end of this season. Lane Kiffin might be the most unlikable coach in the FBS which is hilarious since the guy who held that title previously was clearly Brian Kelly
16 UCLA Bruins 5-0, huge win against Oregon at Autzen. The defense was swarming the ball carrier and truly looks elite, the offense was doing enough even with their backup QB to win even when Oregon finally moved off of Raiola. I am not sure if they will beat USC but I do think its possible, unfortunately Indiana and OSU probably still handily beat this team as they are just not that talented yet. This program has a real future though
17 Mississippi State Bulldogs 4-1, bye week, this team is fun and a nice story but I am not sure how they will hold up through SEC play
18 Northwestern Wildcats 4-1, dismembered a not very good Ball State team this week which does not really add much as a data point but I still think this team is better than a lot of people give them credit for. An offense of smarter than average P4 players with Chip Kelly as OC makes for a very fun gameplan to watch play out. I think this team is going to have a pretty clear identity on being good enough to simply outsmart a lot of opponents offensively
19 Oklahoma State Cowboys 4-1, I have not been able to get over that Tulsa loss and it might be funny to finally rank this team as I also unrank Oregon who is still clearly their best win, but they have looked really solid through B12 play so far and Mestemaker looks like a real deal R1 NFL prospect at QB. I do not think the rest of the team is talented enough to win games against other top B12 teams but I would be happy to be wrong
20 Missouri Tigers 5-1, I guess I have to give this team some credit even though I still do not think they are that good, I also did not think they would beat TAMU that badly
21 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 5-1, I am going to be shocked if this team remains unranked as I realize NC State is not great but they beat them soundly and both Purdue and Louisville are decent wins and they did not lose horribly to a really good Miami team. I do not get why this team is not considered top 25
22 Tennessee Volunteers 5-1, if I could justify unranking this team I would. Heupul's post game speech in the locker room is insane to me, they almost lost a game to Arkansas and he is in there talking about how "there only job is to be the best team on the field and thats what we did" and celebrating with the team. That is laughable, this team is a clown show
23 Boise State Broncos 5-1, they have now beat a few G6 teams that either won against or at least played close to other P4 teams. I do not think this is a team that is as good as it was the last few years but they still seem like the best of the G6 teams
24 Houston Cougars 5-1, easily handled a solid K-State team so I think this team deserves to be back in the top 25
25 Nebraska Cornhuskers 5-1, this team really should have won that game against Indiana. The defense in particular played really well and the QB had a ton of gutsy runs. This team barely skirts into my top 25 because I do not like anyone else more, but they really need to finally prove that they can beat a top team in the B10 soon. Winning against Oregon would count in my opinion with the talent they have even though I knocked them outside of my top 25

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