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HieloLuz Ballot for 2026 Week 8

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Oct. 18, 2026, 7:42 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Use a computer poll to sort teams into buckets. From there compare the teams within each bucket almost exclusively quality wins + losses (and Head to Head if applicable). For the teams not ranked that you would except based on the AP poll, my previous polls, and drops (I rank the top 30-40 manually, after that its just computer rankings):

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Next 5: LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Missouri

-LSU (computer-22): LSU is a strange team. They have 2 almost quality wins over Clemson and Mississippi State, and their losses are both really good. A win over Auburn will see them top 20, maybe top 10 if those almost quality wins can get back to that tier.
-Mississippi State (computer-40): Back to back blowout losses are really bad, and unlike Florida, they only have 1 quality win to make up for it.
-Oklahoma State (computer-34): Loss to Houston is okay, but that Tulsa loss is going to weigh this team down going forward. The win over Oregon is great, but it's all they have right now.
-Wake Forest (computer-24): Wake Forest still lacks a quality win, and has two close games against bad teams.
-Missouri (computer-35): What's with the SEC and blowing each other out? Missouri has the quality win over Florida, but getting swept by the state of Mississippi isn't great.

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Drops: Mississippi State (10), Missouri (13), Oklahoma State (19), Nebraska (23)

-Nebraska (computer-32): 2 losses, and no quality wins can't be ranked right now. If I kept manually ranking teams they'd probably be >40.

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Other teams of note:

-SMU (computer- 27): Not really sure why SMU is ranked at all. Their loss to Louisville is bad, and their best win is surviving Florida State. They've also had very close games against Missouri State and Boston College
-New Mexico (computer- 37): Stays at 37 computer this week after surviving Hawaii. Excited to see what this team can do down the stretch. No quality wins, but their loss to Oklahoma showed they can compete with this tier of competition.
-Oregon State (computer-30): The 2 losses keep them unranked for now, but both losses are top 5 now. No quality wins, but close losses against Houston and Texas Tech won't hurt them a ton down the stretch.
-UTSA (computer-31): UTSA continues a slow rise, and survives another week. But the only win all year that hasn't been close was against UTRGV, every FBS win was very touch and go. Impressive to keep winning them, but sketchy.
-Liberty (computer-29): The loss to JMU is okay, but their best win is Delaware, who is 2-4, and 118 in the computer. They have some real games coming up, but a single loss will send them tumbling (and JMU with them).

Rank Team Reason
1 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech and BYU are the clear top 2 right now, and they are very close, but Texas Tech's win @Houston is better than BYU over Notre Dame. Texas Tech also has a quality win over Oregon State.
2 BYU Cougars See Texas Tech, also has quality win over Arizona

End of bucket A, clearly great undefeated teams.
Bucket B ↓
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Bucket B consists of the teams with 1 loss but 2 quality wins, and the remaining undefeated P4 teams.

Ohio State has an argument for the best quality wins of any team, with wins over Indiana and Iowa. But they have the loss to Texas, which is still a fine loss, but has taken a hit.
4 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana drops 2 spots after the loss to Ohio State. But they still have quality wins over Northwestern and Nebraska, both fringe top 25 teams.
5 Houston Cougars Houston rockets to the top 5 after their big win over Oklahoma State. They have another quality win over Oregon State. The very close loss to Texas Tech isn't holding them back right now.
6 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee has quality wins over Auburn and Alabama, and their only loss is a very close one to Texas. Their wins feel
7 Miami Hurricanes Miami only has 1 quality win, over Wake Forest. The ACC is looking really weak this year, and that will hurt Miami a lot if they drop a game. They stay behind a group of 1 loss teams because their schedule has been so weak.
8 UCLA Bruins UCLA stays undefeated, and has 1 quality win over Oregon. The win is better than Miami's, however they had 3 close games against bad teams to start the year which will hold them down still.
9 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss rounds out Bucket B. They come in last due to having the weakest wins of the teams with a loss, with their wins over LSU and Missouri. The blowout over Missouri is great, but the blowout loss from is by far the worst loss of the bucket.

Bucket C ↓
10 Georgia Bulldogs Bucket C is a hodgepodge group of the teams with only 1 quality win and 1 loss, and those with 2 or 3 quality wins but 2 losses (and holds most of the SEC shitshow)

Georgia launched to the #1 spot from #23 for finally picking up a quality win over Alabama, but the loss to Auburn sends them tumbling down. Best win of the bucket gets them the top spot.
11 Utah Utes Utah still lacks a quality win, and their opponent win % of 39% is among the worst in the country. But they are undefeated still and have mostly taken care of business.
12 Oregon Ducks I stood by my ranking of Oregon last week, and I will again, but wow this team looks awful. They have quality wins over Boise, USC, and Nebraska. And their 2 losses to Oklahoma State and UCLA are among best of all 2 loss teams.
13 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky has a quality win over LSU, but the blowout loss to Alabama is rough, and another game that comes down to the wire doesn't inspire confidence. But I still feel like they deserve this above the teams who have just lost those close games.
14 James Madison Dukes Undefeated still, and the lowest ranked undefeated team. Only quality win is Liberty, and they have no opportunity for another until the Sun Belt championship game, maybe.
15 Florida Gators Florida has to be the most bipolar team this year. They may have the best set of wins this year, beating Auburn, Ole Miss, and Texas. But they got ran out of the stadium by Missouri and South Carolina. Honestly could be much lower, but I respect Head to Head within the same bucket as much as possible.
16 Texas Longhorns Texas has among the best wins in the country, with quality wins over Ohio State, Tennessee, and UTSA. But the back to back losses to Oklahoma and Florida are rough. The Ohio State win is the only thing saving their playoff dreams.
17 Auburn Tigers Auburn is the lowest of the 2 loss teams since they only have 2 quality wins, over Georgia and Baylor, with 2 losses to Florida and Tennessee. They remain behind Georgia despite being in the same bucket partially due to the circular nature of the SEC head to head that has to be broken somewhere, and prioritizing comparing them to the closest in resume which are Texas and Florida.

Bucket D ↓
18 Alabama Crimson Tide Bucket D is the remaining teams with quality wins that deserve to be ranked.

Alabama only has one quality win, over Kentucky, and losses to Georgia and Tennessee. The win is by far the best of any remaining teams, and the losses aren't bad by any means, but its still 2 losses.
19 North Dakota State Bison NDSU jumps back into the rankings, mostly due to other teams losing, but Air Force continues to look good and is a quality win for them. The loss to UNLV hurts but looks better after their win.
20 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa is back because Michigan finds their way back to a quality win. But its the worst win of the bucket, and the blowout loss to Ohio State doesn't look good.

Bucket E ↓
21 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Bucket E is the beginning of the teams without a quality win.

Notre Dame may have been cheated out of one more play @BYU, and the loss itself won't hold them back that much. But they lack any quality wins due to Wisconsin dropping from that distinction.
22 Arizona Wildcats Arizona has a close loss to BYU, and that's about all they have to show right now. But it's tied with Notre Dame for the best loss of the bucket, but Notre Dame played them a bit closer.
23 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern had 1 quality win over South Dakota State (I consider the top 2 FCS teams as quality wins), but they lost in a not very close game, and here they are. The close loss to Indiana still looks good. They are behind Boise State because Boise has played a more difficult schedule. Northwestern's FBS Opp Win% is only 44%
24 Boise State Broncos Boise loses their quality win thanks to Memphis blowing their own playoff chances. The loss to Oregon is a fine loss but they'll be hovering around here without many more chances for quality wins.
25 USC Trojans USC rejoins the rankings after the bye, the computer still loves them, placing them at 12 this week, but I can't rank them any higher without a quality win. The computer likes them because almost every team they've beaten is in the 50-80 range. They didn't play an FCS team nor a really bad FBS team.

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