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ResearchFlaky5912 Ballot for 2026 Week 8

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 18, 2026, 9:42 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Dropped out: Nebraska ; Oklahoma St ; USC
Honorable Mentions: Boise St ; all dropped out teams

Weird ballot because of the chaos this week. A lot of teams lost some places after wins. Big Ten as a whole looks a little worse as the middle appears to be falling out (Penn St is simply terrible, hurting a few teams, Michigan is similarly terrible. Northwestern barely beats Mich St and Oregon and Nebraska were both trying to lose). I know it's a meme but the SEC does look really deep this year. Before saying Texas just sucks, remember they beat Ohio St and Tennessee (can't both be flukes). Big 12 on the up and up. BYU looks good against a great ND while Miami barely beats a bad Florida St, leading to a surprise number 1.

Rank Team Reason
1 BYU Cougars Close win, but a win nonetheless over (now #4) ND. Only Miami could arguably be #1 (should be an undefeated) but they needed two overtimes to beat an under .500 Florida St team. #1 BYU is real.
2 Miami Hurricanes Undefeated, mostly dominant team. Needed 2OT to beat FSU, keeping them from #1 for now.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Despite losing to Texas, a win over Indiana accompanied by dominant wins elsewhere has them back in the top 3. Alabama and Georgia shitting the bed also contributed to their rise.
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Loss away to the now #1 team. Beat everyone else they played by double digits. No reason to think they should be lower than #4 for now.
5 Texas Tech Red Raiders Undefeated with a convincing win over Arizona St. Also, the win over Houston keeps looking better and better, with Houston beating OKST (albeit at home by 3).
6 Tennessee Volunteers Beating Alabama helps them vault to just outside the top 5. My top-rated SEC team. Only loss is to Texas, while having wins over Auburn (#23) and Alabama (#12).
7 Indiana Hoosiers Loss to Ohio St hurts them. Nebraska and Northwestern looking bad hurts them. Weakness of their schedule outside of Ohio St might hurt them. None of their wins justify putting them over Tennesee.
8 Utah Utes Undefeated but has not dominated the competition to the level you would expect of a top 5 team. Struggled against Colorado of all teams Saturday.
9 UCLA Bruins Ascends after beating a (previously) one-loss Wisconsin in a close-ish one. Also benefits from Georgia, Alabama, and Texas all losing.
10 Ole Miss Rebels The loss to Florida is still terrible, but it is nowhere near as bad now that they also beat Texas (albeit by less). Ole Miss was coming off of a highly emotional game the prior week. Rewarded for dominating a rival while other teams fall out in front of them. Also, wins over #14 and #20.
11 Georgia Bulldogs The loss to Auburn is worse than a loss to Florida, and 3 point win over Alabama ~might~ not be as good as a dominant win over Mississippi St or 8 point win over LSU. So, Georgia site behind Ole Miss. Still, the loss was to a now-ranked team, and they did still beat 'Bama.
12 Alabama Crimson Tide Close loss to Georgia places them just behind. Dominant win over Kentucky, just below them, but a pretty bad loss to now #6 Tennessee. Highest ranked two-loss team.
13 Kentucky Wildcats Blowout loss to Alabama denies their ascent any higher, despite it being their singular loss. OT win over LSU places them just above LSU.
14 LSU Tigers Daylight enters the conversation between LSU and Ole Miss as the latter ascends from a convincing victory and some vindication on their sole loss. LSU being upper bound by its losses. The second two-loss team.
15 Texas Longhorns While this may seem high for a team that has struggled so much, it would be foolish to forget that they beat both #3 and #6. Wins-wise, that's the best resume in the country. Unfortunately, they have two rough losses, holding them back. But I do not think some precipitous fall is warranted given their huge wins.
16 Arizona Wildcats Moves up 2 since the Big 12 looks a bit deeper than the Big 10 this year. WVU winning boosts Arizona's resume.
17 Houston Cougars Win over a (previously) ranked OKST shores up the resume a bit. TTU surging into top 5 softens the losses also. Again, Big 12 in general on the rise.
18 Iowa Hawkeyes Big slide on the bye as the middle-of-the-poll reshuffling pushes them down. Big 10 as a whole down a bit as it seems that the floor has fallen out.
19 Northwestern Wildcats Big slide on the win as they struggle to put away a bad team. Again, Big 10 looking shaky after the top two.
20 Mississippi State Bulldogs Not much of a slide after a crushing loss because, well, who would go above them? Florida's loss to SCAR is certainly worse, Auburn lost to Florida, Oregon's best win is USC or Nebraska (neither of which are ranked now). At least their losses are to #10 and #12.
21 Missouri Tigers Upper bound is Mississippi St for now. Also, similar-sized loss to a similar-ranked team implies that they should stick together. Big win over Florida keeps them in front of the Gators.
22 Florida Gators Loss to Missouri limits them. Wins over #15 and #10 are an impressive resume, but the additional loss to SCAR really stings. Enough to bounce back into the poll, but not enough to break into top 20.
23 Auburn Tigers Losses to #22 and #6 while possessing a win over #11. Better marquee win than Oregon and not-as-bad losses when considered as a whole.
24 Oregon Ducks OKST and Nebraska just barely miss the poll after losses and USC falls due to general Big 10 weakness. That hits both wins and one loss of Oregon's. Bit of a slide despite a win, both due to those factors and general Big 10 shakiness.
25 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Who have they beaten? Not really anyone, but at least they showed that they can dominate a bad team in Cal. Benefitting from Big 10 weakness (dead horse) to get ahead of USC and Nebraska. Plus the ACC probably "deserves" a second ranked team.

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