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Rhizical Ballot for 2026 Week 8

Ballot Type: Computer

Submitted: Oct. 18, 2026, 9:05 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Oregon State and James Madison at 26 and 27

Model summary:
This ranking runs on the optimal transport problem. Teams gather "mass" by playing games (more when they win), to which the Sinkhorn algorithm is applied to find the most optimal way to move each team's mass into each ranking slot, considering strength of schedule and head to head results. Only FBS vs FBS games considered. Factors of assigning mass are estimated quality of opponent (win record*strength of schedule^3) and point margin (up to 17). The model is blind to all other factors (talent, conference, etc.).

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