Back to poll results >>

KevinDoesSports Ballot for 2026 Week 9

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 25, 2026, 9:30 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Head-to-head matchups, strength of schedule, point margins

Rank Team Reason
1 Ohio State Buckeyes Still my number 1. I can't put Miami ahead of them yet until they play someone real. Only blemish on OSU's record is the loss to Texas but I can get past that.
2 Miami Hurricanes Undefeated, could be #1 but they need to play someone real and not almost lose to Florida State.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Irish move forward by default because of BYU's loss. Notre Dame did just barley lose that game and it was a controversial finish, so I'll keep them #3.
4 Georgia Bulldogs I still think the Bulldogs are really good despite the loss to Auburn. They beat Alabama so I keep them ahead of the Tide for now.
5 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana survived a close game against another Big 10 team. But the fact of the matter is that Indiana should've beat Ohio State, and they have also beat Nebraska and Northwestern, keep them top 5.
6 BYU Cougars A big upset against UCF (which I predicted) but BYU still beat Notre Dame. Every top team has their mistake and this was BYU's, but they can't let it happen again as they face Utah in a couple weeks.
7 Utah Utes The undefeated Utes survived their first test of the year. Houston is a good team and Utah still won by a touchdown.
8 UCLA Bruins The Bruins are still undefeated. Wins against Wisconsin and Oregon have proven that they are legit. They are easily top 10 right now.
9 Alabama Crimson Tide A rough couple of weeks but they've made a good recovery against Texas A&M. I maybe had them ranked a little two high last week but they do have two losses which makes it difficult to keep them top 10. But, I do think they are better than everyone else higher in the rankings so I keep them here.
10 Kentucky Wildcats I didn't believe in Kentucky before but now looking at it, they could win the SEC championship. They have a tough next couple of games against Florida and Tennessee, but if they can survive that, they will prove they are top 10.
11 Ole Miss Rebels Second loss of the year to Texas, who I had unranked coming into this week. Texas had just come off losing to unranked teams, so not a good look for Ole Miss. They still have wins against Louisville and LSU, but they keep looking worse every week.
12 LSU Tigers The Tigers have two losses to two good teams. Since Kentucky, they've cleaned up and looked pretty good. The SEC is confusing, keep them #12.
13 Tennessee Volunteers I don't know how South Carolina keeps doing this (and no, I'm not ranking South Carolina), but they have upset Tennessee. Tennessee still has a win against Alabama and almost beat Texas. I was hesitant at putting them here, but it's the only place that makes sense for them.
14 Texas Longhorns I had unranked Texas entirely last week, that might've been an overreaction. Yes, they have two losses to unranked teams. But, they also have wins against Ole Miss, Ohio State, and Tennessee. If Arch Manning is truly back to form, I could see them rising back in weeks to come.
15 Texas Tech Red Raiders A multi-score loss to Cincinnati, not good. Texas Tech did beat Houston though, I think that is important. They'll have an important game next week against Arizona.
16 Houston Cougars I still like this Houston team. Loses to both Tech and Utah is bad, but they did beat a good Oklahoma State team.
17 Northwestern Wildcats I really like this Northwestern team. I put them above Boise State because they've had a harder schedule.
18 Boise State Broncos Boise State has risen, not because of what they did, but because everyone else is losing and they're not. Which is saying something, even if it's against Mountain-West teams. I will put them below Northwestern, because they're wins against Big 10 teams are more impressive.
19 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Their only loss is to Miami, who is clearly pretty good. One of the better teams in the ACC.
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys I don't know why everyone has unranked Oklahoma State. Yes they lost to Houston, but Houston is clearly pretty good. I like this team still, especially after the big win against Colorado.
21 Arizona Wildcats Arizona has quickly ascended to knocking on the top 20. Another big win against a conference team and now they have a huge game against Texas Tech.
22 SMU Mustangs SMU has recovered after their loss earlier in the year to Louisville. They have looked pretty good to me and they stay ranked.
23 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa just lost a big game to Minnesota. I do think Minnesota is a good team (but not quite ranked). I'll keep Iowa ranked after this loss because they have still shown me a lot, especially defensively. Keep them ranked.
24 Wisconsin Badgers The Badgers have two losses to top 10 teams. Outside of that, they've been really good. The beat USC and it wasn't even really close. It's time we all wake up and rank Wisconsin.
25 Florida Gators I'll be honest. I didn't want to rank them. You can't lose to both South Carolina and Missouri the way they did. But with JMU's loss, I think I have to. It's simply that they are better than all the other unranked teams, and they still did beat both Ole Miss and Texas.

DROPPED: Oregon, USC, JMU

Back to poll results >>