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T-Thugs Ballot for 2026 Week 9

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Oct. 26, 2026, 9 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Each week I re-rank all teams based on their resumes so far.

Rank Team Reason
1 Miami Hurricanes Miami is undefeated with a nice win over Wake Forest (6-1). Also has wins over Pitt (5-3) and Clemson (4-3)
2 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State has only 1 loss and has a great win over Indiana (6-1, beat Northwestern). Also has a nice win over Iowa (5-2). Only loss is to Texas.
3 BYU Cougars BYU had a pretty big f up this week in a loss to UCF which sucks for them but they've still got a really great resume with two impressive wins over Notre Dame (6-1) and Arizona (6-1). I had them as my #1 team prior to the loss, and I think it would be a little silly to drop them too far. I'm not sure they're actually as good as this ranking though.
4 UCLA Bruins UCLA is undefeated with a good win over Wisconsin (5-2, beat USC)
5 Utah Utes Utah is undefeated with a nice win over Houston (6-2, beat Oklahoma St)
6 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky is 7-1 and leading the SEC (crazy times). They've got a really nice win over LSU (6-2) and also have wins over Oklahoma (4-3) and South Carolina (4-3)
7 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia is 6-1 and has a nice win over Alabama (6-2). They also have a win over Oklahoma (4-3). I think these guys are pretty good and might have them lower than they should be because they've actually played a fairly weak schedule so far.
8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame is 6-1 with a nice win over Wisconsin (5-2, beat USC). Also have a win over North Carolina (4-3). Tough loss to BYU. Have a big chance to shake up their position when they play Miami in two weeks.
9 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana is 6-1 with a nice win over Northwestern (6-1). Also beat Nebraska (5-2). I'm not a big believer in this team this year. They've squeaked by some pretty mediocre teams, including an overtime win over Michigan.
10 Arizona Wildcats Arizona is 6-1 with a nice win over Cincinnati (5-2, beat Texas Tech) and West Virginia (5-3). Only loss is to BYU.
11 Texas Longhorns Texas is a little tough to rank. They seem capable of beating basically anybody but also losing to maybe anybody. I've got them as my top 2 loss team because the wins are very impressive: Ohio State (6-1), Tennessee (6-2), and Ole Miss (5-2). That's quite the list of wins. They have losses to Florida and Oklahoma
12 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech is 6-1 with a nice win over Houston (5-2). Also beat Arizona State (4-3) and Oregon State (5-2)
13 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee is 6-2 with a very nice win over Alabama (6-2). Also beat Auburn (4-3). Losses to Texas and South Carolina
14 Alabama Crimson Tide Alabama is 6-2 with a nice win over Kentucky (7-1). Also beat South Carolina (4-3) and Mississippi State (4-3)
15 Florida Gators Florida is 5-2 with nice wins over Texas (5-2) and Ole Miss (5-2). Also beat auburn (4-3). lost to Missouri and South Carolina
16 Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss is 5-2 with wins over LSU (6-2) and Missouri (5-2). Lost to Florida and Texas
17 Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin is 5-2 with a nice win over USC (6-2). Lost to Notre Dame and UCLA
18 Houston Cougars Houston is 6-2 with a nice win over Oklahoma State (5-2). Also beat UCF (4-3) and Oregon State (5-2). Lost to texas tech and utah.
19 Missouri Tigers Missouri is 5-2 with a nice win over Florida. Also beat Texas a&M (4-4). Lost to Miss State and Ole Miss.
20 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati is 5-2 with a nice win over Texas Tech (6-1). Also beat Kansas State (4-3) lost to Arizona and West Virginia
21 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern is 6-1 but really lacks a quality win. Their best win is probably over Penn State (3-4). Played close in a loss to Indiana and that's doing a lot of work for them. Got a stretch here where they can prove if they belong higher, with games against Oregon, iowa, and Ohio State.
22 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Wake Forest is similar to Northwestern. They've got a nice 6-1 record, but also lacking any real quality wins. They beat Louisville who is 4-3 and lost to only Miami. Big showdown looming next month with SMU could have them in the ACC title game with a win.
23 SMU Mustangs SMU is another in the Northwestern/Wake mold. They're 6-1 and beat Virginia (4-4). Lost to Louisville. They've got the worst loss of these three and that's why I ranked them at the bottom of the grouping. Still have to play Wake Forest and ND so they could move up with wins in those.
24 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota is a weird team to rank. They've got some rough losses, getting blown out by Miss State and Purdue, but they're 5-2 and they have a really nice win over Iowa (5-2) who I was also considering to be ranked. Also beat Washington (4-3). They play Indiana next week and can really show if they deserve to be ranked (maybe higher) or if they dont belong in the rankings.
25 LSU Tigers LSU is probably a little underrated here if I was just guessing at how good they are, but their resume actually just isn't very good. They're 5-2 and their best wins are over Clemson (4-3), Auburn (4-3), and Mississippi State (4-3). One argument in their favor is they crushed those teams. I think they have the talent to compete with great teams. They've got a week off and then three straight chances to prove they belong higher with Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee.

Also considered for rankings: Oklahoma State, Iowa, Boise State, USC, Virginia Tech

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