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Justanother_0 Ballot for 2026 Week 10

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 1, 2026, 8:49 a.m.

Overall Rationale: I only consider the top half of each Power Four conference (plus the independents if they perform well enough), along with who I believe to be the best teams from the Group of Six in that given week. I then sort the teams by conference, ranking each team from best to worst within their own conference. The best of the G6 are all grouped into the same set for determining who the best among them are. The independents are also sorted into their own group as well. Finally, I use the six groups made (four P4 conference top 8's, 1 group for the best of the G6, 1 group for the independents) to create the top 25. Any teams absent that I think need explanation will be talked about in the [Notable Omissions] category below.

This is a resume first ballot. While the general vibes of a team are somewhat considered. What a team has accomplished matters more than their talent profile or their coaching staff (not to say that a team’s other stats or intangibles are irrelevant).

With it being November, this ballot reflects the ballot I would cast if I were on the CFP committee. 3 Loss teams will be barred from the top 12 unless there are no more 2 loss P4 teams to put in there, and 4 loss teams are similarly barred from the top 25.

Notable Omissions:

[Tennessee] is one of the weaker 2-loss teams in the nation. They've got a great defense, but that offense and playcalling is why they lost to Texas and SCar. They probably aren't done losing with Kentucky coming to town.

[Duke] was my 4th best ACC team, but their resume is too weak to put them into the list.

[Oklahoma State] had a night game in Ames, knocking them out of the top 25.

[Oregon] is clawing their way out of the hole they've dug themselves, but they've still got a ways to go before getting ranked.

[Memphis] is a blown halftime lead against Boise and a handful of turnovers against Tulane away from being in my top ten. No, I am not kidding.


Conference Representation:

ACC: 3

XII: 5

B1G: 5

SEC: 7

PAC 12: 1

MW: 1

American: 1

Go listen to some Unprocessed.

Thank you for reading!

Rank Team Reason
1 Miami Hurricanes Between them and Utah, the Canes have a tougher schedule, giving them the edge for the 1 seed.
2 Utah Utes Win over Houston, but nothing else really worth noting on this resume
3 UCLA Bruins Weakest resume of undefeated teams, but still undefeated.
4 Georgia Bulldogs One Auburn win away from being #1, especially after lockering Florida.
5 Texas Tech Red Raiders Bad loss to Cincinnati, but two wins over quality opponents in Houston and Arizona
6 Kentucky Wildcats Rough loss to Alabama, confident wins elsewhere and vying for the top spot of the SEC.
7 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Tough loss to Miami, blowout wins everywhere else.
8 Indiana Hoosiers These guys don't have an offense, but that defense is nasty. One Ohio State win away from the top 3.
9 BYU Cougars Beat Utah, then we'll talk...
10 Alabama Crimson Tide Back to Back losses, but against quality opponents and a win over Kentucky.
11 Ohio State Buckeyes The Indiana win is saving them here, but Ohio State will be lucky to even be ranked come December if the same team that showed up against USC shows up for the remainder of their games.
12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Lost their toughest game, but they narrowly make the top 12 due to their wins over UNC and Wisconsin looking better than expected at seasons outset. One Miami loss away from getting knocked out of the playoff race entirely in my eyes though...
13 Ole Miss Rebels Wins over Mizzou and LSU offset by losses to Texas and Florida
14 Houston Cougars Win over Oklahoma State keeping their heads above water in an otherwise unimpressive resume.
15 Boise State Broncos Best G6 team, but that Oregon loss was entirely avoidable.
16 Texas Longhorns Some amazing wins, but they've got some of the worst losses out of any 2 loss team in the P4
17 Missouri Tigers Best win is Florida, second best win is Kansas. Two losses doesn't help them either.
18 LSU Tigers Their best win is Mississippi State?
19 Iowa Hawkeyes Win over Wisconsin gets the Hawkeyes back into my ballot.
20 New Mexico Lobos Only one loss to Oklahoma. A very bad loss to be frank, but still an otherwise undefeated team with a win over NDSU.
21 Northwestern Wildcats Lost to Oregon and Indiana and a lack of marquee wins.
22 USC Trojans Win over Ohio State?! Otherwise lackluster resume.
23 UTSA Roadrunners Only one loss to Texas, but a weak American slate keeps them down a bit.
24 Arizona Wildcats Two losses to the class of the Big XII, but no marquee wins
25 Virginia Tech Hokies #3 in the ACC...

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