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HieloLuz Ballot for 2026 Week 10

Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Nov. 1, 2026, 4:29 p.m.

Overall Rationale: Use a computer poll to sort teams into buckets. From there compare the teams within each bucket almost exclusively quality wins + losses (and Head to Head if applicable). For the teams not ranked that you would except based on the AP poll, my previous polls, and drops (I rank the top 30-40 manually, after that its just computer rankings):

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Next 5: Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, Minnesota, Cincinnati

-Missouri (computer- 26): Missouri has a quality win over Florida, but has 2 bad losses in Mississippi State and a blowout from Ole Miss.
-South Carolina (computer- 31): Really tough to rank any 3 loss team right now. Has Quality wins over Florida and Tennessee, but their losses, including a bad one to Mississippi State, are holding them back.
-Florida (computer- 30): They have wins over Texas and Ole Miss, but its not enough to outweigh the losses.
-Minnesota (computer- 56): They get up this high because they are one of a few teams with 2 quality wins left, with theirs over Michigan and Iowa. But 3 losses, including 2 bad ones to Mississippi State and Purdue will keep them unranked for some time.
-Cincinnati (computer- 39): Has a standout win over Texas Tech, but that doesn't outweigh 3 losses.

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Drops: Florida (13), Wisconsin (20), Northwestern (22), Cincinnati (23), SMU (24), Oklahoma State (25)


-Wisconsin (computer- 43): Still has a quality win over USC, but blowout losses to Notre Dame, UCLA, and Iowa are brutal, even if all 3 teams are ranked.
-Northwestern (computer- 27): The only thing Northwestern had going for it was the 1 in the loss column. Their best win is Penn State, and they don't get to be ranked without a quality win.
-SMU (computer- 40): They got ranked last week despite lacking any quality wins, because just like Northwestern they had a 1 in the loss column. Their losses to Louisville and Syracuse are really bad, and short of a 10-2 finish I doubt they get ranked again.
-Oklahoma State (computer- 38): They have that win over Oregon still, but bad losses to Tulsa and Iowa State are very bad.

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Other teams of note:

-Louisville (computer- 37): They have a quality win over SMU, but the 3 losses, including one to NC State are rough.
-Virginia Tech (computer- 54): I get why they are receiving votes, they are 6-2 as a P4 team, but their best wins are Clemson and Boston College, both of which they were losing in the 4th at some point. And the losses to Pitt and Cal are brutally bad.
-Duke (computer- 41): Just like VTech, they are recieving votes since they are 6-2 as a P4 team, but also just like VTech, they shouldn't be. Their best wins are Illinois and Boston College, though Boston College wasn't close. But they also have brutally bad losses to UNC and Georgia Tech.
-Liberty (computer- 16): They finally beat a team that isn't bottom 20 in the FBS. But until they beat a team with a pulse they have no right to be ranked. Especially with JMU falling off, that loss looks pretty bad now.

Rank Team Reason
1 Utah Utes Utah has quality wins over Houston and Cincinnati, which are the best wins of the 3 remaining undefeated teams.
2 UCLA Bruins UCLA also has 2 quality wins, over Oregon and Wisconsin, which are better than what Miami has.
3 Miami Hurricanes Miami only has 1 quality win, over Wake Forest.

Bucket B ↓
4 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana is one of 3 teams with 4 quality wins, theirs over North Texas, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan. None of them are standout wins, but wins are wins and it puts them as the top team with a loss.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide Two quality wins over Kentucky and South Carolina are enough to be the highest ranked 2 loss team, with both losses being close to good teams.
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State has a very similar resume to Alabama, with wins over Indiana and Iowa, and losses to a pair of good teams, but their loss to USC wasn't close which gives Bama the edge this week.
7 Texas Tech Red Raiders Quality wins over Oregon State, Houston, and Arizona. With only 1 loss to Cincinnati. None of their wins are standout wins while Alabama and Ohio State both have a win over a top 10 team.
8 Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky has quality wins over South Carolina and LSU. These are worse than the teams above them. They have the best loss of the group but its a head to head loss.
9 Texas Longhorns The 2nd team with 4 quality wins, over Ohio State, UTSA, Tennessee, and Ole Miss. But they have two losses including a bad one to Oklahoma. But the quantity of wins lets them round out Bucket B

Bucket C ↓
10 BYU Cougars Quality wins over Arizona and Notre Dame, with a bad loss to UCF.
11 Georgia Bulldogs Quality wins over Alabama and Florida, with a bad loss to Auburn. Below BYU because they have less mid tier wins, but very similar resumes.
12 Ole Miss Rebels Quality wins over Louisville, LSU, and Missouri are really good, and they have two good losses to Florida and Texas. But they lack a standout win that the teams above them have.

Bucket D ↓
13 Tennessee Volunteers Quality win over Alabama is great, but all they have. Good losses to Texas and South Carolina. Easily the best win of the bucket.
14 Houston Cougars Quality wins over Oregon State and Oklahoma State. Losses to Utah and Texas Tech are among the best of the 2 loss teams, but neither win is special.
15 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Quality win over Louisville is all they have, and has been suspect. The loss to Miami doesn't hurt at all, but they need better wins.
16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Quality win over Wisconsin looks good, and their only loss is to BYU, but they have nothing else. If they don't beat Miami this week they shouldn't be in the playoff conversation.
17 Arizona Wildcats Quality win over Cincinnati, and close losses to BYU and Texas Tech are okay.

Bucket E ↓
18 Oregon Ducks And they're back damn it. The final team with 4 quality wins, over Boise State, USC, Nebraska, and Northwestern. They get to be the only ranked 3 loss team this week because of those wins.
19 Boise State Broncos Quality wins over Memphis, and the loss to Oregon will hold them around here as long as Oregon continues to hover around here as well. The win over Memphis isn't the best, but the 1 loss will keep them above teams with multiple below them.
20 LSU Tigers They only have 1 quality win and its over Louisiana Tech. Both losses are really good but this team doesn't have many positives to talk about.
21 Iowa Hawkeyes Quality wins over Michigan and Wisconsin, but rough losses with the blowout to Ohio State and Minnesota keep them below LSU.
22 USC Trojans Finally gets a quality win over Ohio State. But their losses are about equal to Iowa's, and since they have 2 quality wins they'll hold above USC for now.

Bucket F ↓
23 New Mexico Lobos Has a quality win over North Dakota State, but the loss to Oklahoma hurts.
24 North Dakota State Bison Quality wins over Jacksonville State and Air Force are okay. The two losses to New Mexico and UNLV are rough but looking better.
25 UTSA Roadrunners Has a quality win over USF, but the blowout loss to Texas hurts. They have also played 5 of their wins close which doesn't look good, but its finally enough to get them ranked.

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