Back to poll results >>

Tornadohunter24 Ballot for 2026 Week 11

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 10, 2026, 7:50 a.m.

Overall Rationale: GT still sucks. But at least we started firing people for it.

Before we get started, I just wanted to remind you of a few caveats to my top 25: I'm including at least a few spots for the G6, as an indicator of who I think is favored to make a run at the Playoffs out of those conferences. In addition, this poll, by nature, is meant to be overreactive. I'm not here to try to be predictive - I want this to be strictly resume, even if that resume consists of a single game. I'm not here trying to justify every single one of my top 25 staying in the top 25 week-to-week; that's just lame. And it's not the point of what I want to accomplish when doing these rankings. Even still, before you crucify me for this poll ballot... allow me to explain further.

While preseason rankings, perceived team strength, recruiting rankings, and all of those other factors will still play a role in the value I grant to certain teams, I ultimately want this ranking to be a resume-based one as stated earlier, not a power ranking. I'm always searching for ways to best optimize this and to best balance the two, especially early on, so am open to opinions. However, since we are now well into conference play, the results on the field will continue to take increasingly more precedent over what was expected out of teams in pre-season based upon past years and talent/coaching available to them. Also, power rankings are in fact considered, but not weighed heavily.

So, a better question: why is the top 25 the way that they are? Well, I'm glad you asked, random stranger I made up in my head to dictate this interaction! There are a few key things that I will always do once everyone enters in-conference play. First, I basically disregard, to the best of my ability, not only last week's rankings but preseason expectations in general, and try to rank everyone from scratch. In addition, I like to include multiple G5 (now G6) frontrunners, even if their resumes lack slightly compared to a P4 team. ALL UNDEFEATED G6 TEAMS WILL BE RANKED. Does this make the poll have unreasonable amounts of instability and deviation from the norm? Probably! Do I care? Not really. It's still early on - everyone who deserves to be ranked will become ranked again soon enough. I'm not the committee; just keep winning, and things will fall into place.

That said, let's get on to the necessary business at the end of this. A lot of movement necessitates a lot of accounting. SOR is taken from ESPN for ease of access. And yes, I know it will still be biased towards talent/recruiting rankings and give odd results, but considering how much I converge with it by the end of the year, I find it prudent to include. It is not the only metric I consider, but it's the easiest to compare with my rankings.

NOTE: Any FCS ranks are from the STATS poll. As you can see, no detailed writings this week (or next week) - I am out of town on work and have been relegated to mostly box-score watching. I'll do my best regardless.

| TEAMS DROPPING OUT (DO): #15 LSU Tigers [6-3, 3-3 SEC], #21 Missouri Tigers [6-3, 3-3 SEC], #23 UTSA Roadrunners [7-2, 4-1 American], #24 Northwestern Wildcats [6-3, 3-3 B1G]

| HONORABLE MENTIONS (HM): Oklahoma State Cowboys [6-3, 4-2 Big 12], LSU Tigers [6-3, 3-3 SEC], Louisville Cardinals [6-3, 5-2 ACC], Missouri Tigers [6-3, 3-3 SEC], Wisconsin Badgers [6-3, 4-2 B1G], Memphis Tigers [7-2, 4-1 American], Illinois Fighting Illini [6-3, 4-2 B1G], North Texas Mean Green [7-2, 5-0 American], Liberty Flames [8-1, 5-0 CUSA], Louisiana Tech Bulldogs [7-2, 5-0 Sun Belt]

| ESPN SOR, FPI, and other useful metrics: https://www.espn.com/college-football/fpi/_/view/resume

PRESEASON BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/73954 | WEEK 2 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/74364/ | WEEK 3 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/74836/ | WEEK 4 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/75247/ | WEEK 5 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/75815/ | WEEK 6 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/76012/ | WEEK 7 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/76809/ | WEEK 8 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/77302/ | WEEK 9 BALLOT: https://poll.redditcfb.com/ballot/77741/

Rank Team Reason
1 Utah Utes [9-0, 6-0 Big 12] (-) | SOR: #4 | Notable Results: W 27-24 @ Colorado [3-6], W 21-13 vs #13 Houston [7-2], W 49-25 @ Cincinnati [5-4], W 28-20 vs #12 BYU [7-2] |
2 Georgia Bulldogs [8-1, 6-1 SEC] (+1) | SOR: #2 | Notable Results: W 20-17 @ #11 Alabama [7-2], L 24-27 vs Auburn [5-4], W 27-8 vs Florida [5-4] (in Atlanta), W 42-7 vs #22 Ole Miss [6-3] |
3 UCLA Bruins [9-0, 6-0 B1G] (+1) | SOR: #1 | Notable Results: W 17-15 @ #16 Oregon [6-3], W 17-7 vs HM Wisconsin [6-3] |
4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish [8-1, Independent] (+2) | SOR: #7 | Notable Results: W 41-13 vs HM Wisconsin [6-3] (at Lambeau Field), L 24-28 @ #12 BYU [7-2], W 31-24 vs #5 Miami [8-1] |
5 Miami Hurricanes [8-1, 6-0 ACC] (-3) | SOR: #3 | Notable Results: W 33-20 @ #8 Wake Forest [8-1], W 43-35 (2OT) vs Florida State [4-5], W 52-23 vs Pittsburgh [6-3], W 38-35 @ North Carolina [5-4], L 24-31 @ #4 Notre Dame [8-1] |
6 Indiana Hoosiers [8-1, 5-1 B1G] (+1) | SOR: #8 | Notable Results: W 29-23 vs DO Northwestern [6-3], W 20-17 @ Nebraska [5-4], L 15-19 vs #20 Ohio State [6-3], W 13-6 (OT) @ Michigan [5-4], W 23-16 (OT) vs Minnesota [5-4] |
7 Texas Tech Red Raiders [8-1, 5-1 Big 12] (+2) | SOR: #16 | Notable Results: W 28-26 vs #13 Houston [7-2], L 24-37 @ Cincinnati [5-4], W 34-26 vs #17 Arizona [7-2], W 53-48 vs West Virginia [5-4] |
8 Wake Forest Demon Deacons [8-1, 5-1 ACC] (+2) | SOR: #10 | Notable Results: W 38-36 (2OT) @ Purdue [3-6], L 20-33 vs #5 Miami [8-1], W 30-27 @ HM Louisville [6-3] |
9 Texas Longhorns [7-2, 4-2 SEC] (+2) | SOR: #9 | Notable Results: W 24-23 vs #20 Ohio State [6-3], W 30-6 vs DO UTSA [7-2], W 20-17 @ #10 Tennessee [7-2], L 24-27 vs Oklahoma [5-4] (Cotton Bowl), L 24-27 vs Florida [5-4], W 34-27 vs #22 Ole Miss [6-3], W 34-20 @ DO/HM Missouri [6-3] |
10 Tennessee Volunteers [7-2, 4-2 SEC] (+8) | SOR: #12 | Notable Results: L 17-20 vs #9 Texas [7-2], W 24-17 @ Arkansas [3-6], W 26-10 vs #11 Alabama [7-2], L 24-27 @ #25 South Carolina [6-3], W 34-6 vs #14 Kentucky [7-2] |
11 Alabama Crimson Tide [7-2, 5-2 SEC] (+2) | SOR: #8 | Notable Results: W 45-17 @ #14 Kentucky [7-2], W 49-18 vs #25 South Carolina [6-3], L 17-20 vs #2 Georgia [8-1], L 10-26 @ #10 Tennessee [7-2], W 31-13 @ DO/HM LSU [6-3] |
12 BYU Cougars [7-2, 4-2 Big 12] (-7) | SOR: #14 | Notable Results: W 28-17 vs #17 Arizona [7-2], W 28-24 vs #4 Notre Dame [8-1], L 31-39 (2OT) @ UCF [5-4], W 27-20 vs Arizona State [5-4], L 20-28 @ #1 Utah [9-0] |
13 Houston Cougars [7-2, 4-2 Big 12] (+3) | SOR: #20 | Notable Results: L 26-28 @ #7 Texas Tech [8-1], W 35-32 vs HM Oklahoma State [6-3], L 13-21 @ #1 Utah [9-0], W 31-24 vs Cincinnati [5-4] |
14 Kentucky Wildcats [7-2, 5-2 SEC] (-6) | SOR: #6 | Notable Results: L 17-45 vs #11 Alabama [7-2], W 35-34 (OT) @ #25 South Carolina [6-3], W 35-34 (OT) vs DO/HM LSU [6-3], W 21-13 @ Oklahoma [5-4], L 6-34 @ #10 Tennessee [7-2] |
15 Iowa Hawkeyes [7-2, 4-2 B1G] (+4) | SOR: #18 | Notable Results: W 16-13 vs Iowa State [4-5], W 20-19 @ Michigan [5-4], L 14-31 vs #20 Ohio State [6-3], L 10-13 @ Minnesota [5-4], W 30-0 vs HM Wisconsin [6-3], W 24-10 vs DO Northwestern [6-3] |
16 Oregon Ducks [6-3, 3-3 B1G] (NEW) | SOR: #15 | Notable Results: W 34-27 vs #19 Boise State [8-1], L 31-39 @ HM Oklahoma State [6-3], W 41-27 @ #18 USC [7-2], L 15-17 vs #3 UCLA [9-0], W 17-14 vs Nebraska [5-4], L 10-21 @ HM Illinois [6-3], W 34-26 vs DO Northwestern [6-3], W 41-28 @ #20 Ohio State [6-3] |
17 Arizona Wildcats [7-2, 4-2 Big 12] (+3) | SOR: #24 | Notable Results: L 17-28 @ #12 BYU [7-2], W 34-7 vs Cincinnati [5-4], W 52-31 @ West Virginia [5-4], L 26-34 @ #9 Texas Tech [8-1], W 29-28 vs TCU [4-5] |
18 USC Trojans [7-2, 4-2 B1G] (-1) | SOR: #13 | Notable Results: W 42-35 @ Rutgers [2-7], L 27-41 vs #16 Oregon [6-3], W 25-21 vs Washington [5-4], W 31-23 @ Penn State [5-4], L 7-24 @ HM Wisconsin [6-3], W 30-18 vs #20 Ohio State [6-3] |
19 Boise State Broncos [8-1, 5-0 Pac-12] (+3) | SOR: #19 | Notable Results: L 27-34 @ #16 Oregon [6-3], W 38-20 vs HM Memphis [7-2], W 38-24 vs FCS #10 South Dakota [7-3], W 38-31 @ Fresno State [5-4], W 46-45 vs Texas State [5-4] |
20 Ohio State Buckeyes [6-3, 4-2 B1G] (-8) | SOR: #17 | Notable Results: L 23-24 @ #9 Texas [7-2], W 31-14 @ #15 Iowa [7-2], W 19-15 @ #6 Indiana [8-1], L 18-30 @ #18 USC [7-2], L 28-41 vs #16 Oregon [6-3] |
21 New Mexico Lobos [8-1, 5-0 MWC] (+4) | SOR: #30 | Notable Results: L 6-14 @ Oklahoma [5-4], W 21-16 vs North Dakota State [7-2], W 21-16 @ San Jose State [5-5] |
22 Ole Miss Rebels [6-3, 4-3 SEC] (-8) | SOR: #11 | Notable Results: W 41-38 vs HM Louisville [6-3] (in Nashville), W 32-24 vs DO/HM LSU [6-3], L 28-52 @ Florida [5-4], W 31-3 vs DO/HM Missouri [6-3], L 27-34 @ #9 Texas [7-2], L 7-42 vs #2 Georgia [8-1] |
23 SMU Mustangs [7-2, 5-2 ACC] (NEW) | SOR: #32 | Notable Results: W 27-24 vs Florida State [4-5], L 31-41 @ HM Louisville [6-3], L 27-30 @ Syracuse [4-5], W 51-28 vs Virginia Tech [6-3] |
24 Duke Blue Devils [7-2, 4-2 ACC] (NEW) | SOR: #36 | Notable Results: W 31-27 @ HM Illinois [6-3], L 25-28 @ Georgia Tech [2-7], L 20-24 vs North Carolina [5-4], W 19-16 @ Virginia [4-5], 88-5 vs ACC opponents last two weeks |
25 South Carolina Gamecocks [6-3, 3-3 SEC] (NEW) | SOR: #21 | Notable Results: L 34-41 vs Mississippi State [4-5], L 18-49 @ #11 Alabama [7-2], L 34-35 (OT) vs #14 Kentucky [7-2], W 27-24 vs #10 Tennessee [7-2], W 17-9 vs Texas A&M [4-5]

Back to poll results >>