Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Nov. 10, 2026, 10:09 a.m.

Overall Rationale: A mix of the eye test, actual resume ranking and in almost every situation of same record teams, head to head competition. This combination of factors properly accounts for what we've seen on the field, ignoring preseason rankings and only slightly using talent composite as a measure. Quality losses can and often are better than wins, and early on it doesn't make sense to view losses more harshly. As the season goes on and more teams lose, the value of a loss against your ranking increases, but for now a 2 loss team can be better than a 1 loss team, and a 1 loss team better than an undefeated team.

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Georgia Bulldogs
2	Utah Utes
3	UCLA Bruins
4	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5	Miami Hurricanes
6	Texas Longhorns
7	Tennessee Volunteers
8	Alabama Crimson Tide
9	Texas Tech Red Raiders
10	Wake Forest Demon Deacons
11	BYU Cougars
12	Indiana Hoosiers
13	Houston Cougars
14	Kentucky Wildcats
15	Iowa Hawkeyes
16	Arizona Wildcats
17	South Carolina Gamecocks
18	Oklahoma State Cowboys
19	Duke Blue Devils
20	Illinois Fighting Illini
21	Oregon Ducks
22	USC Trojans
23	Boise State Broncos
24	Ohio State Buckeyes
25	Ole Miss Rebels

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	Georgia Bulldogs	0.22
2	Utah Utes	0.00
3	UCLA Bruins	0.00
4	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	0.00
5	Miami Hurricanes	0.00
6	Texas Longhorns	0.32
7	Tennessee Volunteers	0.37
8	Alabama Crimson Tide	0.00
9	Texas Tech Red Raiders	0.00
10	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	0.00
11	BYU Cougars	0.00
12	Indiana Hoosiers	-1.34
13	Houston Cougars	0.01
14	Kentucky Wildcats	0.00
15	Iowa Hawkeyes	0.00
16	Arizona Wildcats	0.41
17	South Carolina Gamecocks	0.99
18	Oklahoma State Cowboys	6.16
19	Duke Blue Devils	1.26
20	Illinois Fighting Illini	5.15
21	Oregon Ducks	0.00
22	USC Trojans	-0.95
23	Boise State Broncos	-0.51
24	Ohio State Buckeyes	-0.05
25	Ole Miss Rebels	-0.37

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
New Mexico Lobos	0.48
LSU Tigers	0.11
SMU Mustangs	0.17

Total Score: 18.87