Most agree that the AP Top 25 Poll has become fatally flawed, thanks to a combination of human voter bias, time zone issues, mistakes and the sheer number of games, which makes following each one in detail virtually impossible.
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following → agree → detail
These issues start in the preseason polls, which are no more than lightly educated guessing based on recruiting rankings, coaches, the transfer portal, success in the previous season and conference affiliation.
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which → start → season
Even in season, the polls have become so unreliable and inaccurate that there's a case to be made that they might do more harm than good when the season hits crunch time and the selection committee starts their rankings.
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committee → become → rankings
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
One way to solve for this is to look at rankings that are based not on preseason expectations, stadium size, jersey patches, or recruiting rankings, but actual on-field performance.
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that → solve → field
Meaning, how efficient have you been on offense and defense, adjusted for the competition you've faced.
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you → mean → competition
What is the success rate you've had on offense, and allowed on defense, again adjusted for the competition you've faced.
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you → have → competition
It filters out noise, like individual game results.
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It → filter → results
Believe it or not, head-to-head matchups don't actually determine which team is better than the other, especially when the teams are closely matched.
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teams → believe → other
In the first matchup, the Tide went into Athens and eked out a 24-21 win.
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Tide → go → win
The underlying performance, though, heavily favored Georgia.
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performance → underlie → Georgia
The Bulldogs averaged 6.7 yards per play, while allowing just 5.2 to Alabama.
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Bulldogs → average → Alabama
Georgia averaged a whopping 6.9 yards per rush, while the Tide could only muster 3.1.
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Tide → average → 3.1
UGA missed opportunities too, only converting two of their red zone opportunities into points, losing a fumble, and only going 2-8 on third downs and 0-1 on fourth down.
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UGA → miss → down
As a result, the postgame win expectancy heavily favored Georgia.
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expectancy → favor → Georgia
The Bulldogs, based on their underlying performance, would win that game nearly 81% of the time.
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Bulldogs → base → time
They didn't.
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They → do → ?
Sure enough, when the two teams met again in the SEC Championship, the outcome was very different.
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outcome → meet → Championship
To say Georgia dominated is a bit of an understatement.
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Georgia → say → understatement
Alabama had -3 net rushing yards on 16 tries, a remarkable -0.2 yards per attempt.
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Alabama → have → attempt
The third down success rate flipped, with the Tide going 3-14 and Georgia 6-16, plus 2-2 on fourth downs.
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Georgia → flip → downs
Despite losing the penalty battle, the Bulldogs rolled, 28-7.
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Bulldogs → lose → battle
The stats backed it up; UGA had 99.8% win expectancy with a +21.2 adjusted scoring margin.
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UGA → back → margin
Looking at wins and losses is useful and necessary, but often deceiving as to which team is better.
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team → look → wins
So what's happened thus far in 2026 that can give us some clues as to who's trending up and who's trending down?
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who → happen → clues
The latest SP+ ranking might be a better place to look than the AP Poll for who's truly elite in college football this year.
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who → look → football
Well, there's one team that somehow seems to have flown a bit under the radar, perhaps due to a lackluster schedule over the first few weeks.
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that → be → weeks
Once again, the Georgia Bulldogs are right back at it, with their dominance thus far making them the No. 1 team based on efficiency and success rate, combined with preseason expectations of team quality.
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them → make → quality
Ohio State, a perfect example of on-field results not necessarily matching team quality.
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results → match → quality
The Buckeyes lost to Texas, but the two teams played an essentially equal game, and the Buckeyes' other performances have been more impressive than the Longhorns.
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performances → lose → Longhorns
So while they've dropped to fifth in the poll, they're a far better team than their ranking suggests.
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ranking → drop → poll
Speaking of Texas, they're all the way down at No. 8, as once again their offense has looked far less impressive than most expected heading into the season.
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most → speak → season
The Nebraska Cornhuskers, who have thoroughly dominated their (easy) schedule through the first half.
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who → dominate → half
Don't be stunned though if their game against Indiana is a lot closer than most expect.
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most → stun → Indiana
Where SP+ really deviates from the AP Poll, however, is in the middle tier of the SEC, which is where most voters struggle.
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voters → deviate → SEC
The Rebels are No. 9 in the AP Poll, while SP+ has them at No. 35.
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SP+ → have → .
Kentucky just dropped out of the top-25, but SP+ has the Wildcats all the way down at No. 45.
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SP+ → drop → .
These rankings are forward-looking, and will change as the season progresses.
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season → look → ?
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
