It took a few minutes to finalize my Associated Press Top 25 ballot for the final time in the 2025-26 season.
The very top was easy: Indiana was the clear call for No. 1 after defeating Miami 27-21 in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday to complete a surreal 16-0 season.
But then it got tricky as I debated whether Miami or Ohio State should be No. 2.
The case for OSU would be the following:
Yes, the Hurricanes won the head-to-head matchup in the CFP quarterfinals. But remove that single datapoint, and everything else falls in Ohio State’s favor. The Buckeyes were a better team and had a markedly better resume than Miami for the entirety of the regular season.
And the final AP ballot accounts for five months of competition, not a single result in the CFP.
So I gave serious consideration to slotting Ohio State directly behind Indiana.
Ultimately, I settled on Miami for the simple reason that a head-to-head result in the CFP, on a neutral field, is more meaningful than a head-to-head result in the regular season. Miami’s 10-point win in the Cotton Bowl trumped whatever advantages the Buckeyes held in other facets of the resume showdown.
But I don’t feel great about it. Not at all.
Voting in the AP poll in the playoff era is different from voting in the BCS era, and voting in the 12-team/four round playoff era is different from voting in the four-team/two round era.
And voting in the 16-team era, which could very well arrive next fall, would be different, as well.
Here’s the final ballot that I submitted to the AP tonight:
1. Indiana2. Miami3. Ohio State4. Mississippi5. Georgia6. Oregon7. Notre Dame8. Alabama9. Texas Tech10. Oklahoma11. Texas12. Texas A&M13. BYU14. Utah15. USC16. Michigan17. Iowa18. Vanderbilt19. Virginia20. Missouri21. Houston22. Georgia Tech23. Arizona24. Washington25. Tulane
Lastly, here are my early Top 25 rankings for the 2026 season.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716
*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline