Reported Analysis · 2026 Week 6
SMU Gained Three AP Votes and Lost 25 Points During Its Bye
Seven new votes arrived near the bottom of the ballot. Higher placements disappeared, yet SMU’s lead over No. 25 grew.
Of the same 70 voters
25 points fewer during the bye
SMU did not play on October 10, its scheduled bye. The Mustangs nevertheless emerged from the next AP poll with more voters ranking them and fewer points: inclusion rose from 36 ballots to 39, while their total fell from 167 to 142.
They remained No. 24. That unchanged position conceals a change in the weight of their support, and an even less obvious result at the cutoff: despite losing points, SMU finished farther ahead of the team ranked 25th.
The New Votes Were Worth Less Than the Departing Ones
Seven voters added SMU, all between 23rd and 25th. Those placements supplied thirteen points combined. Joe Arruda and Dave Preston added the Mustangs at 23rd, worth three points each; the other five new votes were worth one or two.
Four voters removed SMU, taking away twenty-one points. Their previous votes were stronger: Alex Taylor had ranked it 19th, Michael Katz 20th, Cameron Cox 21st and Trevor Hass 23rd.
A No. 19 placement is worth seven AP points, while a No. 25 placement is worth one. An omission contributes zero. Seven additions and four removals therefore gave SMU three more included ballots but eight fewer points. The voters who ranked it both weeks account for the other seventeen lost points.
| Ballot Change | Voters | Point Change |
|---|---|---|
| Added SMU | 7 | +13 |
| Removed SMU | 4 | −21 |
| Raised SMU | 9 | +18 |
| Lowered SMU | 12 | −35 |
| Same Placement | 11 | 0 |
| Omitted Both Weeks | 27 | 0 |
| Total | 70 | −25 |
The current votes are concentrated near the bottom of the ballot: 34 of the 39 put SMU between 21st and 25th. Its broader inclusion came with fewer strong placements to lift the point total.
The Ballot Around SMU Moved, Too
Thirty-two voters ranked SMU in both editions. Nine raised it, twelve lowered it and eleven kept the same placement. Their combined changes cost seventeen points, so the decline cannot be explained solely by stronger votes leaving and weaker ones arriving.
Ranking a team also places it against the others on a ballot. Among those 32 continuing voters, Kentucky went from below SMU or absent to above it on 24 ballots. UCLA did the same on 22. Moving in the opposite direction, Florida no longer appeared above SMU on 29, and Oregon no longer did on 26.
Count every team on those ballots and 104 team-voter pairings newly appeared above SMU, while 87 no longer did. The difference is seventeen, matching the continuing voters’ net point loss. These are changes in relative order across complete Top 25 lists; the bye left SMU idle while the rest of those lists changed.
Fewer Points, a Wider Margin Over No. 25
In the October 4 poll, SMU led No. 25 Pitt by five points, 167 to 162. On October 11, it led No. 25 Northwestern by thirty, 142 to 112. The comparison is with each week’s cutoff team, which changed, rather than with a fixed opponent.
| Poll | No. 23 Boise State | No. 24 SMU | No. 25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 4 | 271 | 167 | Pitt: 162 |
| October 11 | 268 | 142 | Northwestern: 112 |
The gap in the other direction widened as well. No. 23 Boise State led SMU by 104 points a week earlier and now leads by 126. The Mustangs’ unchanged rank sits between a larger deficit above and a larger cushion below.
More voters now make room for SMU, but most give it a placement worth only a few points. That is broader acceptance with less weight behind it. The thirty-point margin over the new No. 25 explains why a shrinking total can still leave SMU farther from the cutoff, even as it falls farther behind No. 23.
Sources & Methodology
Poll Behavior’s published AP football ballots: October 4 and October 11. Each panel contains 70 complete 25-team ballots, with the same voters throughout the comparisons used here.
Points equal 26 minus each numbered rank; omitted teams contribute zero points and are not assigned a numerical rank. Inclusion counts voters who rank the team. Aggregate ranks and points come from each dated poll.
SMU’s official 2026 schedule announcement identifies October 10 as its bye. The point-change groups are mutually exclusive and exhaust all 70 voters.
Relative-order comparisons use only the 32 voters who ranked SMU in both editions. A team-voter pairing counts one other team on one ballot. Newly above and no longer above describe observed ordering, not a transfer of points or an explanation attributed to a voter. Cutoff margins compare each edition’s actual No. 25 team; they are not forecasts.