Let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words, two simple words which express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation: Auburn Sucks.
Some of you mentioned voting for Virginia out of respect for the Senator…although I will say that Virginia does seem to have a good team, and they were the benefactor of the Mumme Voters the most this week, ranking 10 spots higher in the Mumme Poll than in the AP.
Note: red and green arrows denote rising or falling since the Mumme Preseason Poll.
Others receiving votes: Penn State, Floriduh and North Dakota State (6), Tulsa, South Carolina, Georgia State, and James Madison (4)
Left out of Mumme Poll but in the AP: Penn State (#24). Also, Oklahoma State did not crack the AP poll, despite beating Oregon.
Mississippi State got lots of love from our votes, which didn’t make the AP poll despite a good ole fashioned whooping against Minnesota this past weekend. I thought a victory against the greatest conference in the world should mean something? Isn’t Minnesota part of that top to bottom conference greatness they argue about? Hmmm.
Also notable…no Conference USA teams received any votes.
As to our two bonus questions this week…
63% of you thought Texas “maybe” back, but given that they literally have only two unranked opponents (I’m betting that Miss State will be ranked soon), they’ve got a tough road to hoe and I’m not convinced that they’re the juggernaut people are making them out to be given their 4th quarter miracle comeback.
And for our remaining most dangerous opponent? Overwhelmingly, 72% of you felt it was Alabama, 14% said Ole Miss, 9% said Florida, and 4% said Auburn. 1 person selected Missouri, and that’s my personal worry mainly because of the timing of the season and how good they looked with Austin Simmons under center. I don’t doubt Alabama and Ole Miss are probably better, but given prep, season injuries, and all that, they concern me.
You know what time it is Refugees…time to right the wrongs of those know-nothing media types by inserting your two pennies into the only poll that matters…the Mumme Poll.
Some of you said this used to wait until the release of the CFP, but let’s be participatory and get it going earlier this year, so weigh in on your thoughts about where the teams are ranking after the first games of the year.
So, how did we at the Refugees get it with our Preseason Poll?
The more red you see represents the more we overvalued a Team, if AP polls are more correct that ours. Green shows where we undervalued a team.
Good to know that it’s not a complete SEC bias. While we overvalued the SEC by 16 points, we overvalued the ACC by 26…giving Clemson and Georgia Tech both more credit than they deserve (when viewed through the AP’s lens), but even Miami and Louisville. That’s not really scientific, just notable in the total overvalue numbers there in the chart.
Maybe the media bias towards the SEC and B1G is really a thing.
After all, they ranked Iowa, who isn’t even on here, and who hasn’t played a down of offense since pre-COVID days.
EE had an idea for some of the contributors here to explain their rationale in the Preseason Mumme Poll, including how and why we voted. Fun fact – we have no clear formula or consistent rationale. You know, we could likely find ourselves on the CFP Committee for that fact alone. So, without further ado, here’s an explanation from your GTPR “experts”.
JP:
#1 Notre Dame, the rest in negotiable – In the modern era, I have to look at who has the easiest pathway coupled with the most NIL money. Notre Dame is a money machine. Freeman, as much as I hate to admit it, is a good coach. If Notre Dame doesn’t make it out of their schedule undefeated, he should be fired. But honestly, he can use each game as a live scrimmage that counts towards the CFP. I’d run the same base plays all season, use each week to study the defensive reaction, run them against different defensive looks, and save the “wrinkles” until the CFP. That’s dangerous territory – win out, and they all expect you to hoist the trophy. Lose, and WTF are you doing?
#2/3 – Indiana, for the same reasons as above, or you could say Ohio State has the same.
#4 – Georgia – This is Kirby’s high water mark. If you invest your NIL dollars in seniors and defense, it needs to show, in a very dominating way. They need to be the Junkyard Dawgs on steroids. If there’s not a series of scoreless games, Kirby might bust a gasket. We have the defensive returners to do this, but this will also be a testament to Mike Bobo, who has an embarrassment of riches on offense with tight ends, a great offensive line, and a solid backfield of rubbing backs and quarterbacks to get it done on the backs of a great defense. Fall short, and people start questioning Smart’s strategy. Kirby seems oddly calm this year, and that should scare the hell out of everyone else. But the SEC is the SEC. I still stand by the idea that it’s the toughest interconference competition and anything goes.
#5-#10 – One other B1G team (probably Oregon), Three SEC teams (likely Ole Miss, Texas and TAMU), and an ACC team (Miami). Take your pick.
EE:
My approach:
For the preseason poll, I focused my ballot on the teams I believe have the roster, schedule or coaching to be the last team standing in January.
My ballot (not a ranking):
Miami – excellent roster with a QB who could push the Hurricanes over the top. Issue … Mario Cristobal.
Indiana – until someone (anyone) shows they can beat them, Cignetti has found a formula that works. Issue … the Covid seniors are gone now.
Ohio State – one of the 3-5 best rosters in the sport and a coach who seems to have found something. Issue … can Julian Sayin find another gear?
Oregon – some say Dante Moore is likely to be 1, 1 in this April’s draft and the talent around him is excellent. Issue … can Dan Lanning get out of his own way consistently?
Notre Dame – the schedule is very kind to the Irish with a great roster to go along with it. Issue … the schedule especially if Miami beats them soundly in South Bend.
Georgia – the talent along the lines of scrimmage may make the Dawgs the most physical team in the sport. Issue … can the offense find the explosiveness that will be needed to win it all?
Texas – the best roster money can buy with a head coach who is feeling the heat to do something with it (sound familiar, OSU 2024). Issue … is there the culture to withstand the SEC wars?
Dawglicious:
In the spirit of the relative worthlessness of preseason polls, I filled mine out with a touch of “let’s give a shout out to some schools, my personal feelings on who should even be included, and dadgummit, downright pettiness on my part. To wit: I voted for all three service academies, voted for zero Group of 6 programs, and left Indiana off entirely out of spite. I promise this will not be my modus operandi the rest of the season (and has not been in the past).
Otis Day:
I don’t have a clue who has what. With all the transfers nowadays, I can’t keep up with who is where and I don’t give a damn about anybody but UGA so, the only news I follow is about the Dawgs. That said, I just went with who I feel would be in a 4 team playoff (as it still should be). In no particular order: UGA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon.
Maybe you heard the NCAA rejected the fifth-year senior injunction on Wednesday, so we’re pretty low on the Hoosiers whereas many pundits are arguing they should be number 1. Maybe that’s true, maybe it’s not.
Safe to say, though, that our Top 10 are likely CFP contenders. Alabama at 9 is the only one I question a little, given DeBoer’s poor performances in the final three games of the 2025 season, which included two curb stompings from Georgia and Indiana. I’m not big on Alabama and neither was the SEC media, but they’re still Alabama, and until we beat them at their place, they still own us.
We also included several Big XII teams here, and we’re clearly not sold that the PAC is back, as the top vote getter for the Conference was Boise State, and they only made “others receiving votes”.
Overall, I think it’s a solid poll. Folks would disagree with the Dawgs at number 1, but at least we’re honest about our biases and not trying to hide behind the argument of “quality losses” as a means to promote a conference to the top.
Get to voting. It’s your chance to silence the critics and let the world know that the wisest of football fans come to GTP Refugees, and everyone else can kick rocks.
Vote throughout the day and week and I’ll share the results once the votes are in. Poll closes on Wednesday, August 12th at 10:19 pm. Why 10:19 pm? Because I can, that’s why. And also because I’ll forget and it’ll stay open and I can blame myself for picking an unusual time.
Also, there are two bonus questions for the preseason poll…
Which new SEC Coaches will be most successful in 2026? Also an attached survey on why you think they’ll do well.
Which veteran SEC Coaches will no longer be with the program either during or by the end of the 2026 season? Similar survey on why you think that is included, as well.
Here’s the final rankings after the CFP Championship game.
How do you feel about the final rankings? I kind of question Alabama’s final ranking, considering they had a loss to FSU, and two absolute beatings in their final three games of the year. Somehow, I don’t think that’s a Top 10 resume, even if it was to the eventual National Champions, but maybe I’m just biased here. Also, color me unimpressed by Oregon and Texas Tech both.
What’s your thoughts? Let’s hear about it in the comments, and also show your disrespect to others with a final Mumme Poll:
Well, needless to say we don’t see things the same way the Committee does…
Based on the BTA win against Alabama, we biased voters see Georgia as being the prohibitive 1 seed, and Ohio State/Texas Tech was a toss up. Notre Dame and Miami both get in while Alabama is sitting at home with Roll Tide Willy sipping on Miller Lites. Tulane and James Madison would again be in based on the highest five conference champs bit. We’re also overlooking TAMU’s charmin-soft schedule and giving them a five seed, which means the matchups would look as follows.
Matchups:
First Round:
TAMU vs James Madison; Ole Miss vs. Tulane; Oregon vs. Notre Dame: Oklahoma versus Miami
I could see TAMU and Ole Miss slaughtering their G5 opponents, but I would give the Irish the edge against Oregon and I think Oklahoma would have Beck rattled and prevail against Miami. We’ve seen it happen before, right?
Second Round:
Georgia vs. Oklahoma (what a defensive battle, but I give the edge to Georgia); Indiana vs. Notre Dame (an Indiana spectacular!); Ohio State versus Ole Miss; and Texas Tech versus TAMU (a Texas classic!).
Georgia-Oklahoma would be a Rose Bowl game rematch, but would look very, very different, in my opinion. Indiana and Notre Dame would be in the Cotton Bowl, Ohio State-Ole MIss in Miami, and the Texas Bowl would be at the Sugar Bowl. Still not geographically sound. Based on the matchups, I’d be inclined to go with:
Third Round:
Georgia vs Texas Tech at the Peach Bowl; Indiana versus Ohio State at the Fiesta (we love a good rematch, don’t we?)
Georgia’s third game at their home away from home, MBS, against a largely home crowd would give the Bulldogs the edge here. Any other coach outside of Ryan Day and I’d say Ohio State would win the rubber match, but I give it to Cignetti and the Hoosiers to prevail.
National Championship:
Georgia vs. Indiana – why do I say this? Because this is how y’all voted.
National Championship Matchup (per Mumme Voting)
Georgia – 100%
Indiana – 54%
Oregon – 23%
Texas Tech – 10%
How would the Bulldogs and Hoosiers fare? Well, how does Kirby do against former Saban disciples? The vaunted Indiana defense, who, mind you, versus ranked teams won by 5 (vs Iowa), 10 (versus Oregon), and 3 (versus Ohio State). When faced up against competent defenses, Indiana seems to struggle a touch, but they’ve got a great defense, too. While they seem like a team of destiny, they are also a team of Disney. Who knows how strong the SEC vs B1G really is, which can be largely optics, but what I saw on Saturday wasn’t necessarily impressive.
Make no mistake, though, Indiana is tough. They’re scrappy, fiery, and they believe in themselves. We’ve seen these formulas before, a coach who is trying build program credibility and has a team that rallies behind him, and is a branch from the Saban tree. Sounds like Kirby, minus the alma mater connection.
I’m horrible at the Fabris Poll, so I won’t put a prediction. I’ll let you guys take care of that in the comments.
Alright, gang. One last time to right the wrongs from the CFP final rankings.
For this week, vote only for the 12 teams you believe should be in the CFP playoffs. You don’t have to go to 25, but just the teams you feel are most deserving. Feel free to use computer ratings or ask your pet dog, which might lean more towards how the Committee came up with the final 12 teams.
Voting ends tomorrow at midnight. Results coming Wednesday.
Don’t forget the bonus question – who will be the final two teams in the CFP Championship?
Thanks for participating in the Mumme Poll this season! Sad to see this go, until after all is said and done, we’ll have one last ranking come January after the CFP final game.
Apparently, you all witnessed the same butt-whipping to the Longhorns that the CFP Committee is willing to overlook. Also, it seems they’re willing to overlook the loss to a horrendous Florida team, too.
We’re not far off from the final CFP rankings at the top of the Poll, however, it’s interesting to note that Kennesaw State snuck in to the Top 25. Also seems we are fairly in agreement that BYU would deserve a spot over Miami, and if the Duke Blue Devils somehow pull the upset against Virginia and BYU wins, the funniest thing ever could happen…no ACC representation in the CFP.
Talk about your swift and immediate action on lawsuits that would ensue…and an expanded (16 teams? 32 teams? Championship Week play-in games, say you?) playoff would go into effect immediately. I’m of the opinion they’ll sneak in Miami if they have the chance, though the Notre Dame viewership compared to the Hurricanes would likely get the Irish in, even after losing to Carson and Co. earlier this season. Mario Cristobal implosion coming in 5, 4, 3…
Anyway…in regards to the last question…who is the first newly minted SEC coach to get the axe:
Pete Golding – 41%
(tie) Lane Kiffin/Alex Golesh – 19% each
Jon Sumrall – 9%
(tie) Ryan Silverfield/Will Stein – 7% each (probably because both fanbases could care less)
Thanks for participating in the Mumme Poll this season…we’ll drop one last one after Saturday’s slate of games, so you can predict the final CFP brackets.
