Jackson PayneDeseret News (Provo, UT)
E-mail: jpayne@deseret.com
Twitter: @jackson5payne
About: Jackson Payne has been writing about sports for the Deseret News since 2023. He originally hails from Northern Virginia and is a graduate of BYU’s Sports Media program, where he received numerous awards for his work as a student journalist. Jackson enjoys hanging out with his wife, consuming comedy and listening to music from before he was born.


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Nov 9, 2026Week 1 Rankings for Jackson Payne
1Florida (53)
2-0Actual: 1
Highest: 1 - 53 Voters
Lowest: 3 - 3 Voters
1490
Points
2Duke (7)
2-0Actual: 2
Highest: 1 - 7 Voters
Lowest: 4 - 6 Voters
1432
Points
3Illinois
2-0Actual: 3
Highest: 2 - 6 Voters
Lowest: 5 - 3 Voters
1366
Points
4UConn
2-0Actual: 4
Highest: 2 - 5 Voters
Lowest: 6 - 2 Voters
1339
Points
5Michigan State
2-0Actual: 5
Highest: 4 - 3 Voters
Lowest: 14 - Toyloy Brown
1222
Points
6Virginia
3-0Actual: 6
Highest: 2 - Dave Borges
Lowest: 11 - 2 Voters
1161
Points

EXTREME PICK

This pick is 5+ spots from the actual ranking.
7Kansas
2-0Actual: 15
Highest: 4 - Seth Davis
Lowest: 24 - 3 Voters
717
Points
8Texas
2-0Actual: 7
Highest: 5 - 4 Voters
Lowest: 16 - Shane Mettlen
1092
Points
9UCLA
2-0Actual: 9
Highest: 5 - Percy Allen
Lowest: 20 - Lance Allan
925
Points
10Louisville
2-0Actual: 10
Highest: 5 - John Wustrow
Lowest: 18 - Donna Ditota
901
Points
11Arizona
1-1Actual: 12
Highest: 7 - Lance Allan
Lowest: NR - Rob Gray
814
Points
12Houston
2-0Actual: 8
Highest: 3 - Shane Mettlen
Lowest: 18 - Justin Jackson
947
Points
13Tennessee
1-0Actual: 11
Highest: 5 - 2 Voters
Lowest: NR - 2 Voters
887
Points
14St. John's
1-0Actual: 13
Highest: 10 - 5 Voters
Lowest: 21 - 2 Voters
760
Points

EXTREME PICK

This pick is 5+ spots from the actual ranking.
15BYU
2-0Actual: 23
Highest: 11 - Dave Borges
Lowest: NR - 4 Voters
272
Points
16Gonzaga
2-0Actual: 14
Highest: 6 - Jeff Neiburg
Lowest: 22 - 2 Voters
745
Points
17Texas Tech
2-0Actual: 16
Highest: 7 - Chris Murray
Lowest: NR - 7 Voters
480
Points
18Arkansas
1-0Actual: 19
Highest: 11 - Dave Mackall
Lowest: NR - 6 Voters
411
Points
19Miami (FL)
1-1Actual: 17
Highest: 9 - Keith Farmer
Lowest: NR - 5 Voters
451
Points
20Alabama
2-0Actual: 18
Highest: 14 - 2 Voters
Lowest: NR - 1 Voters
429
Points
21Vanderbilt
2-0Actual: 22
Highest: 11 - Shane Mettlen
Lowest: NR - Mia O'Brien
318
Points
22Nebraska
2-0Actual: 25
Highest: 13 - Shane Mettlen
Lowest: NR - 33 Voters
101
Points
23USC
2-0Actual: 21
Highest: 7 - Dave Borges
Lowest: NR - 11 Voters
323
Points
24Saint Louis
2-0Actual: 27
Highest: 17 - Dave Preston
Lowest: NR - 38 Voters
67
Points

EXTREME PICK

This pick is 5+ spots from the actual ranking.
25Utah State
2-0Actual: 39
Highest: 25 - Jackson Payne
Lowest: NR - 58 Voters
1
Point
Ranked Teams Not on Ballot: 20-Michigan24-Kentucky