The AP Top 25 is meant to provide a weekly snapshot of college football’s landscape, but the Week 3 ballot in particular turned into a lightning rod for controversy. Voter Haley Sawyer raised eyebrows with rankings that left fans baffled.
Sawyer placed Florida at No. 14 despite the Gators coming off a loss to South Florida, a team she left completely unranked. Her response only added more fuel to the fire.
Rather than offering a detailed explanation of her choices, she brushed off the situation with a casual stance that suggested the process wasn’t worth much over-analysis.
“As far as what my votes are and what my process is,” Sawyer said. “Don’t want to get too much into my process or logic, but I will say I appreciate everybody’s interaction on social media.”
Her response: https://t.co/2IFG7bPabD
— #18 USFBULLS69 (@usfbulls69) September 9, 2025
Her response made the fans lash out on social media, as they started to call Sawyer out.
“‘It’s not a perfect system’ bc YOU watched USF win at the Swamp, moved Florida up two spots to #14, and kept USF unranked. That’s why,” a fan wrote.
“Did you hear her? She didn’t watch a DAMN thing,” another fan responded to the comment.
“She’s directly impacting the lives of hundreds of players, coaches, and staff at the schools she’s choosing to wrongfully leave out of her ballot… it DOES matter,” a fan wrote.
“Get rid of the AP Poll. Just have the coaches poll and the CFP rankings,” a fan commented.
“TL;DR she has no f**king idea what happens week to week,” another posted.
“She should be removed asap from the poll,” a fan wrote.
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Fans Pointed Out Other Mistakes in AP Poll Voter’s Haley Sawyer’s Rankings
The inconsistencies didn’t end with the Florida Gators. Sawyer placed Baylor inside her Top 25 but left Auburn out. This comes after Auburn registered a dominant 38-24 victory over Baylor over a week ago.
South Carolina cracked her top 10, while Vanderbilt, who shares a common opponent in Virginia Tech and delivered a stronger performance, didn’t make her list at all. Vanderbilt thrashed Virginia Tech 44-20 in their matchup last Sunday.
All #APTop25 Week 3 ballots: pic.twitter.com/cggfsswBMI
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 7, 2025
South Carolina also defeated Virginia Tech, 24-11, but they found a spot in Sawyer’s top 10. For many fans, decisions like these highlight the growing problem with how much influence a single ballot can hold.
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