Georgia is the best team in college football, and now they’ve got the No. 1-ranking to show for it. And I feel vindicated in my belief about Kirby Smart’s Dawgs: If maleficent Martians had a death laser pointed at the Earth with a crusty gnarled finger on a button ready to press it unless one of the top-25 teams on this list could beat a hypothetical otherworldly college football squad, and I am tasked with selecting that team, I’m choosing Georgia.
I’m selecting Kirby Smart and the Dawgs because … they feel like the most complete and devastating team in the sport […]. UGA earned the crown, and they should rock it. But there is the chance that an undefeated Indiana could end up right underneath them, or, with a devastating showing against Ohio State perhaps even usurp them.
And that is where my mind wandered almost immediately after Week 6 ended. Indiana is a top 10 team. But is it a national championship team?
Hasn’t looked like one, not through the first half of the season. The Hoosiers have flirted with disaster against unranked Big Ten teams twice so far. While those teams that have pushed IU to the brink on the road might be decent (Northwestern, Nebraska), the middle of the Big Ten field is no longer the measuring stick for success in Bloomington, Indiana.
Winning championships is, and the 2026 Hoosiers haven’t shown me that’s them … yet. A win against Ohio State could change that. Either way, I expect the best team in the Big Ten so far this season will reveal itself.
But first, my rankings after Week 6. Week 6 game: 27-24 win vs. Georgia SouthernWeek 7 game: vs.
Georgia StateThe Dukes are perfect in a sport where that might not be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff this year but damn sure should get them ranked. You don’t get much for winning the Sun Belt in the eyes of the nation, but let’s not forget this is the team the CFP Board of Managers changed the rules to keep out of this year’s CFP while guaranteeing a spot for Notre Dame if it ranks inside the top 12. Running back George Pettaway has found his form.
He’s rushed for 100 yards or more in three-straight games and 150 or more in each of the last two. Billy Napier’s first season at JMU after flaming out at Florida has the team bowl eligible already, with the Dukes dreaming of more. My stat to know: JMU QB Camden Coleman now has 11 passing touchdowns and only one interception through six games this season.
He's cooking. Odds to make CFP: +400 (18th-best)Odds to win national title: +100000 (41st-best) Week 6 game: 45-14 win vs. Ball StateWeek 7 game: vs.
Michigan State The only blemish on this team’s resume is a six-point loss to undefeated Indiana at home. That’s plenty. But in comparison to some of the other teams around — Florida, LSU — the Wildcats have lost to just one ranked opponent — a top 10 one — and managed to beat every other team they’ve played this season by double-digits.
Quarterback Aidan Chiles hasn’t convinced me that he’s good yet — I saw the Indiana game’s first half as well as the second — but he still can be. It’s not just that he’s thrown for 241 yards or more in four out of five games so far this season but that he’s yet to throw an interception. My stat to know: Northwestern has rushed for a combined 577 yards and six touchdowns over its last two games, its most rushing yards in a two-game span since 2019.
OC Chip Kelly's got the offense going in his first year in Evanston. Odds to make CFP: +1200 (33rd-best)Odds to win national title: +50000 (28th-best) Week 6 game: 27-24 win vs. Texas Week 7 game: vs.
KentuckyOklahoma has the best win in college football: neutral site against No. 1-ranked and previously undefeated Texas. And it was able to pull that off with only a partially functioning offense.
The Sooners might not last in this Top 25 — or any other — past this weekend, but the win they pulled off cannot be ignored, especially given its opponent. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer isn’t good. And yet he’s OU’s best player.
He’s so good that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables is adamant that he’s their best option at quarterback, and the best he could muster against Texas is 6.0 yards per attempt and not turning the ball over for the first time since Week 1. Baby steps, I guess. My stat to know: Oklahoma earned its first win over an AP No.
1 team in 19 years and its first-ever win over Texas when the Longhorns were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. Couldn't have come at a more necessary time.
Odds to make CFP: +600 (24th-best)Odds to win national title: +6000 (10th-best) Week 6 game: ByeWeek 7 game: vs. Virginia My stat to know: When kept clean in the pocket, SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings has completed 82% of his passes for 1,350 yards, 12 touchdowns and just one interception, good for a 205.7 passer rating. Sheesh.
Odds to make CFP: +1000 (30th-best)Odds to win national title: +40000 (27th-best) Week 6 game: 17-15 loss vs. UCLA Week 7 game: vs. Nebraska Not only did the Ducks drop their second game in the first half of the season for the first time in the Dan Lanning era but suffered the indignity of watching backup quarterback Dylan Raiola play so badly that Lanning pulled him from the game late for QB3 Brock Thomas.
The Ducks committed seven turnovers on offense and were a dismal 1-of-13 on third down in a game they were fortunate to lose by just two points. Oregon’s rushing attack hasn’t yielded a single 100-yard rusher this season. Quarterback Dante Moore missed his first full game of the season after suffering a horrible concussion in Oregon’s win against USC two weeks ago.
Without him at quarterback, the Ducks are not a top 25 team — let alone a team that can win a national title, which is the bar for success in Eugene this year. My stat to know: Raiola completed 6-of-19 passes for 43 yards, setting career lows in completions, passing yards and yards per attempt (2.3). He also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
But props for sticking around to address the media afterward. Odds to make CFP: +3000 (15th-best)Odds to win national title: +7000 (14th-best) Week 6 game: 31-23 win vs. Penn StateWeek 7 game: Bye USC’s win on the road against Penn State came with a vintage Lincoln Riley offense with a 300-yard passer in quarterback Jayden Maiava, 100-yard receiver in Trent Mosley and a 100-yard rusher in King Miller.
Giving up 23 points to this Penn State team still is too many for a USC program with aspirations of making the College Football Playoff for the first time in its history. Mosley has been the best player the Trojans possess when he’s been on the field. He’s recorded at least 100 receiving yards and a TD in three out of four games he’s played this season.
My stat to know: Maiava became only the second opposing quarterback since 2001 to throw for 300+ yards, 3+ touchdowns, and 0 interceptions in a win over Penn State at Beaver Stadium. The other? Ohio State's Justin Fields.
Odds to make CFP: +700 (26th-best)Odds to win national title: +12000 (20th-best) Week 6 game: 35-16 win vs. Kansas State Week 7 game: vs. Oklahoma State The Cougars dispatched K-State like they expect to be in the Big 12 Championship Game later this year.
They need some help from Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Oklahoma State, but Houston is one-inch from being an undefeated team after falling just that short against the Red Raiders earlier this year. The Cougars ran the ball for 233 yards, with Re'Shaun Sanford II (90 yards) leading the way. Tight end Patrick Overmyer caught eight passes from quarterback Conner Weigman for 83 yards – with four of them going for TDs against K-State on Saturday.
This was the fourth time this season that he’s caught six passes or more in a game. My stat to know: Overmyer caught four touchdown passes today, tying the most by an FBS tight end in a game since 2000. He is the first to do so since Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely caught four against Arkansas State on Oct.
7, 2021. Odds to make CFP: +800 (29th-best)Odds to win national title: +18000 (21st-best) Week 6 game: 42-28 win vs. UCFWeek 7 game: at Houston Quarterback Drew Mestemaker helped Oklahoma State pull away in the second half with another solid passing performance: 304 passing yards and three total touchdowns.
The further away this Pokes team gets from its loss to Tulsa, the better it seems to be. Mestemaker is averaging more than 300 passing yards per game and has all but sewn up the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Award, if not the Offensive Player of the Year Award. He’s the best player in the conference through the halfway mark of the season.
My stat to know: Mestemaker became the third quarterback in Oklahoma State history (since 2000) to record at least four consecutive 300-yard passing games. Odds to make CFP: +600 (23rd-best)Odds to win national title: +25000 (24th-best) Week 6 game: 52-17 win vs. VanderbiltWeek 7 game: vs.
Missouri The most exciting quarterback in the SEC is Trinidad Chambliss, and he played like that against Vandy with four total TDs in a win that was never in doubt. Perplexing still, though, is just how this Ole Miss team got run out of the Swamp on Sept. 26 by a Florida team that should not be a top 25 team heading to Week 7 after losses to Missouri and South Carolina.
Chambliss has averaged at least 300 yards passing since he took over the starting job in Mississippi last year. He will likely be a Heisman finalist. My stat to know: Chambliss ranks third among SEC quarterbacks with 16 total touchdowns, trailing only Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor and Sam Leavitt of LSU.
He's in good company there. Odds to make CFP: +150 (12th-best)Odds to win national title: +2500 (eighth-best) Week 6 game: 41-24 win vs. WashingtonWeek 7 game: Bye The Hawkeye defense is legit.
Iowa held Washington to an eye-opening minus-three rushing yards and sacked Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. six times. Iowa running back Kamari Moulton carried the ball 26 times for 208 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns in the win. The 5-foot-9, 211-pound senior has now eclipsed 180 rushing yards in two of the Hawkeyes' first six games.
He's on track to average more than 5 yards per carry for the third straight season. My stat to know: Moulton’s 208 rushing yards against Washington ranks 10th in program history since 1995. Odds to make CFP: +380 (17th-best)Odds to win national title: +18000 (21st-best) Week 6 game: 24-17 win vs.
Arkansas Week 7 game: vs. Alabama The Vols trailed what we know is not a good Arkansas team through the start of the fourth quarter with quarterback George MacIntyre under center for his first start this season. Behind MacIntyre’s arm and the legs of junior running back DeSean Bishop (138 yards, 1 TD), the Vols mounted a comeback to hand the Hogs their 14th-straight loss to an SEC opponent.
MacIntyre, a freshman, overcame two interceptions in the win. Bishop has rushed for 358 yards and four TDs over the last two games for the Vols. When he runs well, the Vols are at their best.
My stat to know: Bishop recorded his second straight 100+ yard rushing game and his third game with at least 135 rushing yards this season. And he's from Knoxville (Karn High School). Odds to make CFP: +330 (16th-best)Odds to win national title: +10000 (18th-best) Week 6 game: 41-24 win vs.
KansasWeek 7 game: at Colorado Utah isn’t just beating teams. It’s mauling them. Utah has scored at least 31 points in every game it has played and won every game by double-digits to remain undefeated.
Steady quarterback play from Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin has made Utah quirky in that it has a two-QB system that works and produces: Dampier has thrown for at least 200 yards in every game where he’s attempted at least 24 passes. Running back Wayshawn Parker put together a second-straight rushing performance of 170 yards or more with two TDs, and he’s averaged 10.1 yards per carry across those two outings. My stat to know: Parker became the first Utah player with back-to-back 170-yard rushing games since Joe Williams in 2016. (Williams was drafted in the fourth round by the 49ers in 2017.) Odds to make CFP: +105 (eighth-best) Odds to win national title: +6600 (11th-best) Week 6 game: 24-10 win vs.
Iowa StateWeek 7 game: vs. Notre Dame Without running back LJ Martin, the Cougars leaned on star quarterback Bear Bachmeier to keep their undefeated season alive and stay in contention for the Big 12 title. Bachmeier delivered, finishing with 438 total yards — 329 passing and 109 rushing — and two touchdowns in the win.
This was the Cougars’ first game without Martin, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. He is expected to miss at least three more weeks while recovering from a lower-leg injury. Martin has averaged 7.9 yards per carry this season.
My stat to know: Bachmeier became the first BYU quarterback to throw for 300+ yards and rush for 100+ yards in the same game since Taysom Hill in 2013. Odds to make CFP: +200 (14th-best)Odds to win national title: +7800 (16th-best) Week 6 game: ByeWeek 7 game: at LSU My stat to know: Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor has thrown for at least three touchdown passes in all five games this season. He'll try to make it six against a reeling LSU squad.
Odds to make CFP: +500 (20th-best)Odds to win national title: +20000 (23rd-best) Week 6 game: 17-15 win vs. OregonWeek 7 game: vs. Wisconsin Running back Wayne Knight is the closest player to Maurice Jones-Drew that the Bruins have enjoyed at running back since MJD’s departure.
Against Oregon, he rushed 22 times for 103 yards and has averaged a gaudy 9.1 yards per carry through five games. Bob Chesney’s Bruins also forced seven turnovers against the Ducks on Saturday and 11 total over the last two games. Last week Oregon coach Dan Lanning told the media he believed that UCLA was "another Indiana," and I’m sure Ducks fans wish he’d prepared his team like it was.
Instead, UCLA became just the second team in as many years to defeat the Ducks in Eugene, Oregon. My stat to know: With his touchdown vs. Oregon, Knight is the first UCLA player to score a touchdown in each of the team's first five games of a season since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2005.
Odds to make CFP: +105 (eighth-best)Odds to win national title: +7000 (14th best) Week 6 game: ByeWeek 7 game: vs. Arizona State My stat to know: Texas Tech is 11-1 (.917) against Big 12 opponents over the last two seasons. Odds to make CFP: +120 (10th-best) Odds to win national title: +6000 (12th-best) Week 6 game: 27-6 win vs.
Texas A&MWeek 7 game: at Ole Miss Quarterback Austin Simmons struggled for the first time this season in SEC play. And if Texas A&M’s offense weren’t such a grease fire, the Aggies might have had a chance to mount a fight against the Tigers. Instead, senior running back Jamal Roberts — who backed up standout Ahmad Hardy last season — took over the game Saturday, rushing for 222 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries.
Roberts joins former Alabama running back Derrick Henry, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner, as the only SEC running backs to rush for at least 200 yards in back-to-back games against SEC opponents. (Hardy is still out after a gunshot wound to the upper leg he suffered in May.) My stat to know: Roberts became just the fourth running back since 2000 to rush for 200 yards in consecutive games. Odds to make CFP: +500 (20th-best)Odds to win national title: +9000 (17th-best) Week 6 game: 35-34 win vs. LSUWeek 7 game: at Oklahoma For the second weekend in a row, the Wildcats came from behind to earn a win, and Will Stein’s Kentucky has methodically marched into the top 10.
Behind the steady hand of quarterback Kenny Minchey and a defense that bent but did not break, the Wildcats have become the contender for the College Football Playoff we all believed LSU to be at the start of the season. Running back CJ Baxter racked up 123 yards on 19 rushes with two TDs in the win. This was the former five-star and Texas transfer’s second 100-yard rushing performance in three games, and both have come against top 10-ranked SEC opponents (Alabama, LSU).
My stat to know: Kentucky is the first team in FBS history to win consecutive games by one point in overtime (since OT was instituted in 1996). And by the same exact score, 35-34. Odds to make CFP: +800 (28th-best)Odds to win national title: +30000 (26th-best) Week 6 game: 20-17 win vs.
NebraskaWeek 7 game: vs. Ohio State The Hoosiers extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 22 games, but it wasn’t easy. Indiana trailed by two scores against a team that hadn’t beaten a top-25 opponent in more than a decade — and still hasn’t.
With the game hanging in the balance, quarterback Josh Hoover found star transfer wide receiver Nick Marsh for two touchdowns that proved to be the difference. Marsh finished with six catches for 184 yards, including the two biggest touchdowns of the season for the Hoosiers in the win. My stat to know: With two receiving touchdowns today, Marsh is now up to six on the season.
He and Charlie Becker have a combined 14 receiving TDs between the two of them — the most of any FBS duo this season. Odds to make CFP: -800 (fourth-best)Odds to win national title: +1100 (seventh-best) Week 6 game: 20-17 loss vs. Georgia Week 7 game: at Tennessee Despite an up-and-down offense and some shoddy defensive play, quarterback Keelon Russell and the Tide had a chance to beat the Bulldogs late.
With 3:28 left to play, Russell threw a pass near the end zone toward Rico Scott. Georgia safety KJ Bolden closed down on the play but did not play the ball as he made contact with Scott. The officials saw no foul, no reason to throw a flag.
Following that play, Russell took a sack and was forced to punt the ball to the Dawgs. The Dawgs ran out the clock. Perhaps, Alabama is a national championship team-in-waiting.
But if it needs the officials to bail them out late down three points to make a game of it, I’m not inclined to believe it. Russell could’ve launched himself into the front of the Heisman conversation with a solid performance against Georgia. But that’s not what we got from him.
While he’s averaging 282.8 yards passing per game, against Kentucky and the Dawgs — the only two teams to challenge the Bama passing game with success — he’s struggled to throw for more than 200 yards and been relegated to using his legs to move the ball. My stat to know: Russell leads the entire SEC with 1,599 passing yards (8th in the FBS) through Week 6. Odds to make CFP: -700 (sixth-best)Odds to win national title: +900 (fifth-best) Week 6 game: 45-16 win vs.
MarylandWeek 7 game: at Indiana The Jeremiah Smith Show continues. Smith is the best football player in America. I wrote as much this week.
Against Maryland, the wide receiver caught four passes for 93 yards with four touchdowns. In fact his first two catches in the game went for touchdowns. The Buckeyes look like a team that could reclaim the No.
1-ranking later this season with a potent offense and a defense that receives its first test against a top 10 opponent in Big Ten play on Saturday when the Buckeyes travel to Bloomington, Indiana, to play Indiana Quarterback Julian Sayin continues to benefit from throwing passes to the best player in the sport. While his numbers alone are great — he’s averaging 306 yards passing per game with 13 TDs — it’s as difficult to give him credit for his performance like when Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders was throwing passes to 2024 Heisman winner Travis Hunter. My stat to know: Smith is now up to 38 receiving touchdowns, moving into sole possession of the second-most in Big Ten history; he needs one to tie Braylon Edwards (Michigan) for the record and two to pass him.
Odds to make CFP: -750 (fifth-best)Odds to win national title: +400 (first) Week 6 game: Lost 27-24 vs. OklahomaWeek 7 game: vs. Florida Texas quarterback Arch Manning is not a championship caliber quarterback all the time — just some of the time.
When he threw a fly ball that Oklahoma safety Peyton Bowen caught and ran back for a pick-six, he wasn’t a championship quarterback. When he took the next possession and marched Texas right down the field, he was a championship quarterback. When his eyes locked on the left side of the field with under 1:00 remaining, missing the Oklahoma blitz that led to his panicked throw for a pick by Courtland Guillory to give the Sooners the ball for their game-winning field goal, he wasn’t a championship quarterback.
For Texas to win a national title, he’ll have to settle into his best self. He hasn’t yet. He might never.
The Longhorns didn’t just lose as an undefeated team and the No. 1-ranked team, but this 2026 Longhorns team has the dubious honor of becoming the first to lose as the No. 1-ranked team to the Sooners when they were unranked.
And Texas allowed this loss against an Oklahoma team that is barely functioning offensively. Linebacker Rasheem Biles was not the reason UT lost on Saturday. In fact, he added 12 tackles, including two for a loss, to the effort.
He is the most vital player in the Longhorns defense, allowing EDGE rushers like Collin Simmons the freedom to work. My stat to know: Manning has thrown an interception in four of his five starts this season. Odds to make CFP: -450 (seventh-best)Odds to win national title: +900 (sixth-best) Week 6 game: ByeWeek 7 game: vs.
Florida State My stat to know: Darian Mensah has only four fewer total touchdowns (17) than incompletions (21) through five games this season. Can he challenge Jeremiah Smith for the Heisman? Odds to make CFP: -1500 (third-best)Odds to win national title: +700 (fourth-best) Week 6 game: 58-7 win vs.
Stanford Week 7 game: at BYU To illustrate just how lopsided this game was, freshman running back Jonaz Walton took a rush 97 yards to the house for the third-longest offensive play ever at Notre Dame Stadium. And that was nearly half of the 181 yards he had on the ground in a game that helped the Fighting Irish reach 6-0. More impressive is Notre Dame has won its last 16 consecutive games by double-digits — just five shy of tying 1944-46 Army for the longest such streak in history.
The defense hasn’t played an offense with a pulse all year, but I guess we can give ND credit for allowing just 12.66 points per game. Quarterback CJ Carr isn’t the best player on this team, but he is its most likely Heisman candidate because someone has to represent Notre Dame at the Heisman Trophy ceremony if the Fighting Irish finish the season undefeated. However, there’s BYU and Miami still for him to play against – and perhaps he shows himself to be someone other than the operator of a potent run-game supported by a decent defense.
Cornerback Leonard Moore is the best player on this year’s Notre Dame team and the best cover corner in the sport. However, he missed ND’s game against Stanford while recovering from a concussion sustained last week. He’s made eight tackles and four pass breakups in five games this season.
My stat to know: CJ Carr has thrown 16 touchdown passes compared to just one interception so far this season. All eyes will be on the star quarterback when Notre Dame is tested at BYU. Odds to make CFP: -3000 (first)Odds to win national title: +500 (tied second-best) Week 6 game: 20-17 win vs.
AlabamaWeek 7 game: vs. Auburn Kirby Smart hasn’t changed the recipe in Athens, Georgia, for nearly 10 years. They run the ball.
They play stellar defense (SEC opponents must have nightmares about linebackers Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole), and they have depth at every position that is the envy of CFB. That depth was on display when Dwight Phillips, Jr., rushed for 120 yards on 17 rushes after running the ball just 17 times all year prior to taking a chunk out of the nation’s No. 6 team.
Quarterback Gunner Stockton is the best game-manager in the sport, and that’s more than enough at UGA where the quarterback’s job is to make sure the offense doesn’t get in the way of the defense. And Stockton does his job. He’s completing 75 percent of his passes and has thrown 13 TDs to just one interception this season so far.
My stat to know: Saturday night marks Kirby Smart’s first regular season win vs. Alabama and his first win at Bryant-Denny Stadium as Georgia’s head coach. He had been 0-2 in Tuscaloosa, losing 41-24 in 2020 and 41-34 in 2024.
What a way to exorcise some demons. Odds to make CFP: -2500 (second-best)Odds to win national title: +500 (tied second-best)
