Did even the most optimistic Indiana supporters expect that? The Hoosiers went on the road and beat Oregon in a place where the Ducks hadn’t lost a game since Nov. 12, 2022. Oregon hadn’t lost a Big Ten conference game prior to Saturday. Oregon hadn’t lost a regular-season game — period — since Oct. 14, 2023. And the Hoosiers won by 10 while holding the Ducks to just 64 yards of offense in the second half.
What do we do with the Hoosiers now? Where should IU rank? Was that the best win any team has produced all season? Let’s dive into the rankings.
You can find last week’s ranking here.
Ranking the Top 25 résumés in college football
So, what’s the objective here?
I’ll reiterate each week because I think it’s important to be as clear as possible. There’s some ambiguity surrounding the AP Poll and how each voter handles it. This is not a subjective power ranking of the best teams in college football. This is not a subjective ranking of how I think these teams will look at the end of the season or a prediction of who will make the College Football Playoff. This is a ranking that seeks to compare what teams have actually done on the field, free from the bias that gets baked into a preseason ranking. Who you beat matters. Where you beat them matters. How you beat them matters. And losses matter.
Let’s get to it.
Dropped from the ranking: 18 Michigan, 20 Illinois
25. Notre Dame (4-2)
BEST WIN: 56-13 at ArkansasLAST WEEK: 25
Chris “Trash” no more. The Notre Dame defense has looked pretty good for 3 straight games. The Irish actually gave up more yards per play to Arkansas than they did to Purdue, but they also dropped the scoreboard from 30 to 13 and that constitutes progress regardless. Then, Notre Dame held Boise State to 7 and NC State to 7. The splash plays are starting to return, and the offense continues to roll. Notre Dame has 7 takeaways and 8 sacks in its last 2 games; call him “Chris Splash” now.
24. Washington (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten)
BEST WIN: 24-20 at MarylandLAST WEEK: 24
It’s worth mentioning the travel. Washington flew to Maryland — a literal coast-to-coast trip — and won a football game, then flew home, prepped for Rutgers on a truncated timeline, and then mauled the Scarlet Knights. The Huskies are a pretty good football team, and they’re led by a quarterback who is starting to really do some things. Demond Williams Jr. completed 21 of his 27 throws for 402 yards and 2 scores while running for another 136 and 2 touchdowns. It is frankly ridiculous that Washington is not in the AP Poll.
23. Virginia (5-1, 3-0 ACC)
BEST WIN: 30-27 at LouisvilleLAST WEEK: 22
The Cavs were on a bye week, but they moved down a spot. The Florida State win lost a little more of its luster. And 2 teams jumped into the ranking.
22. Cincinnati (5-1, 2-0 Big 12)
BEST WIN: 38-30 vs. Iowa StateLAST WEEK: 23
Cincy was up 20-3 on UCF in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats should be 7-1 when they go to Salt Lake City in a few weeks. If Utah manages a win at BYU this weekend, that would set up as a Big 12 title game play-in.
21. Nebraska (5-1, 2-1 B1G)
BEST WIN: 20-17 vs. CincinnatiLAST WEEK: NR
The Huskers had a narrow neutral-site win, but Kansas City was like a second home. They also lost at home to Michigan. I wanted to see Nebraska win a game in hostile territory. They did that at Maryland, jumping out to a 24-14 lead, blowing that lead, and then rallying in the fourth quarter to win. Matt Rhule is slowly but surely making Husker fans believe the dark days are over.
20. Utah (5-1, 2-1 Big 12)
BEST WIN: 42-10 vs. Arizona StateLAST WEEK: NR
The Utes have not played a close game yet this season. They have 3 road dominations. They have a home blowout of a respected conference opponent. And they have been blown out at home by the best team in their league. I think Utah’s pretty good, and I can’t knock it too much for losing to Texas Tech.
19. BYU (6-0, 3-0 Big 12)
BEST WIN: 33-27 at ArizonaLAST WEEK: 19
The Cougars have 3 wins away from home, 2 of them against SP+ top-60 teams. However, the Colorado and Arizona wins were by 3 points and 6 points, respectively. BYU needed 2 overtimes to survive Arizona. I’m a little hesitant to get behind the Cougars because, just like last year, I wonder how real this is. BYU opened last season 9-0 with 3 wins coming by 3 points or less. The Cougars are 5-2 in single-score games since the start of last season. At some point, that is going to flip. I’d like to see them handle a good team.
18. Missouri (5-1, 1-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 42-31 vs. KansasLAST WEEK: 10
We are into Week 8 and Mizzou is getting set to play its first road game of the season. Following a 27-24 loss to Alabama, I dropped the Tigers pretty significantly. There was a cluster of SEC teams — Missouri, LSU, Vandy, and Oklahoma — that were all compared to one another; Mizzou’s win over South Carolina feels like the shakiest, and after Kansas got embarrassed by Texas Tech, I was left wanting more. I think Mizzou is better than the 18th team, but that’s not the stated mission here. Win a road game and I’ll reassess.
RELATED: Missouri online sports betting will be live before the end of the year. Saturday Down South will have the latest info surrounding the Underdog Sportsbook Missouri launch.
17. Memphis (6-0, 2-0 AAC)
BEST WIN: 32-31 vs. ArkansasLAST WEEK: 16
Memphis was off last week. I’ll explain their move in the section below.
16. South Florida (5-1, 2-0 AAC)
BEST WIN: 18-16 at FloridaLAST WEEK: 17
I flipped South Florida and Memphis after the Bulls abused a really good North Texas team on the road. The Mean Green were 5-0 and starting to inspire some excitement within the fanbase. South Florida walked into their house and put 63 points on them. That result, plus the win at Florida, matters more to me than the Memphis win over Arkansas.
15. LSU (5-1, 2-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 20-10 vs. FloridaLAST WEEK: 15
The Tigers had 3 giveaways, but they won another SEC game by suffocating the opposing offense. South Carolina has plenty of problems when it has the football, so I’m not jumping out of my seat over a 20-10 victory in Baton Rouge.
14. Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 31-7 at South CarolinaLAST WEEK: 13
Vanderbilt was on a bye week last week. I’m anxious to see how the Commodores look following their first defeat of the season.
13. Oklahoma (5-1, 1-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 24-13 vs. MichiganLAST WEEK: 5
What a waste. Oklahoma had a prime opportunity to position itself nicely for a run to the SEC title game. Instead, the Sooners now carry a loss into an absolute gauntlet to close the season. Multiple losses feel likely over the closing 5-game stretch, which is why I can’t really fault the decision by John Mateer to rush back from his injury. The issue against Texas wasn’t Mateer’s surgically repaired hand, though; it was his decision-making. Mateer was slow and/or wrong. Texas killed him for that. Oklahoma’s big wins also took a hit, too, with both Michigan and Auburn faltering.
12. USC (5-1, 3-1 B1G)
BEST WIN: 31-13 vs. MichiganLAST WEEK: 21
I am officially on the USC bandwagon. With multiple starters missing on the offensive line and a running back rotation that was absolutely decimated, the Trojans ran for 224 yards while throttling Michigan. The only blemish on the résumé is a 2-point road loss that came via a walk-off field goal by an upper-tier Big Ten team. USC is 14th in SP+ and 11th in ESPN’s game control metric. The Trojans also lead the nation in net adjusted EPA per play, according to Game on Paper.
11. Georgia Tech (6-0, 2-0 ACC)
BEST WIN: 24-21 vs. ClemsonLAST WEEK: 14
This feels a little high, but Georgia Tech is 10th in ESPN’s strength of record metric. The win at Colorado to open the season looks better given the way the Buffs have performed at home in recent weeks. The win over Clemson is still there. And the Jackets followed up a scare at Wake by bullying Virginia Tech.
10. Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 41-34 at Mississippi StateLAST WEEK: 12
I love the Tennessee offense. I hate the Tennessee defense. At some point, the Vols’ inability to cover in the secondary will bite them in the rear. And that point is probably this Saturday.
9. Georgia (5-1, 3-1 SEC)
BEST WIN: 44-41 at TennesseeLAST WEEK: 11
I just don’t really know what to do with some of these SEC teams. Is Georgia a top-10 team in college football? Probably? I think the SEC has better mid- and lower-tier teams than any other conference and it’s much more difficult to beat some of those teams on the road than it is to beat, say, Minnesota in Minneapolis. Georgia is 5-1 with 4 of those games coming against SEC competition. The Dawgs have an outstanding road win and a 3-point home loss to one of the best teams in the country. All that being said, I don’t particularly care for this team. They don’t have an elite defensive front and I think the quarterback holds them back. For those reasons, they aren’t separating from teams the way others ahead of them have.
8. Oregon (5-1, 2-1 B1G)
BEST WIN: 30-24 at Penn StateLAST WEEK: 2
I need to re-evaluate what Oregon is following a 30-20 home loss to Indiana. I didn’t expect the Hoosiers to handle themselves the way they did on the line of scrimmage against the Ducks, and I’m very curious to see how both of those teams respond to their Week 7 result going forward. Indiana’s offensive line looked awesome and Oregon’s did not. Was that a bad day for the Ducks? Or was the win over Penn State actually meaningless? So far, the 4 FBS opponents Oregon has beaten are a combined 4-12 against all other FBS teams.
7. Ole Miss (6-0, 3-0 SEC)
BEST WIN: 24-19 vs. LSULAST WEEK: 4
Did the Rebels take Washington State seriously? Or was Ole Miss looking ahead to its trip to Athens? We’re going to find out…
6. Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC)
BEST WIN: 24-21 at GeorgiaLAST WEEK: 7
If you take Alabama’s last 3 wins and put them up against the 3 best wins for every other team in my top 10, it gets pretty hard to argue there’s a better trio of results elsewhere. However, no one in the top 10 has a worse loss than the one Alabama suffered in Week 1. The Crimson Tide weren’t ready to play and Florida State has looked progressively worse against every other power conference team it has faced. I think the Crimson Tide are playing elite football right now, but I can’t justify them in my top 5 because of the loss to FSU. Not yet, at least.
5. Texas Tech (6-0, 3-0 Big 12)
BEST WIN: 34-10 at UtahLAST WEEK: 9
I have gathered you all here today to discuss the looming existential threat that is the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Don’t sleep on the Big 12’s best. Don’t disrespect the tortillas. If you’re Brett Yormark, maybe don’t even ask Tech to play another game. The Red Raiders are the best team in the Big 12 and it isn’t particularly close. And I think they can win a Playoff game. Tech is simply better than every single Big 12 offensive line it will face by a wide margin. Only injuries will prevent this team from reaching the CFP. They went on the road to beat down Utah and Houston in consecutive games. Those 2 are a combined 10-0 against everyone else. Then Tech came home to out-gain Kansas on the ground 372-74. Tech is up to No. 4 in SP+ and it ranks third nationally in net adjusted EPA per play. Money well spent in Lubbock.
4. Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
BEST WIN: 34-16 at IllinoisLAST WEEK: 6
I finally figured out what Ohio State is this past weekend. The Buckeyes are pre-Hurts/Tagovailoa Alabama. They have an offensive weapon who is just so singularly spectacular that no defense has an answer, and they have a defense that is unsolvable. The Buckeyes are a boa constrictor. You cannot score on Ohio State in the red zone. You cannot move Ohio State in short-yardage situations. The Buckeyes’ versatility on defense is unmatched. Illinois scoring multiple touchdowns against the Buckeyes felt like a small miracle. Ohio State has handled every single team it has faced. If we’re basing this solely on this season’s accomplishments, I still don’t believe the Week 1 win over Texas is enough to make this team worthy of being No. 1, but Buckeyes are moving in that direction.
3. Texas A&M (6-0, 3-0 SEC)
BEST WIN: 41-40 at Notre DameLAST WEEK: 3
It wouldn’t take much of an argument to convince me Texas A&M is the best team in the SEC. It’s certainly between the Aggies and the Crimson Tide. The Aggies have a road win at Notre Dame and 3 commanding wins against mid-range SEC teams.
2. Indiana (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
BEST WIN: 30-20 at OregonLAST WEEK: 8
I’m not yet sure if I believe Indiana can win a national championship, but I do feel pretty comfortable admitting 2 things. The first: Indiana is better this year than it was last year. The second: Indiana can beat anyone. The Hoosiers terrorized Oregon on the line of scrimmage. And they handled the team speed the Ducks use to overwhelm other teams. Now, IU has a résumé that includes a 63-10 win over a conference opponent and a road win over the reigning Big Ten champs.
1. Miami (5-0, 1-0 ACC)
BEST WIN: 27-24 vs. Notre DameLAST WEEK: 1
No change at the top for me this week, though I did spend some time comparing Indiana’s top-end wins with Miami’s. For now, the challenge of Miami’s nonconference schedule relative to IU’s gives the Canes the edge.
College football’s Top 25 résumé ranking entering Week 8 Saturday Down South.
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