An exciting week of college football action is followed up by two more huge clashes in the SEC this weekend that could again shake up the power rankings.
1. Texas Longhorns (6-0) | Last week: 1
Star quarterback Quinn Ewers struggled early in his return to the lineup for the Red River Rivalry, but the Longhorns eventually got rolling on their way to a 34-3 victory. Now, they host a powerhouse Georgia team that already has a loss in the biggest game of the regular season for Texas.
2. Oregon Ducks (6-0) | Last week: 3 (+1)
Oregon escaped with a home win over Ohio State in a down-to-the-wire thriller, and head coach Dan Lanning—while he hasn’t commented—seemed to have purposely made a very crafty move with an illegal substitution to drain the clock for the Buckeyes in the final seconds. Following a Friday night showdown versus Purdue this week, Oregon will take on Illinois and Michigan.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) | Last week: 2 (-1)
Losing a top-five matchup in a hostile road environment with a chance to win at the end shouldn’t cause Ohio State to fall down the rankings—but there is no denying the defense needs to be better than it was last Saturday night. We’ll see if top cornerback Denzel Burke can rebuild his confidence after a rough outing for him personally.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-1) | Last week: 4
Jalen Milroe was pressured and uncharacteristically threw a couple of interceptions last week, and the Crimson Tide barely escaped with a win after South Carolina recovered a late onside kick. Both sides of the ball need to tighten things up over the next three weeks versus No. 11 Tennessee, No. 19 Missouri, and No. 8 LSU.
5. Georgia Bulldogs (5-1) | Last week: 5
It was a surprise to see Carson Beck air it out 48 times last week, but the Bulldogs will probably want to have more balance this week with the trio of Trevor Etienne, Branson Robinson, and Nate Frazier for the primetime showdown against Texas. The only two road games this season for Georgia were the 13-12 win over Kentucky and the 41-34 loss to Alabama.
6. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-0) | Last week: 7 (+1)
Penn State overcame a 20-6 road deficit to beat USC in overtime on Saturday, and it’s a great sign that they found a way to win on the road despite three interceptions for Drew Allar. Wisconsin won’t be an easy opponent this weekend with blowouts over Purdue (52-6) and Rutgers (42-7) so far in October.
7. Miami Hurricanes (6-0) | Last week: 6 (-1)
The Hurricanes come out of the bye with the ACC looking stronger than anticipated, as Pittsburgh joins them at 6-0—while Clemson, SMU, Syracuse, and Duke all sit at 5-1.
8. Clemson Tigers (5-1) | Last week: NR
The 34-3 loss to Georgia in the opener remains a negative mark on the resume, but Clemson’s offense has been extremely balanced to match a very talented defense. If the Tigers continue stacking together wins, they have a good chance of winning the ACC and being one of the top seeds in the College Football Playoff.
9. LSU Tigers (5-1) | Last week: NR
LSU also began the season with a loss (27-20 to USC), but they’ve gone 5-0 since—with the overtime win over Ole Miss last week getting them back into the top ten. A letdown against Arkansas can’t happen with No. 14 Texas A&M and No. 7 Alabama up after that.
10. Tennessee Volunteers (5-1) | Last week: 8 (-2)
The expanded playoff field might make “style points” more important when the committee begins stacking teams with two or three losses, so Tennessee’s play in recent weeks with the high-flying offense being limited to 20.7 points per game is a concern for them—especially with games against Alabama (this week) and Georgia still to come.