College Football Rankings: Florida, LSU Up; Michigan, USC Fall — Plus 3 New Teams

Look, Texas has the best win in the sport — against a top-5 Ohio State at home. On Saturday, the Longhorns added another victory — against undefeated AP Top 25-ranked Tennessee. Given that Texas remains undefeated with two of the most impressive wins in the sport, there is no good and reasonable argument for ranking the Longhorns anywhere other than No. 1.

However.

This sport is irrational and runs on emotion and vibes. 

And my vibe is: 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, despite having played little (Tennessee State) and (a new) nobody (Oklahoma), that feels like the most complete and devastating team in the sport through Week 4.

Put aside that Oklahoma has become the kind of team that turns college football fans into productive members of society on Saturdays. Then ask yourself which one of the teams ranked below you’d pick to beat a team that has crushed every other team it's played by 28 points or more this season? If it ain’t Georgia, let’s hope the Martians make it quick because you’d be wrong.

With that, here are my top-25 rankings after a thrilling Week 4.

Week 4 game: 20-19 loss vs. Iowa
Week 5 game: At Minnesota

Despite one loss on paper — and two for those of us who watched the end of regulation in Michigan’s home-opener against Western Michigan — the Wolverines are a mere one (OK, two) second(s) from being 4-0. And their only loss is to an undefeated and top 25-ranked Iowa.

Week 4 game: 47-21 loss vs. Oregon
Week 5 game: Washington

Even with a College Football Hall of Fame defensive play-caller in Gary Patterson, the Trojans defense remains a glaring weakness for Lincoln Riley’s team. (However, a new defensive coordinator doesn't mean this is a new problem for Riley.) This season the Trojans have allowed four of their five opponents to score at least 26 points and at least 35 in their last two games.

Week 4 game: 42-28 win vs. Georgia Southern
Week 5 game: UCF

Quarterback Connor Weigman accounted for six total touchdowns in a rout of a program Houston's Willie Fritz coached from 2013 to 2015. Welcome back, Cougars.

Week 4 game: 41-24 win vs. West Virginia
Week 5 game: Bye

The Cowboys took down previously unbeaten West Virginia with more than 600 yards of offense, a 300-yard passer (Drew Mestemaker), 180-yard rusher (Caleb Hawkins) and 190-yard receiver (Wyatt Young) with a third-straight game of scoring 39 points or more. And after Oregon’s win against formerly undefeated USC, Oklahoma State's win against the Ducks looks rather impressive.

Week 4 game: 21-14 win vs. Boston College 
Week 5 game: Pitt

James Franklin’s Hokies got this win done in the midst of a nor’easter storm — wind gusts of more than 40 miles per hour and heavy rain — to remain unbeaten and a trendy pick to earn a chance to play for the ACC championship.

Week 4 game: Bye
Week 5 game: Wyoming

Week 4 game: 31-24 loss vs. Mississippi State
Week 5 game: Florida

Despite taking a one-score lead into the fourth quarter, the Missouri defense couldn’t hold the line — giving up 14 points in the final 15 minutes — and the offense couldn’t score. Quarterback Austin Simmons hit 59% of his passes for 295 yards with three passing touchdowns in the loss.

Week 4 game: 54-3 win vs. Maryland
Week 5 game: Bye

The Bruins continued their undefeated start to the Bob Chesney era with a 51-point demolition of (not-so) longtime Big Ten member Maryland. UCLA allowed just 39 rushing yards and created five Terrapins turnovers.

Week 4 game: 20-19 win vs. Michigan
Week 5 game: Ohio State

In a karmic win for many college football fans, Hawkeyes quarterback Hank Brown hit receiver Reece Vander Zee for a touchdown as time expired at the Big House to keep Iowa undefeated. In a twist, the Hawkeyes passing offense (227 yards), led by Brown, out-gained the Hawkeyes rushing attack (59 yards) while playing turnover-free football.

Week 4 game: 20-17 loss vs. Texas
Week 5 game: Auburn

Despite being gifted 155 yards in penalties and an outstanding effort from the Vols defense, we learned — the hard way — that Tennessee will only be as good as true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon can be. Against the Longhorns, he wasn't great with 17 completions on 29 attempts for 145 yards with a touchdown. And he was sacked 10 times.

Week 4 game: 31-17 win vs. Iowa State
Week 5 game: Bye

Utah opened Big 12 play with a workmanlike win against the Cyclones with nearly identical passing (206) and rushing (205) yards and absolutely no turnovers.

Week 4 game: 52-28 loss vs. Florida
Week 5 game: Bye

Pete Golding’s defense gave up 302 rushing yards and 498 total yards to a Florida team that set about breaking the Rebels’ will early. Heisman Trophy candidate Trinidad Chambliss accounted for 342 total yards with three total touchdowns and two turnovers.

Week 4 game: 31-24 win vs. Missouri
Week 5 game: Alabama

Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor engineered a 14-point fourth quarter to earn the Bulldogs their first ranked win and against an undefeated foe. If you’re looking for the 2026 version of 2025 Vanderbilt, it's playing ball in Starkville, Mississippi, this year.

Week 4 game: 41-27 win vs. USC
Week 5 game: Bye

With starting quarterback Dante Moore knocked out of the game early, former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola stepped in and took charge with a brilliant performance. Saturday against USC — the last team he played against as a Husker, and broke his leg — Raiola completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns.

Week 4 game: Bye
Week 5 game: At TCU

Week 4 game: 35-6 win vs. Texas A&M
Week 5 game: McNeese

The Tigers bounced back from their emotional loss to Ole Miss by absolutely crushing a Texas A&M team that had no business being ranked in the AP Top 25 this week. (Aggies haven't been on my list for two weeks now.) Before leaving the game due to injury, quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards with two touchdowns.

Week 4 game: 49-14 win vs. Sam Houston
Week 5 game: At Colorado

In one of the wildest two-play sequences, linebacker Austin Romaine picked off two different Sam Houston quarterbacks, in back-to-back plays, and returned both interceptions for touchdowns.

Week 4 game: 49-18 win vs. South Carolina
Week 5 game: At Mississippi State

The Crimson Tide have a burgeoning star in quarterback Keelon Russell, who completed 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards with four passing touchdowns in a demolition of a South Carolina team many NFL Draftniks believe possesses a future first-rounder at quarterback in LaNorris Sellers. Alabama might beg to differ after holding Sellers to just 185 passing yards and one touchdown, plus intercepting him once.

Week 4 game: 52-28 win vs. Ole Miss
Week 5 game: At Missouri

Jon Sumrall’s Gators have scored at least 40 points in every game they’ve played this season, and they hung 52 on the AP No. 4-ranked team in the country, Ole Miss, which had wins against top-ranked opponents LSU and Louisville before Florida crushed its dream of an undefeated season.

Week 4 game: 42-19 win vs. Illinois
Week 5 game: At Iowa

Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith notched a career-high for receiving yards in a game with 12 catches for 217 yards with four receiving touchdowns. That performance will keep Smith at the front of the Heisman Trophy conversation.

Week 4 game: 29-23 win vs. Northwestern
Week 5 game: At Rutgers

Following a win against Western Kentucky last weekend that did not look as convincing on the field as on the scoreboard, Curt Cignetti chastised Hoosier fans. "Don’t bitch about a 38-0 win." What about a 29-23 win where your Hoosiers blew a double-digit lead against a Northwestern team that gave up a safety in its first play from scrimmage? 

What about a 29-23 win that was under threat until the last 40 seconds of the game?

Yes, Indiana remains undefeated. But instead of asking if this team is dominant, we’re left asking: How long can it keep its winning streak going if it insists on playing down to its competition?

Week 4 game: 52-3 win vs. Central Michigan
Week 5 game: At Clemson

The Hurricanes are simply crushing every team they play so far, with quarterback Darian Mensah throwing for 338 yards on 23 of 27 passing with three touchdowns before being pulled from the game. Wide receiver Malachi Toney added six catches for 120 yards with a touchdown too. This team, like the next one, looks flawless.

Week 4 game: 49-10 win vs. Purdue
Week 5 game: At North Carolina

In what most consider a ho-hum 39-point win for the Fighting Irish against a Big Ten cellar-dweller, Notre Dame accomplished a first: Finished the month of September undefeated in the Marcus Freeman era. Perhaps that’s a harbinger of a national title to come?

Week 4 game: 41-13 win vs. Oklahoma
Week 5 game: Vanderbilt

It’s less like Georgia defeated Oklahoma, and it’s more like Oklahoma never gave Georgia a chance to beat the Sooners worse than the Sooners could be themselves. Didn’t matter, though. No. 2 Georgia beat Oklahoma (41-13) by the same margin that it beat Arkansas (45-17) last week: 28 points.

Week 4 game: 20-17 win vs. Tennessee
Week 5 game: Bye

The Longhorns defense bullied the Volunteers, and true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon became the most popular piñata in the city of Knoxville for three hours. Brandon was sacked 10 times with five coming at the hands of defensive end Colin Simmons, who — despite a stupid, notable penalty — fell just short of setting the single-game record for sacks against what once was a top-15 team in the AP rankings and a top-20 one here.