Graphic by the College Football Playoff
Texas and Oregon are ranked at the top. They are the two best teams in the country and are two of only 11 undefeated teams left in college football as we reach the halfway mark. Let’s see where everyone else fits in the rankings.
1. Texas (6-0) (Last Week #2) (Ranked #1 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
To no one’s surprise this year Texas stampeded Oklahoma. The Longhorns won the Red River Shootout empathically. They got Quinn Ewers back and wore down the Sooner defense. Texas won 34-3. They welcome Georgia to Austin next week in a matchup that doesn’t look as tough as it did a few weeks ago. The Dawgs struggled more (41-31) with Mississippi State than Toledo did (41-17).
2. Oregon (6-0) (Last Week #3) (Ranked #2 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Oregon is a good team and deserves to be in the top two. But if they rest on this upset they’ll trip up like they did in 2021. Because Ohio State is not good. Their current culture is they’ll pound the teams they out talent and choke against the teams that meet them on equal terms. Ryan Day is 1-7 against top-five teams and the one was in the crazy Covid season. The Ducks have work to do but they should be able to practically put it on cruise control from here on out and be 12-0 going into the Big Ten Championship in Indy in December.
3. Penn State (6-0) (Last Week #4) (Ranked #3 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
And Oregon won’t be getting an Ohio State rematch in December either. They’ll get Penn State. The Nittany Lions clawed their way back after being down 20-6 at halftime to beat the USC Trojans 33-30 in overtime. This is a big win for James Franklin because he has struggled to close out games against programs of equal prestige in the Big Ten. Beat Ohio State in November and get to Indy and that perception is not just hit like it was today, it’s severely damaged.
4. Miami (6-0) (Last Week #5) (Ranked #6 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Canes had the week off too and still moved up a little with the Buckeyes’ loss. They travel to a solid 4-2 Louisville for their next game.
5. Iowa State (6-0) (Last Week #6) (Ranked #9 and #12 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
After six games it certainly looks like Iowa State and BYU are on a collision course for the Big 12 Championship Game. They’re playing similar football with great defense and solid offenses that don’t shoot themselves in the foot. Right now I see the Cyclones having an edge in the potential Big 12 title game but both teams making the playoffs.
6. BYU (6-0) (Last Week #7) (Ranked #13 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Kalani Sitake has his BYU Cougars 6-0 and one of only two undefeated Big 12 teams left. They stifled Noah Fifita and Arizona in Provo. BYU will welcome a reeling Oklahoma State to LaVell Edwards Stadium next Saturday. They played a classic last year where BYU nearly upset Oklahoma State in Stillwater, this year the boot is on the other foot as Jake Retzlaff and the Cougs will be favored.
7. Indiana (6-0) (Last Week #8) (Ranked #16 and #18 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Hoosiers had a week off and still won! They’re now one place further up in the Big Ten standings with the fall of Ohio State. The Hoosiers face a stiff test on Saturday as they take on #21 Nebraska who is 5-1 and improving every week.
8. Pittsburgh (6-0) (Last Week #9) (Ranked #20 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Pitt stayed perfect with a tight 17-15 win at home over Cal. The Panthers improve to 6-0. Next, they host rival and fellow resurgent Syracuse. Pennsylvania native Kyle McCord and the Orange will shoot it out with Eli Holstein and the Panthers.
9. Liberty (5-0) (Last Week #10) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
I have tons of respect for Liberty. Going 18-1 in your head coach’s first 19 games is nothing to sneeze at in any level of football, but especially FBS college football. Flames fans better enjoy Coach Chadwell while they have him because it seems only conference expansion and Liberty moving to a better league than Conference USA can maybe keep him around. Though that’s no guarantee, just ask the Cincinnati Bearcats about Luke Fickell. Keep an eye on Liberty, they’re building something.
10. Army (6-0) (Last Week #11) (Ranked #23 and #24 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Army wins again and is now bowl eligible! The Black Knights won by 34 points and their start quarterback Bryson Daily had another big game. Daily was three of seven passing for 102 yards and a touchdown but then ran like a running back again with 12 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
11. Navy (5-0) (Last Week #12) (Ranked #25 and Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Midshipmen had the week off before they receive a visit from Charlotte on the 19th. Their undefeated season and march to the AAC Championship continues with a visit from the 49ers.
12. Notre Dame (5-1) (Last Week #13) (Ranked #12 and #11 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
I ask myself this question every week, so why stop now, but how the heck did Notre Dame lose to NIU? They don’t look like the same team that lost to the 4-2 Northern Illinois Huskies. They’ve found their offense and are gaining momentum every week. They get a visit from 5-2 Georgia Tech next week in a battle of two teams trying to fight their way into the playoffs.
13. Texas A&M (5-1) (Last Week #14) (Ranked #14 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Aggies had the week off. They travel to Mississippi State next to take on the reeling Bulldogs and try to get their sixth win in a row.
14. Kansas State (5-1) (Last Week #15) (Ranked #17 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
K-State will travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia after their win over Colorado in Boulder. The Wildcats have bounced back strong from their loss to BYU with Avery Johnson and DJ Giddens leading the charge. The Farmageddon game against ISU at the end of the year could be for a Big 12 title game berth and a rematch against the Cougars.
15. Boise State (5-1) (Last Week #16) (Ranked #15 and #19 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Ashton Jeanty continues to run away with the Heisman. He has over 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns in only six games. Two of which he didn’t play in the entire second half so only five games really! Jeanty and the Broncos are the favorite to be the Group of Five representative in the playoffs by a country mile. In their lone loss to Oregon, they played as well as Ohio State did maybe even better in the same venue against the same team. And they’re just crushing everyone else, including #18 and 5-1 Washington State.
16. SMU (5-1) (Last Week #17) (Ranked #21 and #23 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Pony Express had the week off before they travel to the West Coast to take on Stanford next week.
17. Syracuse (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #19) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Kyle McCord and Syracuse are exceeding all expectations right now. They beat N.C. State 24-17 and have a tough task in front of them now. They have to travel to Pittsburgh and take on a very tough Panther defense. New coach Fran Brown against old veteran Coach Pat Narduzzi will be an interesting matchup to watch.
18. Washington State (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #20) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Washington State has to miss being in a conference right now with how well their playing. Their lone loss is to a Boise State team that is running over everyone including in their loss to Oregon. They have a big victory over #19 and 5-1 Texas Tech and 4-3 rival Washington. Even if they were in the Mountain West they’d have a shot at the playoffs but being in that gray zone of playing the Mountain West but not being able to win it means they could go 11-1 with their lone loss to a playoff-bound team and still not make the field of 12 themselves.
19. Texas Tech (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #21) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Tech had the week off but is happily in third place in the Big 12 right now. They have two big victories over 5-1 North Texas and #22 and 5-1 Arizona State. The rest of their schedule is very manageable but they only get a shot at Iowa State to try to get into first place in the Big 12. Before that though they have to win the state of Texas in the Big 12 by beating Baylor and then TCU.
20. Illinois (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #22) (Ranked #22 and #21 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Illini won an old-fashioned shootout for the Purdue Cannon against their conference rival from West Lafayette, Indiana. Illinois may have been caught looking ahead to a couple of difficult games coming up and it almost cost them. Their defense stopping a 2-point conversion by Purdue saved their bacon in overtime. Next, they welcome Michigan to Champaign before traveling to conference favorite Oregon.
21. Nebraska (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #23) (Unranked and Ranked #25 in the AP and Coaches Polls
Nebraska had a bye this week before they face a tough two-game stretch. Both games are on the road. The first is against 6-0 Indiana who are having a great year under Curt Cignetti. The second is a road trip to Ohio State who will be trying to get back in the win column after stewing in the Oregon loss for two weeks. If Nebraska has turned a corner with Dylan Raiola and Matt Rhule they should win one of these two games and could win both when in days past one would certainly be a loss.
22. Arizona State (5-1) (Last Week Ranked #25) (Unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls)
Cam Skattebo carried the Sun Devils on his back in this win over Utah. Skattebo had 22 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He also added four catches for 44 yards. Arizona State was 3-9 last year and are 5-1 in this the second year of the Kenny Dillingham Era. They are in the run for the Big 12 and take on league leader BYU in November but first, they must come to Ohio and fight a scrappy 4-2 Cincinnati team this Saturday.
23. Ohio State (5-1) (Last Week #1) (Ranked #4 and #5 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
This is who Ohio State is in the past six seasons of football. They get massive amounts of talent. Beat up the little teams that they should. Then when faced with a team that has nearly the same talent, they falter. It’s like a new form of Clemsoning. I love my team, but I have run out of faith and hope in them until they finally do things differently. They’ve been promising and not delivering since 2019. I want to be wrong. They have to sit in this loss for two weeks before they get a chance to play again against a resurgent Nebraska.
24. Tennessee (5-1) (Last Week Unranked) (Ranked #11 and #10 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
The Vols have struggled mightily in their last two games and are lucky to be 1-1 in them. But Tennessee still has a very high ceiling. Their two toughest teams left are powerhouses in Georgia and Alabama but those teams have look even more beatable than the Vols the past couple of weeks. Beat Bama next week at home and Tennessee will be favored to play Texas in the SEC Championship Game
25. LSU (5-1) (Last Week Unranked) (Ranked #8 in the AP and Coaches Polls)
While their loss to USC continues to age like milk outside on a Louisiana summer day, the Tigers have just kept winning since. They got some stiff road tests coming up next though. First in traveling to an upset-minded Arkansas and then to another team that’s won five in a row the Texas A&M Aggies.
Game of the Week
College Football Playoff and Record Projections
Now that most teams have played half of their regular season games I’m going to add record projections to the 12-team playoff field.
- Texas (13-0) (Currently 6-0)
- Oregon (13-0) (Currently 6-0)
- Miami (13-0) (Currently 6-0)
- Iowa State (13-0) (Currently 6-0)
- Penn State (11-2) (Currently 6-0)
- BYU (12-1) (Currently 6-0)
- Tennessee (11-2) (Currently 5-1)
- Notre Dame (11-1) (Currently 5-1)
- Ohio State (10-2) (Currently 5-1)
- Texas A&M (10-2) (Currently 5-1)
- Indiana (11-1) (Currently 6-0)
- Boise State (12-1) (Currently 5-1)
First Round
6. BYU (12-1) vs. 11. Indiana (11-1)
Friday, December 20th, 2024 – Provo, Utah
5. Penn State (11-2) vs. 12. Boise State (12-1)
Saturday, December 21st, 2024 – State College, Pennsylvania
7. Tennessee (11-2) vs. 10. Texas A&M (10-2)
Saturday, December 21st, 2024 – Knoxville, Tennessee
8. Notre Dame (11-1) vs. 9. Ohio State (10-2)
Saturday, December 21st, 2024 – South Bend, Indiana
Quarterfinals
1. Texas (13-0) vs. 8. Notre Dame (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl
Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 – New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Oregon (13-0) vs. 7. Tennessee (12-2) in the Rose Bowl
Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 – Pasadena, California
3. Miami (13-0) vs. 6. BYU (13-1) in the Peach Bowl
Wednesday, January 1st, 2025 – Atlanta, Georgia
4. Iowa State (13-0) vs. 5. Penn State (12-2) in the Fiesta Bowl
Tuesday, December 31st, 2024 – Phoenix, Arizona
Semifinals
1. Texas (14-0) vs. 5. Penn State (13-2) in the Cotton Bowl
Friday, January 10th, 2025 – Dallas, Texas
2. Oregon (14-0) vs. 6. BYU (14-1) in the Orange Bowl
Thursday, January 9th, 2025 – Miami, Florida
Championship
1. Texas (15-0) vs. 2. Oregon (15-0)
Monday, January 20th, 2025 – Atlanta, Georgia
