Somewhere in Columbus, a rain-soaked scoreboard is still blinking. The college football rankings got a fresh coat of chaos on Saturday, and the biggest name in the wreckage is Ohio State. The Buckeyes fell 30-18 at USC, and in the latest Fox Sports top 25, only three unbeaten teams are left: Miami, Utah and UCLA.
That is not a typo. Out of 138 teams, three are still perfect on the first day of November. (Perfection, it turns out, is on backorder.)
How Ohio State’s Loss Reshaped the College Football Rankings
Ohio State went into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the No. 2 team in the country, but it left 6-2. The game was played in the rain, and true freshman Luke Fahey made his first start after Julian Sayin went down with a serious arm injury against Indiana, according to Bleacher Report. For the full breakdown of the damage, see what the loss means for the playoff race.
USC, meanwhile, is 7-2 and had just lost to Wisconsin the week before. Because defensive coordinator Gary Patterson called his best game against Ohio State, per the same report, the Buckeyes now sit in the awkward spot of needing to win out. Yahoo Sports put it bluntly: Ohio State can’t afford another loss if it wants a playoff spot.
Georgia Resurges and Miami Tops the Top 25 Rankings
While Ohio State stumbled, Georgia had a very good Saturday. The Bulldogs beat Florida 27-8, and College Football News expects them to collect “a slew of No. 1 votes” in the next AP poll.
That’s quite a swing for a team that was nowhere near the conversation a few weeks ago. If you missed the buildup, here’s why Georgia’s game against Florida was the scary one.
Miami, the No. 1 team, did not make it easy on itself. The Hurricanes rallied past North Carolina 38-35, with a go-ahead score from Fletcher, according to Fox Sports.
A win is a win, but a three-point escape against a team that isn’t in the title picture is the kind of game that gets a team talked about in the wrong way.
Utah and UCLA are both 8-0. UCLA shut out Nevada 27-0 last week, and each went into the weekend in the AP top seven.
Injuries and One Bye Week Are Scrambling Everything
The Fox column makes a point worth repeating. With the sport moving to just one bye week instead of two, roster health matters more than ever.
In fact, injuries to key players at key positions have changed who we expect to be good. Even the SEC is a mess, with half the league within a game of the conference title game.
That volatility shows up lower in the college football poll, too. SMU lost 30-27 to Syracuse, and Boise State needed a 46-45 shootout to get past Texas State. The Group of Six playoff spot, meanwhile, is wide open after James Madison lost twice in a row, per Bleacher Report.
What the College Football Top 25 Means for Your Saturdays
If you’ve been waiting for the sport to sort itself out, don’t hold your breath. The first College Football Playoff rankings are coming soon, and the AP poll lands today, with Miami projected to stay No. 1. Fox lists Week 10 matchups like Missouri vs. Texas, LSU vs. Alabama and Florida vs. Oklahoma, though those are not independently confirmed.
Here’s the thing: these Fox rankings are one writer’s opinion, not the committee’s. But when only three teams are perfect and the second-ranked team just lost by 12, everybody’s opinion gets a little louder, including the one at your tailgate.
So who’s actually the best team in the country right now? Check back next Saturday, and bring a fresh answer.
