The College Football Playoff rankings have a way of dividing the season into phases.
For the first two months, prior to the rankings' release, teams are jockeying for position, trying to build résumés strong enough to, at minimum, give themselves a realistic path to the 12-team field.
During that phase, there is a temptation to write off most teams with two losses and certainly any with three. Based on the limited history of the 12-team playoff, that has been the natural dividing line. Even some two-loss teams have been left out, so it has been reasonable to assume a third loss would be too much to overcome.
But this year, all bets are off.
If there has been a defining characteristic of this season, it's how often we've been forced to reconsider what we thought we knew. One of the biggest talking points coming out of the first CFP rankings was how low Notre Dame was at No. 11. This, of course, came after the Irish were the last team left out last year, when Miami leapfrogged them in the final rankings despite neither team playing on conference championship weekend.
The committee clearly wasn't impressed by what Notre Dame had accomplished to this point, leaving the Irish in an uncomfortable position despite having just one loss. Even with the likelihood of three-loss teams getting in this year, Notre Dame still had to approach Saturday's game against No. 1 Miami as something close to a must-win.
The Irish responded as needed, beating the Hurricanes 31-24 in a game they controlled throughout. Given the Irish's remaining schedule -- Boston College, SMU, at Syracuse -- they are just about playoff bound.
Saturday also served as an important pivot point for other teams that have been on the proverbial roller coaster of emotions over the past several weeks.
After back-to-back losses to Georgia and Tennessee in October, Alabama was seemingly on the cusp of elimination. But after debuting at No. 5 in the committee's first ranking and backing that up with a 31-13 win against No. 14 LSU, the Tide are a team that could get a first-round bye.
Same with Texas. It also had a two-game skid that dropped the Longhorns from the playoff conversation, only to show up at No. 7 in the rankings and back up the committee's assessment with a 34-20 win against No. 18 Missouri.
On paper, No. 13 Tennessee-No. 6 Kentucky and No. 2 Georgia-No. 10 Ole Miss looked like two of the weekend's most compelling matchups. That was not the case. Tennessee and Georgia delivered resounding victories that raised new questions about the legitimacy of what Kentucky and Ole Miss had accomplished to this point.
Oregon's obituary was written weeks ago, but after upsetting Ohio State on Saturday, the three-loss Ducks' playoff hopes are somehow still flickering.
It's a strange dynamic. For years in college football, we've been conditioned to write off teams early and understand that weeks like this one -- with seven matchups between ranked teams -- will seal the fates for the rest. And while that might still be true for some, this week's results don't necessarily solidify anything.
There are so many circular results across the country that trying to establish a clear hierarchy is next to impossible. Anyone who claims to have strong feelings about what the rankings should look like does so with false confidence.
And then there are UCLA and Utah, two teams that just keep winning while chaos unfolds around them. No. 8 UCLA won at Minnesota 34-20, as quarterback Ty Dieffenbach threw for 303 yards with just eight completions. No. 3 Utah extended the nation's longest winning streak to 14 games with a 28-20 win against No. 9 BYU in the first-ever top-10 matchup in the Holy War.
Long live the Pac-12 south.
In another era, an undefeated Big Ten team and an undefeated Big 12 team at this stage of the season would be on a collision course to play for the national title. Now, they're just two more teams in the pot of contenders.
The rankings might divide the season into two phases, but there's no reason to think the second will be any more predictable than the first.
Jump to:
Utah's emphatic win
The Big Ten runs through UCLA
An NFL-style race in the SEC
Closing bell
Utah wins the latest against rival BYU
For years, Utah planned for the Kyle Whittingham-to-Morgan Scalley succession plan. The idea was simple: Whittingham would retire, do some skiing and hang around in an advisory capacity, as Scalley took the baton. Continuity was part of the plan.
But when Whittingham left for Michigan, he took much of Utah's staff and several players with him, fracturing the foundation Scalley was supposed to inherit. What was designed to be a seamless transition suddenly became something different.
It was messy enough that external expectations for the Utes were hard to calibrate, making what has transpired in Salt Lake City so far this season that much more interesting.
With Saturday's victory against BYU, Scalley improved to 10-0 as Utah's head coach, including last year's Las Vegas Bowl win. He's just the sixth FBS coach in the past 40 years to begin his career with 10 straight wins, joining Larry Coker (Miami), Ryan Day (Ohio State), Chris Petersen (Boise State), Josh Heupel (UCF) and Tom Herman (Houston).
Utah is also 9-0 for just the third time in program history. The other two occasions, in 2004 and 2008, ended with undefeated seasons.
Meanwhile, Whittingham's move to Michigan has been disappointing. The Wolverines dropped to 5-4 following Saturday's abysmal 15-6 loss to lowly Michigan State, ensuring what will be remembered as a lost season.
It's a fascinating contrast. Whittingham left for one of the sport's most prestigious programs, bringing much of the staff that helped build Utah into a perennial contender. Yet it's the program he left behind, led by the coach who waited patiently for his chance, that has emerged as a national championship contender.
The Big Ten runs through UCLA
Conference realignment has created a lot of bizarre realities, and the Big Ten standings are currently one of them.
When UCLA and USC announced they were leaving the Pac-12, it was the Trojans who figured to be the more significant addition from a competitive standpoint. And when Oregon and Washington followed, the Big Ten had absorbed three of the Pac-12's best programs. UCLA was something of an afterthought in football.
Yet, here we are, living in a world in which UCLA vs. Indiana is the most likely Big Ten championship game matchup. For decades, when the Rose Bowl paired the winners of the Big Ten and the Pac-12, they could have met in Pasadena. But they never did.
If the Bruins win two of their final three games -- Illinois, at Michigan, USC -- they're in. And in that scenario, it's hard to imagine they wouldn't also reach the playoff regardless of the outcome in Indianapolis.
Indiana has a slightly more complicated path. The Hoosiers need to win out -- USC, at Washington, Purdue -- to guarantee their spot, with Oregon, Ohio State, Wisconsin, USC and Illinois all lurking with two conference losses.
An NFL-style race in the SEC
No. 2 Georgia's 42-7 demolition of No. 10 Ole Miss leaves the Bulldogs as the clear No. 1 in the SEC, and, coupled with Miami's loss, they could be the new No. 1 team in the country this week, restoring the spot they occupied in the AP poll for a week earlier in the year.
But after the Dawgs, there isn't much to differentiate the conference's next tier. Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and Tennessee all have two conference losses. South Carolina, LSU, Missouri and Oklahoma all have three. There is so much parity that there is a decent shot the conference championship game could be a two-loss team vs. a three-loss team.
As college football became professionalized, perhaps this was the inevitable end result. This type of race would be common in the NFL, but in college it feels a bit odd.
Whether it's good or bad is a matter of personal taste, but there is something refreshing about going into a weekend knowing just about any result is possible.
The closing bell
Buy: Oregon
The Ducks were dead and buried, but after back-to-back wins against ranked opponents -- Northwestern and Ohio State -- the path to a 9-3 record seems achievable, if not expected.
Sell: Nebraska
There was a time, not too long ago, when Nebraska was 5-0 and had the defending national champion, Indiana, on the ropes. Now, after four straight losses, it's no longer a foregone conclusion the Cornhuskers will even reach a bowl game. They do have Rutgers next week, but they can't afford a slipup against the Scarlet Knights, as they have Ohio State and Iowa to end the year.
Hold: Florida State
In a chaotic week that began with coach Mike Norvell getting fired, the Seminoles did something they haven't done in years: win on the road. The last time FSU won a true road game was Nov. 25, 2023, against Florida, to finish the regular season 13-0. Imagine knowing then that Norvell would never win another road game as FSU's head coach. It would have been almost inconceivable.
Buy: New Mexico
The Lobos have been a steady buy all year, but they get another shoutout this week after beating Nevada 31-3 in their first-ever game as a team ranked in the AP poll, where they were No. 22 this week.
Sell: Northwestern
After starting 6-1, the Wildcats have lost back-to-back games and their celebrated offense was a disaster without starting quarterback Aidan Chiles in a 24-10 loss to Iowa.
Buy: Ohio
It was a notable week in the Buckeye State, where Ohio now has a better record than Ohio State. The Bobcats beat Akron 28-20 and remain the only undefeated team in the MAC.
Sell: Florida
The Gators woke up ranked No. 24 in the CFP rankings and went to sleep with a losing record in the SEC after falling 23-7 to Oklahoma.
Buy: Boise State
Without starting quarterback Maddux Madsen, the Broncos scored 64 points and piled up 669 yards of total offense in a win against Colorado State.
Buy: Knowing the rules
This space doesn't usually reserve a spot for South Dakota high school football, but sometimes you have to make an exception. With a trip to the state championship on the line, Bennett County was down six points on its 33-yard line with only six seconds to go. Naturally, the only option was to start lateraling the ball and hope for a miracle.
On one of those laterals, the ball bounced into the hands of a player named Maddux Risse. Because it was thrown like a forward pass, it looked like an incompletion, and Risse's body language suggested the play was over. The defense certainly thought so, breaking into celebration.
There was just one problem: The ball was still live.
MUST SEE VIDEO!!!! THE STANFORD BAND PLAY REINCARNATED! Bennett County with a miracle play to reach the 9A State Title Game and defeat Kimball/White Lake 45-44 on the last play of the game!!!! (Courtesy LiveTicket TV) #SDPreps https://t.co/bud8pX9pDN
— Zach Borg (@IceBorg) November 7, 2026
As the defense celebrated, Risse took off up the sideline, racing all the way to the end zone for an improbable touchdown. The ensuing extra point won the game and sent Bennett County to the state championship. An incredible combination of luck and poise.
