It’s a new era of college football.

When the College Football Playoff When the committee announces the rankings later this season, they will not be the end point, given the new seeding rules of the twelve-team field. But the rankings are still fun and people will still fight over them. They are still important.

So after each weekend, after the dust has settled from the games, I’m going to reveal my updated top 10. Here is the latest edition:

1.Texas (5-0)

It was quite an advantageous week for Texas to say goodbye. While the top teams were all over the place, the Longhorns were at home preparing for next weekend’s Red River Rivalry. Texas has blown teams away Bow Manning at the helm in recent weeks, but Quinn Ewers should be back against Oklahoma, ready to lead this Longhorns team in the SEC race. Texas’ only test of the season came at Michigan, and the luster of that win has worn off. Fully healthy, the Longhorns have the opportunity to flex their muscles again on the national stage.
Last week’s rankings: 2

2. Ohio State (5-0)

State of Ohio was dragged into Iowa hell before half football on Saturday, but the Buckeyes ultimately took control of the game and won 35-7. The Buckeyes have yet to be truly tested through their first five games. On paper, Ohio State has the deepest, most talented roster in the country. It has stars all over the field, including freshman receiver Jeremiah Smithwho caught another circus touchdown against the Hawkeyes. But is this team really one of the three elites? We’ll find out a lot next weekend when Ohio State travels to Autzen Stadium to take on Oregon.
Last week’s rankings: 4

3. Oregon (5-0)

Oregon’s season got off to a rough start, but the Ducks are starting to look more like we expected over the last three weeks. Playing in a Friday night spot where things often go off the rails, Oregon took care of business at home, beating Michigan State 31-10. Simply going 6-0 is an achievement in sports this year, but whether Oregon is a fraud is something we’ll find out next weekend when Ohio State comes to town.
Last week’s rankings: 6

4. Georgia (4-1)

Georgia responded with a win after its heartbreaking loss to Alabama last weekend. Thought it was just a four-point game against Auburn early in the third quarter, Georgia took control of the game in the second half and posted a 31-13 victory. It’s hard to put the Bulldogs ahead of Alabama on this list considering they are just a week removed from the loss to the Crimson Tide, but Georgia answered questions about its offensive playmakers in that loss. It’s still built for success at the highest level. If Georgia doesn’t rank that high, we’ll find out in two weeks when it plays Texas on the road.
Last week’s rankings: 5

5. Miami (6-0)

If you went to bed early, you went to bed thinking Miami lost. The Hurricanes trailed 35-10 midway through the third quarter and could have given up. Instead, quarterback Cam Ward led Miami to a thrilling comeback victory over the Golden Bears on the road, scoring 21 unanswered points in the final eleven minutes of the game. Ward threw for 437 yards and turned what was a Miami nightmare into a dream. For a minute, it felt like Miami was going back to its old version of itself. This team? It’s different.
Last week’s rankings: 7

6. Penn State (5-0)

A few weeks ago, there probably didn’t seem like a reasonable route to the top five for Penn State before mid-October. But when half of the top 10 implodes in one week, being a team that won all five games is a very nice achievement. While it’s fair to wonder how this Penn State team would fare against the Ohio States and Georgias of the world, the Nittany Lions got through their schedule without really breaking a sweat (if you can get past that weird Bowling Green game can watch). Penn State defeated UCLA 27-11 on Saturday and now heads to LA to play USC next weekend in a game that suddenly seems much more manageable.
Last week’s rankings: 8

7. Clemson (4-1)

It seems like yesterday Clemson was destroyed by Georgia, but in a sport with a lot of imperfect teams, we have to get past that. Since the loss to the Bulldogs, Clemson has handled everyone on its schedule with ease. The last win was a victory over lowly Florida State, a game in which the Seminoles never had a chance to win. Cade Klubnik is turning into a star before our eyes and Clemson is starting to feel good about itself. This is a team that seems basically guaranteed to at least make it to the ACC Championship Game, esp Miami struggled with Cal on Saturday evening.
Last week’s rankings: 10

8. Alabama (4-1)

Alabama is a very difficult team to rank this week. It’s not just that Vanderbilt got a 40-35 offense, it was How it lost Vanderbilt. This was no fluke. Vanderbilt lined up for four quarters and just beat the Crimson Tide. Alabama probably would have fallen out of the top 10 completely if so many other teams hadn’t lost on Saturday, but here we are. The Crimson Tide still have one of the best wins in college football over Georgia and certainly have the talent to turn around Saturday’s disaster.
Last week’s rankings: 1

9. BYU (5-0)

Who would have thought that? BYU Cougars would be in the top nine nationally at the beginning of October? That’s partly because everyone around it is falling apart. But it’s also because the Cougars have taken care of business so far this year. Not only is BYU 5-0 this season, it also has a win over SMU (which looks better today than it did Friday) and a blowout over Kansas State, a trendy pick to win the Big 12 this year. BYU still has a lot of work to do to maintain this ranking, but it has earned it so far.
Last week’s rankings: NO

10. Iowa State (5-0)

The Big 12 is a mixed bag of crap, but The state of Iowa was a fixture at that conference this year. The Cyclones earned a narrow win over Iowa in a non-conference rivalry game and followed that with wins over Houston and Baylor in their first two Big 12 games. While nothing on Iowa State’s schedule seems all that impressive, take a look at this team’s schedule. It won’t be easy because the Big 12 is unpredictable, but the Cyclones could realistically be 10-0 before closing out the season with games against Utah and Kansas State.
Last week’s rankings: NO