Ranked teams in college football are never safe.

Unranked enemies lurk around every corner. Start-ups and setbacks abound. Madness is alive and well here in college football. Crazy is the norm. Crazy is the way.

So in many ways, Week 6 of college football delivered exactly what we’ve come to expect. And maybe something else.

Four top 11 teams lost to unranked foes: (1) Vanderbilt’s historic win over No. 1 Alabama; (2) Arkansas fourth-quarter comeback vs. No. 4 Tennessee; (3) Washington’s revenge victory in a national title rematch against No. 10 Michigan; and (4) Minnesota’s wild – and risky – gamble on the fourth goal line that defeated No. 11 USC.

It is the first time since 2007 that four teams ranked so highly have lost to unranked opponents on the same day. It marks the first time in history that two top-five SEC teams lost to unranked conference opponents. And it’s the first time Vanderbilt has beaten a top-ranked team in 61 tries.

Six undefeated teams lost, including the two top-five teams, as well as Duke (against Georgia Tech), Missouri (at Texas A&M), UNLV (against Syracuse) and James Madison (against UL-Monroe). It has given us twelve undefeated points in all of FBS, two of which are meeting next week (Oregon-Ohio State).

Army and Navy are 5-0 for the first time since the 1940s. Iowa State is 5-0 for the first time since 1980. Indiana is 6-0 for the first time since 1967. Pitt is 5-0 for the first time since 1991.

Besides the setbacks, there was much more madness.

What about Heisman Trophy favorite Ashton Jeanty? The Boise State running back ran for a 63-yard touchdown on the first Saturday and broke the 1,000-yard mark for the season on his 90th carry and in the fifth game of the year.

Who would have thought the Texas A&M Aggies and first-year coach Mike Elko would be atop the SEC standings at 3-0? And that Texas, five weeks into the season, would be the only undefeated team in the new league?

In the meantime there was a lot of misery. Kansas lost a fifth straight game after leading in the fourth quarter; Auburn and coach Hugh Freeze lost a third straight game; Mack Brown’s Tar Heels fell to Pitt for the third consecutive loss; Florida State fell to 1-5; and USC is now 22-10 in Year 3 under $10 million-a-year coach Lincoln Riley.

The wild Saturday produced a pretty wild Top 10. Remember, we don’t take into account preseason rankings or postseason results in our poll. The Top 10 relies heavily on strength of schedule and quality of wins. Enjoy!

1. Penn State Nittany Lions

This week: Beat UCLA 27-11

Next week: at USC

Surprised the Nittany Lions are at the top of the rankings? Don’t be. They have two good wins: a road win at West Virginia and at home against a ranked Illinois team. They got a ho-hum win over the Bruins on Saturday. Excellent result from the offense. Great performance by the defense. James Franklin’s team hasn’t overlooked one LA team for another. A win at USC next week would knock the Trojans out of the playoffs and put Penn State in position for an at-large or automatic berth.

2. Oregon ducks

This week: defeated Michigan State 31-10

Next week: vs. Ohio State

The Ducks started the season with mediocre performances against Idaho and Boise. Since then, they have defeated Oregon State, UCLA and Michigan State 114-37. Dan Lanning’s group is humming with the Buckeyes on deck for a Big Ten showdown on Saturday night. Can RB Jordan James (269 yards in last two games) keep tearing it up?

3. Texas Longhorns

This week: Goodbye

Next week: vs. Oklahoma (Dallas)

The Longhorns should get a healthy (or mostly healthy) Quinn Ewers back just in time for their annual rivalry battle with the Sooners in the old Cotton Bowl, followed by a highly anticipated matchup against Georgia in Austin. That Michigan win looks less impressive and there really isn’t much else on the resume (so far).

4. Ohio State Buckeyes

This week: defeated Iowa 35-7

Next week: in Oregon

The Buckeyes are finally making their debut in the Top 10. And if you’re wondering what took so long, just take a look at their early season schedule (Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall). Blowout wins over Michigan State and Iowa are enough to move them up the rankings a week before the showdown against the Ducks, where one question lingers: Can freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith make it three straight games with a one-handed touchdown catch?

5. Miami Hurricanes

This week: beat Cal 39-38

Next week: See you later

Trailing by 25 points late in the third quarter, the Hurricanes needed a wild fourth-quarter comeback for the second week in a row. QB Cam Ward led the charge, running for a 24-yard score, completing an 18-yard touchdown pass and then hitting his favorite target, Xavier Restrepo, for 77 yards to put the Canes in position for the game-winning touchdown with 26 seconds left. left.

6. BYU Cougars

This week: Goodbye

Next week: vs. Arizona

You might doubt a BYU in the top five, but the Cougars have two good wins (Kansas State and SMU), are atop the Big 12 standings and have one of the best defenses in the country. Dual-threat QB Jake Retzlaff is averaging 272 yards in total offense.

7. Georgia Bulldogs

This week: defeated Auburn 31-13

Next week: vs. Mississippi State

After Georgia’s loss at Alabama last Saturday, Nick Saban says he sent Kirby Smart a message: “This isn’t the worst thing that ever happened. Most of our best teams have lost a game somewhere and they responded the right way,” Saban said, he wrote to Smart. Well, a week later the Bulldogs largely pulled off a win at Auburn, perhaps the first in a long line?

8. Clemson Tigers

This week: Defeated Florida State 29-13

Next week: at Wake Forest

Since the season-opening 31-point loss to Georgia in Atlanta, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have won four straight by an average of 28 points. The path to 11-1 and a bid to the ACC Championship Game is very real. Currently, none of Clemson’s seven remaining regular-season opponents are ranked.

9. Cyclones in the state of Iowa

This week: Defeated Baylor 43-21

Next week: in West Virginia

The Cyclones are 5-0 for the first time since Donnie Duncan coached at the school (that year, 1980, they lost five of the next six). Hopefully this 5-0 will end differently for them. And so it should be. Matt Campbell’s team had a 100-yard rusher, a 100-yard receiver and QB Rocco Becht almost reached the 300-yard mark.

10. Notre Dame fights Irish

This week: Goodbye

Next week: vs. Stanford

The Irish haven’t had any really great wins yet (although the one in College Station certainly looks better), but we’re running out of teams to put in the Top 10! Saturday’s chaos caused a complete shift in the rankings, with three teams dropping out. And so here we sit, with a team that lost to Northern Illinois at #9!

Dropped out: Alabama (1), Tennessee (2), Miami (5), Missouri (10)