College Football Week 10 delivered quite a few ranked-versus-ranked matchups with high stakes, including Vanderbilt vs Texas and Oklahoma versus Tennessee. As the college football games today wrap up, there’s a bit of shakeup in the latest top 25 rankings.
Let’s dive immediately into our Week 11 college football rankings, evaluating the 25 best college football teams right now after Week 10.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes (1)
The Week 10 matchup versus the Penn State Nittany Lions certainly didn’t have the magnitude anyone expected coming into the year. With that said, the Ohio State Buckeyes demonstrated on Saturday afternoon why they remain one of the best teams in college football. Julian Sayin put on a passing clinic versus Penn State, throwing more touchdown passes (four) than incompletions (three), and the Buckeyes’ defense allowed just a 3.3 yards-per-play average to the Nittany Lions. Ohio State is extremely well-coached and boasts one of the deepest rosters in the nation; finishing the regular season undefeated is inevitable.
Related: Heisman Trophy Candidates Rankings
2. Indiana Hoosiers (2)
Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza didn’t put up Heisman-caliber numbers in Sunday’s blowout road win at Maryland, but he didn’t need to. That’s because the Hoosiers’ backfield tandem of Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby did the heavy lifting this week, as did an Indiana defense that generated more interceptions (two) than touchdowns allowed until it became a blowout. With the College Football Playoff rankings coming out this week, the Hoosiers should be locked into the No. 2 spot.
3. Texas A&M Aggies (3)
You know the Texas A&M Aggies have become a great team when there are swirling college football rumors about Mike Elko being coveted by programs with head-coaching vacancies. However, it’s hard to see why Elko would want to leave this program behind given the resources and talent available to him. Texas A&M’s undefeated mark this season includes two wins over ranked opponents, LSU and Notre Dame, on the road. Given that Mizzou will be starting its backup quarterback in Week 11, the Aggies’ win streak should continue through Thanksgiving. Texas A&M is going to win 11 games in a season for the first time since 2012.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (4)
Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide should keep it rolling coming off the Week 10 bye. That looming Saturday night matchup versus the LSU Tigers also provides Ty Simpson and company with a golden opportunity to kick their rival when they are down. The home crowd in Tuscaloosa should also witness this Crimson Tide defense start to round into form a bit more, with this soon becoming one of the most well-rounded teams in the country and the team with the most wins over ranked opponents in college football.
5. Georgia Bulldogs (5)
A trip to The Swamp nearly ended disastrously for the Georgia Bulldogs. Third-down inefficiency and an interception put the Dawgs in a hole on Saturday against the Florida Gators, but wide receiver Zachariah Branch and Georgia’s defense bailed out the team. It’s not worth dropping Georgia in the top 25 rankings, rivalry games on the road are unpredictable. With that said, there are some things for the Bulldogs to clean up before they face Texas in two weeks.
6. Ole Miss Rebels (7)
It wasn’t a stress-free victory at home over South Carolina for the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night. However, Lane Kiffin will still take the all-important victory and the 8-1 mark. Trinidad Chambliss could never really get into a rhythm against the Gamecocks’ defense, but running back Keawan Lacy stepped up with a season-best performance and the Ole Miss defense really locked things down after the third quarter. Up next, a tune-up game for the Rebels versus The Citadel before Kiffin potentially the Florida Gators.
Related: Ole Miss Coaching Candidates if Lane Kiffin Leaves
7. Oregon Ducks (6)
Coming off their Week 10 bye, the Oregon Ducks‘ resume leaves something to be desired when stacking up the best college football teams right now. The Ducks rank 10th in strength of resume, behind the likes of BYU and Georgia Tech, and they are 39th in strength of schedule played. That’s not meant to take away everything Oregon (7-1) has accomplished this season with quarterback Dante Moore, but its signature win came in double OT over a Penn State team that’s now 3-5, and the Ducks looked like the inferior program versus Indiana. More wins are coming for Oregon (at Iowa and vs Minnesota), but it doesn’t look like a top-six team.
8. BYU Cougars (11)
The Week 10 bye unfolded perfectly for the BYU Cougars. From the program’s perspective, it gets to move up the top 25 college football rankings thanks to Vanderbilt and Miami both losing. Meanwhile, the Bachmeier brothers got some spotlight for their work coaching a women’s intramural flag football team. Quarterback Bear Bachmeier is coming off two of his most important performances of the season, leading BYU to an undefeated mark heading into a must-see battle versus Texas Tech.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12)
The CJ Carr-Jeremiyah Love combo is rolling now and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have won six games in a row because of it. It’s a well-balanced offense that has been clicking for two months now. It also has to help this program that, despite all the rumors, Marcus Freeman has shown no interest in leaving Notre Dame. From 0-2 to 6-2, Notre Dame should end November with 10 wins as long as it doesn’t come out flat on the road in two weeks versus Pittsburgh.
10. Texas Tech Red Raiders (13)
Even with injuries, the Texas Tech Red Raiders got stops when it counted. Kansas State had 12 drives after the first quarter on Saturday with three ending in takeaways and three stalling in turnover-on-downs. It was throwback football, with defense and the ground game (203 rushing yards on 38 carries) paving the way to a road win over Kansas State.
11. Texas Longhorns (19)
It turns out all Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns needed to recapture greatness is for millions of football fans to lose access to the game because of the Disney-YouTube TV dispute. Jokes aside, Manning has looked more like the quarterback that the national media hyped him up to be over the last two weeks. In his last two games, Manning has 674 passing yards with a 68.4 percent completion rate, a 6-1 TD-INT ratio, and he’s averaged 8.53 yards per attempt in the last two games. He’s the reason why Texas held a 34-10 lead over Vanderbilt entering the fourth quarter on Saturday, though a fourth-quarter rally made it a 34-31 win.
12. Oklahoma Sooners (18)
The Oklahoma Sooners defense came up big in Neyland Stadium. Oklahoma snuffed out Tennessee’s run game, forcing Joey Aguilar to beat them and into multiple costly mistakes. While Brent Venables’ group surrendered over 420 total yards to the Volunteers, they generated game-changing takeaways that decided this one. Given how ineffective John Mateer has been through the air since returning from injury, the Sooners’ chances of winning in Tuscaloosa are slim, but this program needed that momentum-swinging win
13. Louisville Cardinals (15)
Trailing 16-7 at the half against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Jeff Brohm’s team needed a spark in the third quarter to avoid their playoff hopes going up in smoke. Miller Moss delivered a six-play, 53-yard touchdown drive, and then Caullin Lacy’s 63-yard punt return set up the go-ahead touchdown two plays later. With momentum back on its side, Louisville quickly turned it into a 28-16 game and never let Virginia Tech sniff a comeback. The loss a few weeks ago to Virginia Tech still stings a bit, but the Cardinals have rebounded nicely and can make it a four-game win streak in Week 11 versus Cal.
14. Cincinnati Bearcats (16)
Updated on Sunday Morning after Cincinnati vs Utah
15. Vanderbilt Commodores (9)
You have to give Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores credit for rallying back on Saturday in Austin. In the first three quarters versus Texas, the Commodores allowed the Longhorns to score on all six of their scoring drives (excluding the drive before half) with a missed field goal and a fumble resulting in a 10-point swing. Those early issues ultimately made the difference, with Pavia’s fourth-quarter rally coming up one drive short. It’s a painful loss for Vanderbilt, but Clark Lea’s team has demonstrated it can rebound, and we expect just that next week versus Auburn.
16. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8)
Haynes King did just about everything he could, but it wasn’t enough on a night when the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets defense got pushed around on the ground and had no answer for NC State quarterback CJ Bailey. When the defense can’t get critical stops and gives up a 40-burger, it amplifies the scoring drives that cover 70-plus yards and end in field goals. Just like that, the undefeated season is over, and Georgia Tech (8-1) now must avoid letting this loss and the end-of-month matchup versus Georgia cloud its next two games.
17. Virginia Cavaliers (17)
Don’t let the final score fool you; Virginia only led 24-21 over Cal with 15 seconds left before a pick-six turned it into a 10-point win for the Cavaliers. Wins are wins, but Virginia (8-1) has looked like a sub-par team in the last three weeks, which includes beating Washington State and North Carolina by a total of 3 points. The Cavaliers will keep moving up the AP’s top-25 rankings, but what this program has shown in the last few weeks doesn’t warrant College Football Playoff consideration.
18. Memphis Tigers (20)
With so many one-loss teams going down in Week 10, the Memphis Tigers need to be moved up multiple spots in the top 25 college football rankings. Quarterback Brendon Lewis led the way in Friday’s victory at Rice, putting up 312 of the Tigers’ 355 total yards. That loss to UAB is certainly a blemish on the Tigers’ resume, and their only ranked win came versus South Florida, but an 8-1 record warrants recognition this late in the year.
19. Miami Hurricanes (10)
It’s evident at this point that the Miami Hurricanes‘ investment into Carson Beck and Mario Cristobal hasn’t yielded worthwhile returns. Beck, who turned it over twice in the OT loss to SMU, has been one of the most disappointing players in college football this season. Meanwhile, Cristobal is wasting an excellent defense with high-end NFL talent. Miami still has ranked wins over Notre Dame, South Florida, and Florida State, but the on-field product in recent weeks versus Louisville and Syracuse is fringe top
20. Michigan Wolverines (21)
This year’s Michigan Wolverines need to win ugly, but they are still victories. The workhorse role shifts to Jordan Marshall, with Justice Haynes injured, and he keeps delivering. Coming off consecutive 100-yard games, Marshall turned in 200 scrimmage yards in a narrow win over Purdue on Saturday night. Performances like this don’t inspire a ton of confidence in the Wolverines’ chances of beating Ohio State, but everyone would’ve said the same thing last season, and we know how that ended.
21. USC Trojans (Unranked)
USC Trojans quarterback Jayden Maiava just didn’t have it in Week 10 against the Cornhuskers’ defense, completing just 9-of-23 pass attempts with 1 interception. No matter, running back King Miller (129 yards, 7.2 yards per carry) put the offense on his back, and that opened things up for Maiava to make plays with his legs (62 yards and 1 touchdown). USC needed to prove it could go on the road and win after what happened versus Illinois and Notre Dame. Winning in Nebraska shows the Trojans can. Although, we’ll hold off on saying this holds any significance regarding the trip later this month to Oregon.
22. Missouri Tigers (22)
Eliah Drinkwitz and the Missouri Tigers are in a difficult spot returning from the Week 10 bye. Beau Pribula is lost for the season with a non-fractured, dislocated ankle injury, leaving freshman Matt Zollers as the starter with just two weeks to prepare before making his first start on national television against Texas A&M. To make matters worse, running back Ahmad Hardy’s productivity has dropped off (69 rushing yards per game) in his last three contests. Mizzou’s third loss in its last four games feels inevitable and that will drop the Tigers out of the top 25 rankings.
23. Utah Utes (Unranked)
Updated Sunday morning after Cincinnati vs Utah
24. San Diego State Spartans (25)
The national recognition has to come for the San Diego State Aztecs at some point. They currently hold a 7-1 record, with six consecutive victories, and the Aztecs defense has allowed just 44 combined points (7.3 PPG allowed) in that span. Notably, Saturday marked the first time in 20 years that Wyoming was held to 7 points or fewer by a conference opponent. If San Diego State can handle the road trip to Hawai’i, it will be time to seriously talk about the Aztecs as the Group of 5 team making the College Football Playoff.
25. James Madison Dukes (Unranked)
Make it a six-game win streak for the James Madison Dukes. Quarterback Alonza Barnett III nearly made it consecutive games with 250-plus passing yards and 100-plus rushing yards, with Texas State’s lone sack preventing that. Even without that, the Dukes have put up 115 points over the last two games, and head coach Bob Chesney is closing in on the program’s first season with double-digit wins since Curt Cignetti’s departure.
