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  • College football rankings: Georgia moves to No. 2 in CBS Sports 134 after SEC championship win over Texas

    College football rankings: Georgia moves to No. 2 in CBS Sports 134 after SEC championship win over Texas

    uga-134.png
    CBS Sports Graphic

    We have now moved into the postseason schedule for the 2024 college football season where the rest of the calendar year and first month of 2025 will be filled with bowl games and the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff. Conference championship weekend marks the true conclusion to the season that was, as most of the 134 FBS teams have played their final game with the same combination of players and coaches that they carried for much of the fall. 

    That’s not to say that we here at CBS Sports are done ranking teams. No, we will circle back after the national championship game on Monday, Jan. 20 for one final edition of the CBS Sports 134, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team. But this is the penultimate update — a snapshot of how our voters view the entire college football landscape as we transition into the season of the coaching carousel, transfer portal and bowl games. 

    With only 18 teams in action over conference championship weekend, you won’t find many huge swings in the rankings, but there is some notable shuffling in response to those nine results. Georgia took over Texas’ spot at No. 2 after downing the Longhorns in an overtime thriller in the SEC Championship Game, while teams like Penn State (down two spots to No. 5) and SMU (down four spots to No. 10) also dropped following conference title game losses. 

    There is still no change at the top thanks to Oregon proving itself against the Big Ten’s best yet again and finishing the season with a 13-0 record as the only undefeated team at the FBS level. With Saturday night’s win, the conference’s newest power became the first team in Big Ten history to defeat Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State in the same season.  

    College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-134 on our rankings page.
    1 Oregon 13-0 1
    2 Georgia 11-2 5
    3 Notre Dame 11-1 4
    4 Texas 11-2 2
    5 Penn State 11-2 3
    6 Ohio State 10-2 7
    7 Indiana 11-1 8
    8 Tennessee 10-2 9
    9 Boise State 12-1 10
    10 SMU 11-2 6
    11 Arizona State 11-2 11
    12 Alabama 9-3 12
    13 South Carolina 9-3 14
    14 Ole Miss 9-3 15
    15 Miami 10-2 13
    16 Clemson 10-3 17
    17 BYU 10-2 18
    18 Iowa State 10-3 16
    19 Army 11-1 23
    20 Colorado 9-3 20
    21 Illinois 9-3 21
    22 UNLV 10-3 19
    23 Syracuse 9-3 22
    24 Memphis 10-2 26
    25 Missouri 9-3 24

    Biggest movers 

    • No. 41 Marshall (+8): The Thundering Herd were underdogs heading down to Lafayette but played like favorites in an impressive 31-3 win against Louisiana. Marshall finished the year at 10-3, and though they are going through a coaching transition with Charles Huff off to Southern Miss and Tony Gibson taking over, the program seems to be in a good spot heading into 2025. 
    • No. 50 Jacksonville State (+7): An eight-game winning streak was snapped in the final week of the regular season with a 19-17 loss to WKU, but our voters were quick to jump back on board after seeing the Gamecocks thrash the Hilltoppers in the rematch. After being WKU 52-12 in the Conference USA title game, JSU is off to the Cure Bowl to face MAC champion Ohio. 
    • No. 42 Ohio (+5): Speaking of the Bobcats, Ohio also was a team that took a seemingly tight matchup and blew it open over conference championship weekend. Miami (OH) won the regular season meeting 30-20, but the Bobcats raced out to an early lead and never looked back in the conference title rematch, claiming the program’s first MAC title since 1968. 
    • No. 19 Army (+4): The Black Knights have carried an impressive win count all season but lacked for the high-end wins and finally got their best win of the season in the AAC title game by beating Tulane, a team our voters have inside the top 30. 
    • No. 22 UNLV (-3): This is just a small step back for UNLV after losing to top-10 Boise State. The Rebels finish the regular season with a 10-3 record and back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Mountain West, but they now move forward without Barry Odom, who accepted the head-coaching position at Purdue. 
    • No. 34 Louisiana (-3): Injuries at the quarterback position derailed what appeared to be a conference championship path for Louisiana, but the season has still be considered a success. The Ragin’ Cajuns went 10-3 with the only regular season conference defeat coming by two points to South Alabama, but a 31-3 final score in the Sun Belt title game is worth a slight adjustment in the rankings. 
    • No. 10 SMU (-4): Like the College Football Playoff Selection Committee, our voters were hesitant to install too much rankings punishment for the heartbreaking defeat in the ACC title game to Clemson. The Mustangs enter the CFP with an 11-2 record and a combined margin of defeat of just six points while also carrying the nation’s 11th best scoring margin, beating opponents by an average of 17.7 points per game.  
    • No. 78 Western Kentucky (-7): Last week’s rankings movement featured WKU moving up 18 spots after beating Jacksonville State in the final game of the regular season, so this adjustment from the voters taking some of that support back in the wake of a 40-point loss to that very same team in the Conference USA title game.  

    Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 134: Teams ranked 26-134



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  • Expanded playoff and all, SEC title win still holds weight for Georgia football

    ATLANTA — The Georgia football sidelined emptied with a mad rush as soon as Trevor Etienne hit the end zone in overtime.

    The No. 5 Bulldogs had just walked off a 22-19 SEC championship win in overtime in a game that may be viewed as devalued in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, but you couldn’t tell that from the reaction of Georgia players.

    Defensive tackle Warren Brinson, who had four tackles including 2 ½ for loss with a sack, carried the trophy off the field and into the locker room, letting out a, “How ‘bout them Dawgs!” Tight end Oscar Delp had an SEC logo sign in hand after beating No. 2 Texas.

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  • Georgia football survives Carson Beck injury, wins SEC championship

    (This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy on the margin by which Georgia outscored Texas in the second half.)

    ATLANTA — Gunner Stockton was pressed into action in the second half for Georgia football on Saturday in the SEC Championship Game against Texas.

    The Bulldogs, just off an eight overtime win over Georgia Tech, went past regulation for the second game in a row. It was the first time in the 33-year history of the event not decided in four quarters.

    Stockton, the seldom-used backup quarterback, came to the rescue of the Bulldogs for an injured Carson Beck. Stockton ignited a dormant Georgia offense in the second half.

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  • For Texas, SEC football championship would solidify idea that they’re ‘back’

    For Texas, SEC football championship would solidify idea that they’re ‘back’

    ATLANTA — Remember when Sam Ehlinger infamously declared Texas was “back” after the Longhorns beat Georgia, 28-21, in New Orleans at the 2019 Sugar Bowl?

    Neither, then, were the Longhorns back in 2016, when that phrase became part of college football’s lexicon. Credit — or should that be blame? — goes to ABC broadcaster Joe Tessitore. After Texas scored an exciting 50-47 win over Notre Dame on Sept. 4, 2016, Tessitore declared, “Texas is back, folks!”

    After Ehlinger’s proclamation, the Longhorns went 8-5 and 7-3 the next two seasons, and coach Tom Herman was fired in 2020. In 2016, Texas went 5-7 and coach Charlie Strong was fired at season’s end.

    It’s safe to say now, “the Longhorns are back.”

    People are also reading…

    Ranked No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and looking to finish atop the SEC in its first season in the league, Texas (11-1) will meet Georgia (10-2) in the SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday (ABC).

    “First year in the conference, it was definitely a goal of ours to be in Atlanta for this game,” said fourth-year coach Steve Sarkisian, who led Texas to the Big 12 championship and a playoff berth last year. “It’s been a challenging regular season to get to this point. Know it’s going to be a heck of a challenge on Saturday, but one we’re looking forward to.”

    If you don’t think the Longhorns are certain and quite proud that their beloved football team is back, then you’re not watching that Burnt Orange-wave bearing down on Atlanta for this weekend’s proceedings. Indications are their fans are coming in droves.

    “Oh, you better believe it,” said Houston Chronicle columnist Kirk Bohls, who lives in Austin and has chronicled Texas football for decades. “I think Texas might even have a little bit of an edge there. This has to be ho-hum for the Bulldogs. They’re probably, like, ‘can we get this out of the way so we can move on to the playoffs?’ Whereas Texas is trying to make a statement first year in the league.”

    That’s a lot to unpack, just as there is a lot to process about Saturday’s matchup. First, there is no actual guarantee that either team — but especially No. 5 Georgia — will have a place in the new 12-team playoff should it lose Saturday’s game. It’s reasonable to assume that both would be, based on the statements of CFP selection-committee chairman Warde Manuel and a preponderance of evidence laid out over the course of a grueling 14-week SEC season.

    And Georgia coach Kirby Smart would take issue with the notion that either he nor the fanatical backers of the Bulldogs would be weary of playing in the SEC championship game. This is the fourth consecutive season in which UGA has played in Atlanta for the league title and seventh time overall. But it’s not like the Bulldogs have owned it or anything like that.

    In fact, there is a history of heartbreak when it comes to their experience with this game. They’re 2-4 in it, including a three-point loss to Alabama last year that knocked Georgia out of what was then a four-team playoff.

    “I’m an SEC enthusiast who believes an SEC title is a significant marker to the kind of season you have,” Smart said during the Thursday’s news conference, conducted via video conference call. “It also gets you a bye (in the playoff), which gives you an opportunity to rest while others play tough opponents. So, it removes you from having to do that and gives you an opportunity to rest.”

    That Texas managed to make it to the SEC championship game in its first year as a member is a significant accomplishment on multiple fronts. It is, after all, something that Texas A&M has been unable to do despite being in the league for 13 years now.

    What a delight it was for the Longhorns to have denied A&M that opportunity yet again. Texas defeated the Aggies, 17-7, in College Station on Saturday in a “ticket-punch” game that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate. The Longhorns thoroughly dominated from buzzer to buzzer.

    Texas has been fairly dominant in its first run through an SEC football schedule. Georgia, for one, could probably take issue with that schedule. It certainly didn’t compare with the one the Bulldogs had to navigate, judged at the end of the regular season to be the toughest in college football. Georgia’s two losses came on the road against top-12 opponents Alabama and Ole Miss. The Longhorns played neither one, each of which is still vying for a place in the playoff.

    And, lest we forget, the only blemish on Texas’ worksheet is the one it suffered at the hands of this same bunch of Bulldogs. Once again, the Longhorns fully declared themselves “back” for that game Oct. 19 in Austin. They rolled out everything they had shooting off fireworks and conducting the most elaborate drones show ever produced at a college football that night at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

    What they didn’t expect to see was a Georgia defense getting after quarterback Quinn Ewers and that slick Sarkisian offense to the tune of seven sacks, 10 tackles for loss, countless QB hurries and 29 yards rushing on 27 attempts.

    The Bulldogs didn’t exactly light it up on offense, either. Their 283 total yards was one of the lowest outputs of the season. That also became the second of three times this season that quarterback Carson Beck ended up throwing three interceptions in a game.

    Still, Georgia’s superiority was evident throughout. The Bulldogs led 23-0 at halftime. Texas got back in it only after Georgia’s weird, unplanned squib kickoff to start the second half and some inexplicable officiating that resulted in an overturned call and the game being delayed by five minutes because angry fans hurled cans and bottles onto the field.

    But when the Longhorns drew within a single score, 23-15, late in the third quarter, Beck orchestrated an 11-play, 89-yard touchdown that would secure victory for the Bulldogs.

    And now they’re back. Texas is back and Georgia is back in Atlanta. This is actually what everyone expected. When SEC Football Media Days were held in Dallas in July in honor of the Longhorns and Oklahoma making their long-awaited debut in the SEC, the media predicted that it would be Texas and Georgia in the SEC championship game at season’s end. And here they are, the only difference being that the Longhorns own the No. 1 seed and the Bulldogs are No. 2.

    On the line is that first-round bye and a whole bunch of bragging rights that Texas would like to carry back to Austin in those 10-gallon hats.

    “When we were at media days in Dallas this summer, I asked (SEC commissioner) Greg Sankey a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek question,” Bohls recalled. “I said, ‘How long before Texas is running things?’ I was speaking to the Texas arrogance and bravado. I’m not sure if he appreciated the question very much, but that’s how Texas thinks of itself. ‘Yeah, we’re arrogant; why wouldn’t we be arrogant?’ ”

    So perhaps that’s what is on the line Saturday. Georgia will enter as the Great Defender against arrogance and bravado for the Aggies and Oklahoma and Alabama and the rest of the league.

    All of it creates a dramatic backdrop for Saturday’s game. In a year in which there has been much debate over the relevance of conference championship games, for one team at least, an SEC title couldn’t be more relevant.

    Sarkisian can validate that. He participated in this game twice as an assistant coach at Alabama (2016 and ‘20). Now in his fourth year with the Longhorns, he knows well what winning this game would mean to his fan base.

    “What the SEC does, what it puts into this game, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a tremendous venue, this is a fantastic game to be a part of,” Sarkisian said. “Clearly, we know we’re essentially going on the road for a game, playing Georgia in Atlanta. But I also know there’s ton of pride from Longhorn Nation in support our team, and I do anticipate a good amount of burnt orange in there.

    “Tell me how much the ticket prices are, and I can tell you how many Longhorns are going to be there. If the prices keep going up, that means were buying tickets.”

    Lower-level tickets were creeping up over $2,000 on Thursday, according to Ticketmaster.com. The record for SEC championship game attendance at The Benz was set last year when 78,320 turned out for Georgia-Alabama. If it’s up to Texas, there will be more Saturday.

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  • Trump nominates cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins as SEC chair

    Trump nominates cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins as SEC chair

    President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation.

    “He believes in the promise of robust, innovative capital markets that are responsive to the needs of Investors, & that provide capital to make our Economy the best in the World. He also recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater than Ever Before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

    The commission oversees U.S. securities markets and investments and is currently led by Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry. Gensler, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, announced last month that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated — Jan. 20, 2025.

    Trump, once a crypto skeptic, had pledged to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Money has poured into crypto assets since he won. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is now above $95,000. And shares in crypto platform Coinbase have surged more than 70% since the election.

    Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, congratulated Atkins in a post on X.

    “We appreciate his commitment to balance in regulating U.S. securities markets and look forward to his fresh leadership at (the SEC),” Grewal wrote. “It’s sorely needed and cannot come a day too soon.”

    Atkins began his career as a lawyer and has a long history working in the financial markets sector, both in government and private practice. In the 1990s, he worked on the staffs of two former SEC chairmen, Richard C. Breeden and Arthur Levitt.

    His work as an SEC commissioner started in 2002, a time when the fallout from corporate scandals at Enron and WorldCom had turned up the heat on Wall Street and its government regulators.

    Atkins was widely considered the most conservative member of the SEC during his tenure at the agency and known to have a strong free-market bent. As a commissioner, he called for greater transparency in and analysis of the costs and benefits of new SEC rules.

    He also emphasized investor education and increased enforcement efforts against those who steal from investors over the internet, manipulate markets, engage in Ponzi schemes and other types of fraud.

    At the same time, Atkins objected to stiff penalties imposed on companies accused of fraudulent conduct, contending that they did not deter crime. He caused a stir in the summer of 2006 when he said the practice of granting stock options to executives before the disclosure of news that was certain to increase the share price did not constitute insider trading.

    U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Atkins has the experience needed to “restore faith in the SEC.”

    “I’m confident his leadership will lead to clarity for the digital asset ecosystem and ensure U.S. capital markets remain the envy of the world,” McHenry posted on X.

    Atkins already has some experience working for Trump. During Trump’s first term, Atkins was a member of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, an advisory group of more than a dozen CEOs and business leaders who offered input on how to create jobs and speed economic growth.

    In 2017, Atkins joined the Token Alliance, a cryptocurrency advocacy organization.

    Crypto industry players welcomed Trump’s victory in the hopes that he would push through legislative and regulatory changes that they’ve long lobbied for.

    Trump himself has launched World Liberty Financial, a new venture with family members to trade cryptocurrencies.

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  • College football recruiting rankings: Georgia, Alabama lead SEC

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  • What we learned about the College Football Playoff: SEC upsets, Big 12 chaos, Indiana’s hopes

    What we learned about the College Football Playoff: SEC upsets, Big 12 chaos, Indiana’s hopes

    The weekend before Thanksgiving often feels like the calm before the storm in college football.

    Saturday was different. The expanded College Football Playoff turned it into a tempest with postseason implications from the home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Kansas City to the House that Ruth Built in the Bronx.

    Ohio State improved to 2-1 in top-five matchups and showed everybody’s favorite upstart — at least everybody outside of SEC country — what life is like at the top of the food chain. The Big 12 race continued its descent into madness with the two teams that appeared to be in control of the race now heading into the final weekend of the regular season needing help to reach the conference title game.

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Indiana hangs on as Alabama, Ole Miss fall out

    And in the SEC, three CFP contenders lost on the road to unranked teams.

    What we learned about the Playoff in Week 13 is that expansion to 12 teams is delivering exactly what was promised: more meaningful games and more chances for mayhem.

    SEC upsets

    It has felt recently as if the entire SEC and its propaganda machine had risen against Indiana in an attempt to discredit the Hoosiers as Playoff contenders.

    Then the conference went out and did just about everything it could to ensure the Hoosiers stayed very much in the race after they lost for the first time this season.


    Auburn improved to 5-6 with its upset of Texas A&M on Saturday night. (John Reed / Imagn Images)

    First, Ole Miss (8-3) got walked to the back of the line by Florida.

    The Rebels have what might be the single most impressive victory of the season against Georgia, but coach Lane Kiffin’s portal all-stars have lost three games they were favored to win, twice as double-digit favorites.

    How’s this for irony: The coach who many considered the most likely candidate to replace Billy Napier at Florida probably was just eliminated from Playoff contention by Napier’s Gators.

    Life comes at you fast.

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    GO DEEPER

    The moral of the story from Ole Miss loss: This is about surviving the grind

    If Florida’s 24-17 over No. 9 Ole Miss was surprising, Oklahoma’s 24-3 victory against Alabama (8-3) was downright shocking.

    The Sooners ran for 257 yards and picked off Alabama’s Jalen Milroe three times as the seventh-ranked Crimson Tide were held without a touchdown for the first time since the 2011 Game of the Century against LSU, which the Tigers won 9-6 in overtime.

    “The team is extremely disappointed, frustrated,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters. “We worked, I thought, extremely hard all week, putting a plan together. Guys had good energy, excited to come here on the road. You know, we just gotta play better. We gotta be better in all ways.”

    By the time Auburn knocked off No. 15 Texas A&M (8-3) 43-41 in quadruple overtime, the SEC title game was set but the number of SEC Playoff contenders likely shrunk.

    No. 10 Georgia (9-2) is back in the conference championship and will face the winner of next Saturday’s first-ever SEC edition of the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry.

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    GO DEEPER

    Wild day in SEC sets up Georgia vs. Texas-Texas A&M winner in title game

    There is still no denying the SEC is top to bottom the strongest conference in the country. The SEC might still get as many as four teams in the 12-team field because there needs to be 12 teams.

    The SEC can be a grind, and because of that, the selection committee has given its teams an extra mulligan and the benefit of the doubt in the rankings. There were four two-loss teams in the committee’s top 11 last week. All from the SEC.

    Sure, playing on the road in the SEC is tough, but Miami didn’t have much of an issue at Florida in Week 1, and Auburn wasn’t too scary for Cal back in September. Tulane went to Oklahoma earlier this season and somehow scored three touchdowns.

    The strength-of-schedule numbers that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey posted on social media last week don’t lie. The conference has earned the preferential treatment it gets.

    But at a certain point, it doesn’t seem like too much to ask these SEC teams to take care of business against teams that have been wallowing at the bottom of the standings if the conference wants to monopolize the at-large bids to the Playoff.

    SEC CFP and title odds

    Team CFP bid SEC title Record

    99%

    35%

    10-1

    92%

    53%

    9-2

    74%

    0%

    9-2

    12%

    12%

    8-3

    11%

    0%

    8-3

    1%

    0%

    8-3

    All odds according to Austin Mock’s projections model

    Imperfect Hoosiers

    Indiana coach Curt Cignetti was not having any of it.

    “Is that a serious question? I’m not even going to answer that. The answer is so obvious,” Cignetti said.

    The question was, essentially, is No. 5 Indiana Playoff worthy after it got manhandled 38-15 at No. 2 Ohio State.

    Cignetti is going to Cignetti, and he has every right to defend his 10-1 team, which has gone from lovable underdog to CFP lightning rod for those whose arguments begin and end with “strength of schedule.”

    Indiana’s schedule is a legitimate problem for the Hoosiers, and while they didn’t need to beat the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe to prove their worthiness, it would have been good to give the selection committee more than 151 yards of offense to chew on. Indiana did get plenty of help from the losses elsewhere, however, so much so that its Playoff chances actually rose from 79 percent to 87 percent in The Athletic’s projections by the end of the night.

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    Curt Cignetti thinks Indiana is still Playoff worthy. In 12-team format, we get to debate

    The Hoosiers’ first and, basically, last drives of the game resulted in touchdowns, with hardly a peep in between. They touched the ball one more time late for a few seconds after Ohio State punched in a touchdown with 35 seconds left to send a message.

    “We said leave no doubt,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day told Fox after the game. “We wanted to finish it the right way and make sure that everybody knows that this is the Ohio State Buckeyes.”

    The fact is, 38-15 felt right. Ohio State led 14-7 at the half, but a couple of empty red-zone trips had kept Indiana within a score.

    Ohio State still has to take care of business next week against Michigan and snap a three-game losing streak against the Wolverines to get back to the Big Ten Championship Game for a rematch against No. 1 Oregon.

    “It’s been tough. It’s tough what I had to see (Day) go through,” Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer told reporters. “There’s no one I want this win more for than him and his family and the brothers I go to battle with every day. The stuff that we’ve had to go through the last three years is nonsense. We can’t wait to get out there and play this next week.”

    No. 4 Penn State can still slip into the Big Ten title game with an Ohio State loss and victory against Maryland next week. The Nittany Lions managed to avoid the upset bug that swept through SEC country, gutting out a 26-25 victory in Minnesota with the help of a fake punt and two more fourth-down conversions to run out the clock on their final drive.

    “At the end of the day, our team found a way,” coach James Franklin said.

    Big Ten CFP and title odds

    Team CFP bid B1G title Record

    99%

    48%

    10-1

    99%

    49%

    11-0

    99%

    1%

    10-1

    87%

    1%

    10-1

    New favorites

    The best team in the Big 12 right now might be Kansas, which has won three straight against ranked conference opponents after hammering No. 16 Colorado 37-21 at Arrowhead Stadium.

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    GO DEEPER

    Kansas continues to cause Big 12 Playoff angst. Latest victim: Deion’s Buffs

    Alas, there is no path to the conference title game for the Jayhawks (5-6), who still need to win at Baylor next week to get bowl eligible.

    Remember when No. 14 BYU and Colorado were on a collision course to meet in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 title? Now there is a four-way tie atop the league, with No. 21 Arizona State and No. 22 Iowa State joining BYU and Colorado.

    The difference is the Sun Devils (9-2), who handed BYU its second straight loss, and the Cyclones (9-2), are now in win-and-in mode. The Cougars (9-2) and Buffaloes (8-3) will need some help.

    Arizona State gets struggling rival Arizona in the Territorial Cup. Iowa State hosts Kansas State in Farmageddon.

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    GO DEEPER

    Big 12 title game scenarios: Untangling the P4’s most crowded race

    Last week, Boise State was ranked ahead of the highest-ranked Big 12 team, putting the Broncos in position to receive a first-round bye as Mountain West champions.

    Ashton Jeanty and Boise State kept on rolling through the conference Saturday, though their trip to Wyoming was much tougher than expected. It will be interesting to see if the Broncos’ struggles in Laramie help the highest-ranked Big 12 team — whoever that might be on Tuesday night, probably Arizona State — push past Boise State in the rankings.

    Big 12 CFP and title odds

    Team CFP bid Big 12 title Record

    32%

    31%

    9-2

    30%

    30%

    9-2

    19%

    21%

    9-2

    14%

    18%

    8-3

    Irish rise?

    After Indiana’s loss and Penn State’s close call, how high can Notre Dame climb in the rankings?

    The sixth-ranked Fighting Irish (10-1) will head to the West Coast for their annual rivalry game against USC on a nine-game winning streak after burying a previously unbeaten service academy team for the second time this season.

    Notre Dame’s 49-14 victory over No. 19 Army at Yankee Stadium was in many ways even more dominant than its 51-14 win over Navy at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last month.

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    GO DEEPER

    Notre Dame routs Army to keep CFP hosting bid in focus

    “They are really athletic and well-coached. They outclassed us,” Army coach Jeff Monken said.

    As an independent, the Irish can’t earn one of the first-round byes reserved for conference champions, but they should be well-positioned to host a first-round game and maybe be as high as the fifth seed.  In fact, with all the upsets in the SEC and Big 12, Notre Dame could have some leeway to stumble next week against the Trojans and still make the Playoff.

    It would be best if the Irish didn’t tempt fate, but according to The Athletic’s projections, Notre Dame now has a 98 percent chance to make the field and a 72 percent chance to host a game.

    ACC at-large?

    The SEC’s loss could be the ACC’s gain. With the losses piling up in the SEC, suddenly a matchup of one-loss teams in the ACC Championship Game could earn the conference two playoff spots.

    No. 8 Miami (10-1) and No. 13 SMU (10-1) continued to roll toward a showdown in Charlotte, N.C. SMU clinched a berth in the ACC title game in its first season in the conference with a rout at Virginia.

    The Hurricanes still must take care of business next week at Syracuse to get to the title game. A loss sends No. 17 Clemson to Charlotte. Speaking of the Tigers (9-2), the Palmetto Bowl against No. 18 South Carolina (8-3) got a lot more interesting on Saturday.

    If you squint you can see Playoff implications for the Gamecocks, too. In the pecking order of three-loss SEC teams, South Carolina has to be behind both Ole Miss and Alabama after losing to each. The Gamecocks would be ahead of Texas A&M, but the Aggies can still win their way in through an SEC title.

    Got it? Good.

    ACC CFP and title odds

    Team CFP bid Big 12 title Record

    94%

    50%

    10-1

    81%

    36%

    10-1

    47%

    15%

    9-2

    (Photo: Brian Bahr / Getty Images)



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  • Controversy Ensues in SEC College Football Game After Blatant Officiating Bias Angers Fans

    Controversy Ensues in SEC College Football Game After Blatant Officiating Bias Angers Fans

    After landing Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama Crimson Tide, it was time for the Tennessee Volunteers to give Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs a tough time. However, the November 16 game did not seem to be in the Vols’ favor. The Dawgs had a 24-17 lead walking into the third quarter. Not just the score, but the other factors of the game also turned out to be against them. The primary reason was the referees, who were all ready to give their everything to Smart’s Georgia. But the fans did not let the favoritism slip under the carpet, and they brought forward caustic attacks on the referees. 

    Before the game started, Tennessee got some good news. Their signal-caller, Nico Iamaleava, who was injured, got medically cleared by doctors. Josh Heupel’s QB had been sidelined after suffering what was called an upper-body injury and was placed in concussion protocol. But soon their optimism had taken a nose dive during Saturday’s game. Heupel’s boys did not just play against Smart’s squad but against the officials as well. The referee, David Smith, is now under fire for his several questionable calls and missed calls. An X user shared a video clip on X, captioning it, “Refs in the Tennessee Georgia game.” The video itself had the text “I Know He Gambling 😂” superimposed on it.

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    Well, the footage clearly shows the referee being harassed with the question, “How much you got on that parley?” To which the referee did not reply anything and got busy in action. But his sly smile can’t be missed, which confirmed how they favored Smart’s program. In fact, during the third quarter, with Georgia QB Carson Beck’s help, the Dawgs jumped out to a 24-17 lead. But on a 2nd-and-long play, the Vols fell prey to a defensive facemask penalty that gave UGA a first down. And the fans were feeling ‘enough is enough’ as they lashed out at the referees on social media. 

    Fans accuse bias against Tennessee during Kirby Smart-Huepel clash

    The referee biases are something that is not new to college football fans. On September 2, just like Heupel’s Vols, Matt Rhule’s Nebraska Cornhuskers had to bear the ugly consequences. While facing off against Illinois, their WR Isaiah Neyor missed his touchdown as the referee canceled the call. However, the referee favoring Smart’s boys is even worse than that since a fan pointed out how he delayed his decision: “I’m used to one sided refs, but this is wild lmao. Phantom facemask, a Georgia receiver throws a punch, and they stop the game to review a 12 man on the field and throw a flag after the play is over lol Only during a Tennessee game.”

    The decision came off as clear favoritism since Tennessee did not deserve the face mask penalty. A CFB fan even wrote, “The refs in this Tennessee/Georgia game are down bad horrendous. The worst reffing I have ever seen in my entire life.” To another fan, the penalty was given to help Smart’s QB with an easy way to score a touchdown, as they wrote, “Calling defensive holding on Tennessee when Georgia’s O-line was holding us resulting in Beck getting the TD. These Refs suck.”

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    “Hard to beat Georgia and the refs,” highlighted another X user since Tennessee’s opponent was not only Smart’s Dawgs but the refs as well. For another user, the referees are now accountable for their actions as they went too far with their talking (read: decision making), “the refs have had too much to say in this Tennessee/Georgia game 🧐.” Think about it—if the refs hadn’t thrown that flag, the Volunteers might’ve had Kirby Smart’s Georgia under their feet. 

    Also besides the live-game scoops, if you want to get some quick updates on the NFL, the latest episode of the Think Tank podcast awaits you.

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  • Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel an SEC squeeze?

    Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel an SEC squeeze?

    Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

    The ACC and Big 12’s hopes of sending multiple teams to the first 12-team College Football Playoff took a big hit over the weekend.

    Miami (Fla.) and Iowa State both lost, greatly damaging their at-large hopes. Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ win at Georgia brought more SEC teams into the Playoff mix rather than knocking one out with a third loss. BYU’s comeback escape at Utah likely didn’t help its at-large case with the committee, either.

    At this point, those leagues’ best hope for multiple bids is an upset in their respective conference championship games that doesn’t knock the top team out of the mix either. Those two conferences should also be rooting for Tennessee to beat Georgia next week and hoping Alabama and Ole Miss find a second loss somewhere. The crowd of two-loss SEC teams has the potential to squeeze out not only ACC and Big 12 at-large hopes but a team like Indiana, too, should the Hoosiers lose to Ohio State in overwhelming fashion.

    But this isn’t the committee. This is The Athletic 134, and I’m standing by my rankings and not reacting to the initial CFP rankings like poll voters sometimes do.

    Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

    1-10

    Rank Team Record Prev

    1

    10-0

    1

    2

    8-1

    3

    3

    8-1

    5

    4

    9-0

    6

    5

    8-1

    7

    6

    8-1

    8

    7

    10-0

    9

    8

    7-2

    13

    9

    8-2

    16

    10

    7-2

    2

    Is BYU the fourth-best team in the country? I don’t know, but they keep pulling out wins, and they still have two victories over top-20 teams in SMU and Kansas State. That’s a good resume. Should Tennessee be higher than the Cougars with its loss to Arkansas or should Penn State and Indiana be higher without a top-25 win? Right now, I don’t really think so.

    Indiana moves up from No. 9 to No. 7 thanks to losses by Georgia and Miami, but the Hoosiers barely held on for a 20-15 win against a Michigan team that pushed them around a bit in the second half. I think Indiana should be safe for a CFP spot as long as it beats Purdue, but a blowout loss to Ohio State could start a conversation. We’ll see what happens in two weeks.

    Alabama jumps from No. 13 to No. 8 after whipping LSU on the road, while Ole Miss climbs from No. 16 to No. 9 after handling Georgia. The Bulldogs are suddenly barely hanging on to a spot in the CFP, and they’ve lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama stays ahead of Ole Miss here because of their performances against LSU, which beat Ole Miss.

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Indiana up to 92 percent chance to make field

    11-25

    Notre Dame actually inches out of my CFP field after Alabama and Ole Miss move up. The Irish might be another team hoping the SEC knocks some of its teams out, depending on what the committee shows on Tuesday.

    SMU is my new ACC leader at No. 12 and in position for the No. 4 seed. The problem with Miami’s weak resume was that it couldn’t afford a bad loss, and it took one against Georgia Tech, dropping from No. 4 to No. 14. Miami’s best wins include Louisville and … Duke? Its early-season escapes against Cal and Virginia Tech don’t help. SMU also has wins against Louisville and Duke, plus its Pitt win (which doesn’t mean as much this week), and its lone loss is to undefeated BYU.

    Colorado is up to No. 17 and controls its path to the Big 12 title game and a CFP spot after Saturday’s win at Texas Tech. Washington State is 8-1 and up to No. 18, but the path to an at-large spot might be just too far away. Still, the Cougars are having a great season and should feel good about it.

    South Carolina jumps up to No. 20 after a dominant win against Vanderbilt. Army is also newly into this group at No. 22 after beating North Texas 14-3. The Black Knights went from zero wins against teams with a winning record to two over the weekend, thanks to this game and East Carolina’s win elsewhere. Arizona State grabs the No. 25 spot after beating UCF to move to 7-2.

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Alabama got its act together and looks Playoff bound … again

    26-50

    Tulane has quietly been rolling and is up to No. 26, very much in the race for the Group of 5’s guaranteed Playoff bid if Boise State stumbles. Iowa State falls to No. 27 after a loss to Kansas, while Pitt drops to No. 28 after losing to Virginia, the second consecutive loss for both teams. 8-1 Louisiana might be too far behind to challenge for the G5 spot in the CFP, especially since its one loss was to Tulane, but the Ragin’ Cajuns look like the best team in the Sun Belt and are having a really good season, now up to No. 31.

    Georgia Tech jumps up to No. 32 after beating Miami. Syracuse falls to No. 40 after losing to Boston College, while Iowa drops to No. 41 after a loss at UCLA. West Virginia’s win against Cincinnati sees the Mountaineers climb to No. 46.

    go-deeper

    GO DEEPER

    Week 11 CFP race lessons: Mizzou in the ‘Playoff hunt’? One-bid ACC?

    51-75

    UCLA has really turned things around, winning three consecutive games and rising to No. 57 after sitting near the bottom of the Power 4 not long ago. NC State slips to No. 64 after losing to Duke. Kansas jumps up from No. 85 to No. 65 thanks to its win against Iowa State. No. 71 UConn is 7-3, its most wins since the Fiesta Bowl season of 2010, after beating UAB.

    76-100

    San Jose State’s win against Oregon State moves the Spartans up to No. 79 and the Beavers down to No. 80. Jacksonville State, No. 81, scored on a Hail Mary against Louisiana Tech and missed the game-winning extra point but won in overtime anyway to stay tied atop the Conference USA standings.

    Oklahoma State’s collapse continued with a 38-13 loss to TCU, making it seven consecutive losses for the Cowboys, who have fallen to No. 85. Texas State beat ULM to move up to No. 84. The MAC pack continues, as Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Bowling Green all won, and Northern Illinois handed Western Michigan its first MAC defeat. Four teams are tied atop the conference standings at 4-1.

    Has East Carolina turned things around since firing head coach Mike Houston? The Pirates are 2-0 under interim coach Blake Harrell and have scored a combined 105 points in wins against Temple and FAU, moving up to No. 97.

    101-134

    I haven’t become numb to seeing Florida State lose every week, now down to No. 103 after a 52-3 loss to Notre Dame. It’s still shocking every time. Mike Norvell got moving early in cleaning house, announcing Sunday that both coordinators had been fired. New Mexico is 4-6 and up to No. 109 after beating San Diego State. Nevada might be the best 3-8 team in the country — the Wolf Pack have now pushed SMU and Boise State to the limit in defeat this season.

    Air Force beat Fresno State to move up to No. 126, and in a battle of one-win teams, UTEP beat Kennesaw State in overtime, leading to a coaching change at Kennesaw State. Kent State lost 41-0 to Ohio and remains winless and at the bottom of the rankings.

    The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

    (Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)

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  • College football Week 7 overreactions: Ryan Day is the ultimate underachiever, Texas is leagues ahead in SEC

    College football Week 7 overreactions: Ryan Day is the ultimate underachiever, Texas is leagues ahead in SEC

    What’s to be done about Ryan Day? On one hand, most fans around the nation would kill for Ohio State’s double-digit win stability throughout his six-year career running the show in Columbus. On the other, Ohio State fans have every right to be upset with the results thus far. 

    Day seems allergic to winning games that actually matter. Following Saturday’s 32-31 loss to Oregon, the Buckeyes are now 2-6 against top five teams in the AP Poll under Day. They’ve lost four straight games against such opponents. 

    For at least three years, Michigan has been a constant thorn in Ohio State’s side. Now it’s a conference newcomer that had never won against a top-3 team; the Ducks were 0-19 all-time before their triumph against the Buckeyes. 

    Ryan Day’s last five games vs. top-5 teams

    Year Opponent Result
    2022 No. 5 Notre Dame W 21-10
    2022 No. 3 Michigan L 45-23
    2022 No. 1 Georgia L 42-41
    2023 No. 3 Michigan L 30-24
    2024 No. 3 Oregon L 32-31

    While it’s not fair to call Day’s seat hot — Ohio State can still make the Big Ten Championship Game, and it’s hard to envision a 12-team College Football Playoff without the Buckeyes — he is college football’s biggest underachiever. Day and Ohio State went all-in with an impressive transfer haul, supplementing a roster that saw a majority of its biggest stars return for one more Dream Team-esque run. They lured sitting UCLA head coach Chip Kelly to become their offensive coordinator. 

    And they wilted in their first real test of the 2024 season; no Wolverines required. That national championship mystique that permeated the Columbus air in the offseason has completely evaporated, replaced by a dark cloud of questions surrounding Day’s place as a high-level coach. 

    Here are four other overreactions as we put a bow on Week 7. 

    It’s Texas and then everyone else in the SEC

    Here’s Texas. 

    Here’s the rest of the SEC. 

    The Longhorns are creating more and more distance in the conference race with each passing week, both with their play on the field and given other results happening around the SEC’s now vast southern footprint. On the same day that Texas demolished No. 18 Oklahoma 34-3, avenging last season’s loss, No. 7 Alabama struggled at home against unranked South Carolina, No. 8 Tennessee needed overtime to beat one of the worst Florida teams in quite some time and even No. 5 Georgia looked uninspired in a 41-31 win against hapless Mississippi State. 

    All those aforementioned teams already have at least one loss, too. Alabama and Tennessee both fell against unranked teams that they were favored by double digits against. Georgia lost to Alabama. At the time, that seemed like a powerhouse clash between two national title contenders. But the result becomes more dubious with each passing week. 

    For those still doubting their résumé, the Longhorns are currently 6-0 and are winning by an average of just under 37 points per game against a strength of record that currently ranks eighth in the nation, per ESPN’s FPI metric. They’ll have a chance to permanently silence any remaining detractors against Georgia next week. 

    For now, Texas looks head and shoulders above every other team in the SEC, and certainly most teams around the nation. 

    It might be time for UCF to retire the Gus Bus 

    It’s starting to putter out. Gus Malzahn’s UCF tenure may have hit a new low Saturday afternoon in a 19-13 home loss against Cincinnati. The same Cinciannti team that went 3-9 last year and won just one game in Big 12 play. 

    The Golden Knights even benched starting quarterback KJ Jefferson, a former Arkansas transfer, before the game kicked off to try and spark a stagnant offense. It didn’t work. His replacement, 17-year-old true freshman EJ Colson, was benched after four pass attempts. Jacurri Brown, who entered the game for Colson, did post an impressive 207 yards and one touchdown, but it obviously wasn’t enough in the end. 

    This was UCF’s third loss in a row as outright favorites. Malzahn’s squad hasn’t scored more than 21 points since a Sept. 14 win against TCU, and it’s combined to put 26 on the board in each of its last two losses. 

    Remember, prior to breaking into the collegiate head coaching ranks, Malzahn made his name as an offensive coordinator and, particularly, a quarterback guru. UCF currently ranks 12th in the Big 12 with 206.8 yards passing per game. 

    Malzahn is now 9-10 since UCF’s move to the Big 12, with a 4-8 showing against conference foes. The Golden Knights weren’t expected to compete immediately, but it isn’t promising that they’re showing signs of regression under a 58-year old head coach. 

    UCF should be set up well in the Big 12. Its unique position as the conference’s only representative in Florida gives it an inherent advantage in talent acquisition. Saturday’s result —  and the last month, really — raise serious doubts about Malzahn’s ability to fully capitalize on that. 

    Kenny Dillingham is coach of the year 

    What Kenny Dillingham is doing in Tempe should not be ignored. The 34-year old inherited an absolute mess from the Herm Edwards era. Edwards was fired three games into the 2022 season after a 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan. 

    This decision came amid an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations committed by Edwards and his staff during the COVID-19 dead period. The Sun Devils had a mass transfer portal exodus following the 2021 season — not long after reports of the violations surfaced — that saw them lose the likes of quarterback Jayden Daniels (an eventual Heisman Trophy winner at LSU) and wide receiver Johnny Wilson (who developed into an NFL Draft pick at Florida State). 

    So Dillingham inherited a gutted roster and a program facing an uncertain future with punitive measures on the horizon when he took the job ahead of the 2023 season. Arizona State certainly took its lumps in his first year. The Sun devils only won three games. They weren’t expected to acclimate well to a move to the Big 12 in 2024. July’s media poll tabbed them to finish dead last in the now 16-team conference. 

    Fast-forward a couple months, and Arizona State is 5-1, with a 2-1 record in Big 12 play. Its latest win came against No. 16 Utah, the preseason Big 12 favorites. That was ASU’s first win against a ranked team under Dillingham, and it put the Sun Devils in position to at least flirt with the AP Top 25 Poll themselves. 

    Arizona State is just one win away from making a bowl game, at the very least. With how chaotic the Big 12 has been, it would be hard to completely discount the Sun Devils’ path to the Big 12 Championship Game — especially if they can beat teams of Utah’s ilk. It’s been nothing short of a miraculous turnaround under Dillingham, one that’s more than worthy of awards consideration.  

    Cade Klubnik engineering college football’s best individual turnaround 

    Clemson has eviscerated every opponent it’s stepped on the field against since its season-opening loss to Georgia, and the play of quarterback Cade Klubnik has been a big reason why. He is quietly engineering one of college football’s biggest individual turnarounds, after a rough first year as the Tigers’ starter, and he deserves more recognition when it comes to the discussion around postseason honors. 

    He threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday’s win against Wake Forest, completing 75.6% of his passes in the process. That was Klubnik’s fourth game with at least three touchdowns passing and third game with at least 250 yards through the air. His 17 touchdowns passing currently rank third among ACC quarterbacks, and he’s tied for the conference lead at his position with four touchdowns rushing. 

    Most importantly, Klubnik has only thrown two interceptions through six games. Turnovers were a huge issue for him in 2023 — nine of his passes were snagged by the defense — but he has taken great strides in the decision-making department. Clemson hasn’t played a difficult schedule over the past month or so, but the Tigers’ offense looks worlds better than it did a year ago with Klubnik running the show, even when adjusting for competition. 

    That could be just what the Tigers need to climb back to the ACC’s mountaintop. 



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