College Football Rankings: Is Anyone Any Good? These 25 Are

It happens every few years or so around this time when people start to wonder if any of the top college football teams are all that great. This year, there are just three unbeaten teams left – Miami, UCLA, and Utah – and they all have flaws (we’ll get to that in a moment).
Going into Week 9, we have a pretty good handle on who’s the real deal and who had a quirky week or two to go along with a great record. There are plenty of excellent teams this season, even if there are three or four killers up top that look unstoppable. Here are the 25 best teams in college football right now.
– CFN Week 9 Rankings: 26-138

2026 College Football Rankings: The 25 Best Teams in Week 9

25. Auburn Tigers

Record: (4-3)
Last Week Rank: 18
Week 8: LSU 38, Auburn 17
Up Next: at Ole Miss
Auburn 27, Georgia 24 in Athens. That carries all the weight for a top-25 spot. The three losses to Tennessee, Florida, and LSU aren’t great, but we don’t punish too hard for losing games against a great schedule – to a point. Beating Ole Miss next week is a must.

24. Iowa Hawkeyes

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 20
Week 8: Minnesota 13, Iowa 10
Up Next: Wisconsin
This is a lovely gift we’re giving an Iowa team that pulled off a win over Michigan because of a dumb late penalty by the Wolverines, and a win at Washington. The Hawkeyes are now 0-2 when scoring 14 points or fewer, and up next is a Wisconsin team that’s allowing 11 points per game over the last six.

23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 23
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: Virginia
You know we’re on the Demon Deacon train, but at this point, the close call wins over Purdue and Louisville – even though they were on the road – aren’t enough. The season will come down to the trip to SMU in the middle of November.

22. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 34
Week 8: Minnesota 13, Iowa 10
Up Next: at Indiana
The 41-13 bizarre blowout loss at Purdue should be disqualifying for the top 25, but the Gophers beat Washington in Seattle back when that meant something – the Huskies beat Purdue in West Lafayette, by the way – and took control of iconic trophies in wins over Michigan and Iowa.

21. Oklahoma Sooners

Record: (4-3)
Last Week Rank: 41
Week 8: Oklahoma 23, Mississippi State 15
Up Next: South Carolina
Try ranking this bunch. The Sooners are the only team to beat New Mexico, they took down Texas, and beating Mississippi State on the road is still solid. The losses? At Michigan, at Georgia, and Kentucky. That’s fine, but OU has to beat Florida next week to stay in the top 25.

20. Northwestern Wildcats

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 22
Week 8: Northwestern 42, Rutgers 14
Up Next: at Oregon
The only loss was in a 29-23 fight at Indiana several weeks ago. Here’s the problem – the Penn State win isn’t a big deal anymore, and the other five wins were against teams that almost certainly won’t be bowl-eligible. At Oregon, Iowa, at Ohio State, at Minnesota – here we go, Cats.

19. Wisconsin Badgers

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 26
Week 8: Wisconsin 24, USC 7
Up Next: at Iowa
The only two losses were to Notre Dame and UCLA – two teams that might be 1-2 in some way two weeks from now. The offense might be only slightly less painful to watch than that TikTok your kids think is hilarious, but the defense that held USC to a Lincoln Riley-coached team low seven points is the truth. If this is all for real, though, the Badgers take down Iowa next week.

18. Florida Gators

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 17
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: Georgia (in Atlanta)
We have a handle on every team in our top 25 … except Florida. It won at Texas and Auburn, and it destroyed Ole Miss. But blowout losses to South Carolina and Missouri put the Gators here.

17. South Carolina Gamecocks

Record: (4-3)
Last Week Rank: 16
Week 8: South Carolina 27, Tennessee 24
Up Next: at Oklahoma
You win at Florida by 19 and follow it up with a thrilling victory over Tennessee, then yeah, you deserve a cookie. Give the Gamecocks credit for fighting the good fight after a tough three-game losing streak that all but ended any SEC and CFP dreams in the first week of October.

16. Missouri Tigers

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 15
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: at Arkansas
When we last saw Mizzou, it wasn’t even close in a 31-3 loss to Ole Miss. The Tigers are this high in the rankings because they’re still living off the blowout win over Florida, but after going to Arkansas, they have a PROVE IT month of brutal November games to deal with (Texas, at Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma).

15. Arizona Wildcats

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 24
Week 8: Arizona 39, Iowa State 3
Up Next: at Texas Tech
The Wildcats have been totally ignored ever since the 28-17 Week 2 loss at BYU. Since then, they won 31-7 over a Cincinnati team that just beat Texas Tech, and beat a dangerous West Virginia squad by 21.

14. Utah Utes

Record: (7-0)
Last Week Rank: 25
Week 8: Utah 21, Houston 13
Up Next: at Cincinnati
Yeah, Utah is one of three unbeaten teams left, and beating Houston was certainly solid, but that’s it. There’s an almost certain chance that the Utes don’t have another win over a team that will go to a bowl game.

13. Alabama Crimson Tide

Record: (6-2)
Last Week Rank: 9
Week 8: Alabama 31, Texas A&M 20
Up Next: OPEN DATE
The win over Texas A&M was nice, but the Crimson Tide showed their true colors in the loss to Tennessee a few weeks ago. All due respect and credit will be given if Alabama looks the part in two weeks when it travels for its next game at …

12. LSU Tigers

Record: (6-2)
Last Week Rank: 12
Week 8: LSU 38, Auburn 17
Up Next: OPEN DATE
Seriously, Tigers, just keep your focus for each and every game, and you won’t lose again. Lane Kiffin’s bunch is so, so good – all six wins were dominant blowouts – but it still lost to Kentucky and Ole Miss. Gut feeling: we’re about to see LSU take a massive step against Alabama, Texas, and Tennessee over the next three games.

11. Tennessee Volunteers

Record: (6-2)
Last Week Rank: 8
Week 8: South Carolina 27, Tennessee 24
Up Next: OPEN DATE
It took something magical for South Carolina to pull off the thriller over the Vols on Saturday. The dominant win over Alabama still matters – this is a stronger Tennessee team than the one that lost 20-17 to Texas back in late September.

10. Ole Miss Rebels

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 11
Week 8: Texas 34, Ole Miss 27
Up Next: Auburn
The wins over LSU and Missouri more than offset the rough losses at Florida and Texas – almost every other team in America would’ve dropped those to games, too. Trinidad Chambliss and this bunch have enough fight to be the proverbial Team You Don’t Want To Face if it gets into the College Football Playoff.

9 Texas Longhorns

Record: (5-2)
Last Week Rank: 19
Week 8: Texas 34, Ole Miss 27
Up Next: Mississippi State
For all the problems, and the 27-24 losses to both Oklahoma and Florida, Texas is the only team to beat Ohio State and UTSA. Combine that with a win at Tennessee and the victory over Ole Miss, and the ranking should probably be higher.

8. Kentucky Wildcats

Record: (7-1)
Last Week Rank: 10
Week 8: Kentucky 34, Vanderbilt 17
Up Next: OPEN DATE
Let’s just chalk up the Week 2 45-17 loss to Alabama as a learning experience. Since then, Kentucky has a win at South Carolina that now looks fantastic, the win at Oklahoma is stronger, and beating LSU will be the win that opens several doors once the College Football Playoff rankings kick in.

7. Georgia Bulldogs

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 6
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: Florida (in Atlanta)
Blowing out Oklahoma is a bigger deal now, but the win over Alabama still has a slew of issues that come with it – the weather, bad calls and non-calls. And the loss to Auburn at home is concerning. We’re going to need to see wins over Florida and Ole Miss over the next two weeks.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Record: (5-1)
Last Week Rank: 3
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: Navy (in Foxborough)
Honestly, on talent and based on what we think is about to happen, Notre Dame should be No. 1, but that’s not fair or right at the moment. For now, it has to be just behind BYU, but beat Miami in two weeks, and everything will be set.

5. BYU Cougars

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 2
Week 8: UCF 39, BYU 31
Up Next: Arizona State
If hooked up to some sort of lie detector, we’d still say Notre Dame is the best team in the country. BYU was the team to take down the Irish, but it’s more than that. The Cougars also handed a fantastic Arizona squad its only loss, too. No, the UCF loss wasn’t great, but right now, the Cougars still have to be ahead of the Irish.

4. Miami Hurricanes

Record: (7-0)
Last Week Rank: 4
Week 8: Miami 52, Pitt 23
Up Next: at North Carolina
They … STILL … haven’t … beaten … ANYONE. Okay, being the only team to beat Wake Forest isn’t without its charm, but blowing out a dead Pitt team walking? Needing overtime to survive at home against a meh Florida State? Blowing out Clemson doesn’t mean anything anymore. We’ll talk in a few weeks after the Canes go to North Carolina and Notre Dame.

3. Indiana Hoosiers

Record: (7-1)
Last Week Rank: 5
Week 8: Indiana 13, Michigan 6 OT
Up Next: Minnesota
Just one toe tap a few inches to the right against Ohio State and Indiana would be the easiest No. 1 call ever. We’re not going to punish a team for a loss like that. It hasn’t been pretty, but the Hoosiers found a way to win at Michigan, handed Northwestern its only loss, and pulled out a win at Nebraska. It’s (probably) not going to lose the rest of the regular season.

2. UCLA Bruins

Record: (7-0)
Last Week Rank: 7
Week 8: UCLA 28, Michigan State 10
Up Next: Nevada
Enough is enough. After spending the last week saying UCLA – as the only unbeaten Big Ten team – would be the unquestioned No. 1 team in America if it were named Michigan, Oregon, or Penn State. It was able to beat Oregon in Eugene – the other two Duck losses were on the road – the ten-point win over Wisconsin looks special now, and yeah, fine, we’ll record-rank for a bit until someone can touch this bunch.

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

Record: (6-1)
Last Week Rank: 1
Week 8: OPEN DATE
Up Next: at USC
Yes, the injury to quarterback Julian Sayin is an issue, but we’re not going to be punitive on that until Ohio State really does struggle without him for at least the next several weeks.
The only loss was at Texas – that looks a lot better now – and the blowout wins over Iowa and Illinois deserve a little credit. But really, why is it here? It’s the only team to hand Curt Cignetti a home loss in just over two-and-a-half years as the Indiana head coach.
– CFN Week 9 Rankings: 26-138