Week Seven Top 25: A Fortified Top 10

After a week off, we’re back. Vacation, as always, was great, but now it’s all college football, and what a week it was.

Firstly, our Top 25 from last week: 1) Alabama, 2) Georgia, 3) Ohio State, 4) Texas, 5) Notre Dame, 6) Miami, 7) Indiana, 8) Utah, 9) UCLA, 10) LSU, 11) BYU, 12) Missouri, 13) Nebraska, 14) Pittsburgh, 15) Mississippi State, 16) Texas Tech, 17) Wake Forest, 18) Florida, 19) Tennessee, 20) Ole Miss, 21) Duke, 22) Northwestern, 23) Oregon, 24) Wisconsin, 25) James Madison.

This week’s Top 25:

Synopsis: The top 10 are beginning to separate from the pack a bit. The difference between #10 BYU and #11 Missouri is greater than the difference between #11 Mizzou and #26 Wisconsin. This group will only get smaller and more secure. Georgia has begun to separate a bit themselves after their win at Alabama, one of Indiana or Ohio State must lose this weekend in Bloomington, Notre Dame has BYU and Miami over the next month, and a staggered Texas has Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, and LSU in consecutive weeks. I anticipate a clearer top five by November 8.

Within that top 10 are a couple wild cards, but UCLA flaunts itself as the Joker to this deck. The Bruins have largely come from out of nowhere under first year head coach Bob Chesney, and the road in front of them gets clearer by the week. With a statement win at Oregon under their belt, UCLA gets our #26 team, Wisconsin, this weekend as they continue to look to add to their resume as a possible at-large for the CFP. On top of that, UCLA also hosts four of its final six Big Ten games, so a shot at a Big Ten championship and an auto-bid is not off the table here either. In theory, with a win over Wisconsin, all probability dictates that UCLA could afford to drop a game either at Michigan or to USC and still be a lead horse for the Big Ten Championship game. The Bruins are in poll position, and I don’t see them relinquishing it all that easily.

Then there’s Utah. What do we know about Utah? For starters, we know that they are the front runner to possibly dethrone Texas Tech, they’ve played one game within two scores, and will continue to be dismissed for their weaker non-conference schedule and lack of in-conference

Who’s New

#18 Houston Cougars: 5-1 (2-1)
#22 Game Factor | +0.21 NET Adj. EPA/Play | +8.6% NET SR | +0.68 NET YPP
Why They’re Here: The Cougars and Willie Fritz keep trucking along, but they’re hoping not to run into a road block ahead. The Cougars have picked up double-digit wins over #39 Oregon State and #50 Kansas State, and they dropped a heartbreaker at #14 Texas Tech, 28-26. Conner Weigman has been more than good enough, leading one of the more successful passing attacks in the country, but their defense struggles to create turnovers and can get gashed, making for a very interesting couple of games coming up. Houston will host #23 Oklahoma State this weekend before heading to #8 Utah next week.

#19 Iowa Hawkeyes: 5-1 (2-1)
#16 Game Factor | +0.15 NET Adj. EPA/Play | +2.9% NET SR | +0.81 NET YPP
Why They’re Here: Iowa continues to fluctuate throughout the 15-30 range, an extremely tight group with razor thin margins, but a big road win as the underdog over Washington surges the Hawkeyes rightfully back into the top 20. With Jeremy Hecklinski under center, the Hawkeyes found a the rarest of sights: a passing attack. Prior to that game, the Iowa passing game with Hank Brown at QB didn’t post a single game with a yards per attempt over 6.5 against an FBS opponent. Against Washington, it sat at 10.6 with Hecklinski. This could spark something for a Hawkeyes team with a real shot at running the table to end the season as they get a lighter back half of conference play comparatively, though they’ll still have to go to Northwestern in their newly built house of horrors.

#21 Kentucky Wildcats: 5-1 (3-1)
#10 Game Factor | +0.22 NET Adj. EPA/Play | +3.6% NET SR | +0.51 NET YPP
Why They’re Here: Kentucky pulled off a thrilling overtime upset over LSU, vaulting them into the Top 25. Will Stein’s group has been incredibly impressive, and though their win over Texas A&M has taken a hit due to the Aggies simply being a major disappointment, they’ve still picked up a win at Kyle Field, against #22 LSU, and staved off a bipolar South Carolina squad. Will Stein has been the standout first-year head coach in college football, and with a date in Norman against Oklahoma looming, his offense will face its toughest test yet against the nation’s top defense.

#23 Oklahoma State Cowboys: 4-1 (2-0)
#18 Game Factor | +0.18 NET Adj. EPA/Play | +7.2% NET SR | +1.35 NET YPP
Why They’re Here: Had it not been for a befuddling loss at Tulsa to open the season, these Pokes might be sniffing around the CFP bubble with a bit more sincerity. Since that loss, superstar quarterback Drew Mestemaker has thrown for over 300 yards in every game to go along with 14 total touchdowns. The Oregon win will be their landmark victory, but the Cowboys have a shot to pick up a big win this week at #18 Houston.

#24 Arizona Wildcats: 5-1 (2-1)
#26 Game Factor | +0.13 NET Adj. EPA/Play | +6.7% NET SR | +1.73 NET YPP
Why They’re Here: There’s some meat on the bone this season in the Big 12, and Arizona adds our third newly ranked team from the conference this week. Led by seasoned QB, Noah Fifita, the ‘Cats’ passing attack and pass defense have led the charge thus far. Arizona has a bye this week, and then they’ll welcome Iowa State before heading to Lubbock to try and tackle Goliath.

Say Goodbye To…

Pittsburgh Panthers: 14 to 30
— This one’s brutal. Pitt picked up a statement win over Virginia Tech, but in the process, they lost star quarterback Mason Heintschel for the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Heintschel was blossoming into a high caliber college quarterback, and Pitt was riding his coattails. The Panthers got upset by Sweatshirt Bill’s Tar Heels this past weekend, and the drop-off in QB play was staggering. Pitt has gone from fringe bubble team to likely not factoring into the ACC race at all.

Florida Gators: 18 to 32
— …what happened? After four weeks, the talk was can Florida be the surprise “Indiana” of 2026 and can Jadan Baugh win the Heisman. Two weeks later, they’ve lost consecutive games by a combined 47 points. Look on the bright side: you only have to play a pissed off Texas team in Austin this week with the Cocktail Party looming on Halloween. I’m intrigued to see how the Gators bounce back. Jon Sumrall does not seem to be the type to take punches laying down.

Duke Blue Devils: 21 to 40
— Duke was enjoying the fruits of a softer schedule and an upset win at Illinois, but that all came crashing down in Atlanta as Duke fell into a trap game off a bye week, losing 28-25 to Georgia Tech. This tanked Duke’s game score, and they don’t have the metrics to fall back on as both their offense and defense struggled. They’ll welcome North Carolina to town who is inversely coming off Bill Belichick’s best win as their coach.

Oregon Ducks: 23 to 28
— After falling to UCLA at home with Dylan Raiola posting one of the worst games from a quarterback this decade, I think it’s fair to say these Ducks are cooked. Dan Lanning has his biggest project cut out for him now as Nebraska, Northwestern, at Ohio State, Michigan, and Washington all remain.

Wisconsin Badgers: 24 to 26
— Bye week blues. Wisconsin largely remains unchanged, teams below them got some big wins. The Badgers have a three week monster ahead of them, likely making or breaking their season. They’ll head to Los Angeles to face #7 UCLA, then return home to face #27 USC, then head to Kinnick for #19 Iowa. Can Luke Fickell finally get out from the Paul Chryst shadow?