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Look, Texas has the best win in the sport — against a top-5 Ohio State at home. On Saturday, the Longhorns added another victory — against undefeated AP Top 25-ranked Tennessee. Given that Texas remains undefeated with two of the most impressive wins in the sport, there is no good and reasonable argument for ranking the Longhorns anywhere other than No. 1. However. This sport is irrational and runs on emotion and vibes. And my vibe is: If maleficent Martians had a death laser pointed at the Earth with a crusty gnarled finger on a button ready to press it unless one of the top-25 teams on this list could beat a hypothetical otherworldly college football squad, and I am tasked with selecting that team, I’m choosing Georgia. I’m selecting Kirby Smart and the Dawgs because, despite having played little (Tennessee State) and (a new) nobody (Oklahoma), that feels like the most complete and devastating team in the sport through Week 4. Put aside that Oklahoma has become the kind of team that turns college football fans into productive members of society on Saturdays. Then ask yourself which one of the teams ranked below you’d pick to beat a team that has crushed every other team it’s played by 28 points or more this season? If it ain’t Georgia, let’s hope the Martians make it quick because you’d be wrong. With that, here are my top-25 rankings after a thrilling Week 4. Week 4 game: 20-19 loss vs. IowaWeek 5 game: At Minnesota Despite one loss on paper — and two for those of us who watched the end of regulation in Michigan’s home-opener against Western Michigan — the Wolverines are a mere one (OK, two) second(s) from being 4-0. And their only loss is to an undefeated and top 25-ranked Iowa. Week 4 game: 47-21 loss vs. OregonWeek 5 game: Washington Even with a College Football Hall of Fame defensive play-caller in Gary Patterson, the Trojans defense remains a glaring weakness for Lincoln Riley’s team. (However, a new defensive coordinator doesn’t mean this is a new problem for Riley.) This season the Trojans have allowed four of their five opponents to score at least 26 points and at least 35 in their last two games. Week 4 game: 42-28 win vs. Georgia SouthernWeek 5 game: UCF Quarterback Connor Weigman accounted for six total touchdowns in a rout of a program Houston’s Willie Fritz coached from 2013 to 2015. Welcome back, Cougars. Week 4 game: 41-24 win vs. West VirginiaWeek 5 game: Bye The Cowboys took down previously unbeaten West Virginia with more than 600 yards of offense, a 300-yard passer (Drew Mestemaker), 180-yard rusher (Caleb Hawkins) and 190-yard receiver (Wyatt Young) with a third-straight game of scoring 39 points or more. And after Oregon’s win against formerly undefeated USC, Oklahoma State’s win against the Ducks looks rather impressive. Week 4 game: 21-14 win vs. Boston College Week 5 game: Pitt James Franklin’s Hokies got this win done in the midst of a nor’easter storm — wind gusts of more than 40 miles per hour and heavy rain — to remain unbeaten and a trendy pick to earn a chance to play for the ACC championship. Week 4 game: ByeWeek 5 game: Wyoming Week 4 game: 31-24 loss vs. Mississippi StateWeek 5 game: Florida Despite taking a one-score lead into the fourth quarter, the Missouri defense couldn’t hold the line — giving up 14 points in the final 15 minutes — and the offense couldn’t score. Quarterback Austin Simmons hit 59% of his passes for 295 yards with three passing touchdowns in the loss. Week 4 game: 54-3 win vs. MarylandWeek 5 game: Bye The Bruins continued their undefeated start to the Bob Chesney era with a 51-point demolition of (not-so) longtime Big Ten member Maryland. UCLA allowed just 39 rushing yards and created five Terrapins turnovers. Week 4 game: 20-19 win vs. MichiganWeek 5 game: Ohio State In a karmic win for many college football fans, Hawkeyes quarterback Hank Brown hit receiver Reece Vander Zee for a touchdown as time expired at the Big House to keep Iowa undefeated. In a twist, the Hawkeyes passing offense (227 yards), led by Brown, out-gained the Hawkeyes rushing attack (59 yards) while playing turnover-free football. Week 4 game: 20-17 loss vs. TexasWeek 5 game: Auburn Despite being gifted 155 yards in penalties and an outstanding effort from the Vols defense, we learned — the hard way — that Tennessee will only be as good as true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon can be. Against the Longhorns, he wasn’t great with 17 completions on 29 attempts for 145 yards with a touchdown. And he was sacked 10 times. Week 4 game: 31-17 win vs. Iowa StateWeek 5 game: Bye Utah opened Big 12 play with a workmanlike win against the Cyclones with nearly identical passing (206) and rushing (205) yards and absolutely no turnovers. Week 4 game: 52-28 loss vs. FloridaWeek 5 game: Bye Pete Golding’s defense gave up 302 rushing yards and 498 total yards to a Florida team that set about breaking the Rebels’ will early. Heisman Trophy candidate Trinidad Chambliss accounted for 342 total yards with three total touchdowns and two turnovers. Week 4 game: 31-24 win vs. MissouriWeek 5 game: Alabama Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor engineered a 14-point fourth quarter to earn the Bulldogs their first ranked win and against an undefeated foe. If you’re looking for the 2026 version of 2025 Vanderbilt, it’s playing ball in Starkville, Mississippi, this year. Week 4 game: 41-27 win vs. USCWeek 5 game: Bye With starting quarterback Dante Moore knocked out of the game early, former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola stepped in and took charge with a brilliant performance. Saturday against USC — the last team he played against as a Husker, and broke his leg — Raiola completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns. Week 4 game: ByeWeek 5 game: At TCU Week 4 game: 35-6 win vs. Texas A&MWeek 5 game: McNeese The Tigers bounced back from their emotional loss to Ole Miss by absolutely crushing a Texas A&M team that had no business being ranked in the AP Top 25 this week. (Aggies haven’t been on my list for two weeks now.) Before leaving the game due to injury, quarterback Sam Leavitt completed 17 of 23 passes for 312 yards with two touchdowns. Week 4 game: 49-14 win vs. Sam HoustonWeek 5 game: At Colorado In one of the wildest two-play sequences, linebacker Austin Romaine picked off two different Sam Houston quarterbacks, in back-to-back plays, and returned both interceptions for touchdowns. Week 4 game: 49-18 win vs. South CarolinaWeek 5 game: At Mississippi State The Crimson Tide have a burgeoning star in quarterback Keelon Russell, who completed 21 of 27 passes for 365 yards with four passing touchdowns in a demolition of a South Carolina team many NFL Draftniks believe possesses a future first-rounder at quarterback in LaNorris Sellers. Alabama might beg to differ after holding Sellers to just 185 passing yards and one touchdown, plus intercepting him once. Week 4 game: 52-28 win vs. Ole MissWeek 5 game: At Missouri Jon Sumrall’s Gators have scored at least 40 points in every game they’ve played this season, and they hung 52 on the AP No. 4-ranked team in the country, Ole Miss, which had wins against top-ranked opponents LSU and Louisville before Florida crushed its dream of an undefeated season. Week 4 game: 42-19 win vs. IllinoisWeek 5 game: At Iowa Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith notched a career-high for receiving yards in a game with 12 catches for 217 yards with four receiving touchdowns. That performance will keep Smith at the front of the Heisman Trophy conversation. Week 4 game: 29-23 win vs. NorthwesternWeek 5 game: At Rutgers Following a win against Western Kentucky last weekend that did not look as convincing on the field as on the scoreboard, Curt Cignetti chastised Hoosier fans. “Don’t bitch about a 38-0 win.” What about a 29-23 win where your Hoosiers blew a double-digit lead against a Northwestern team that gave up a safety in its first play from scrimmage? What about a 29-23 win that was under threat until the last 40 seconds of the game? Yes, Indiana remains undefeated. But instead of asking if this team is dominant, we’re left asking: How long can it keep its winning streak going if it insists on playing down to its competition? Week 4 game: 52-3 win vs. Central MichiganWeek 5 game: At Clemson The Hurricanes are simply crushing every team they play so far, with quarterback Darian Mensah throwing for 338 yards on 23 of 27 passing with three touchdowns before being pulled from the game. Wide receiver Malachi Toney added six catches for 120 yards with a touchdown too. This team, like the next one, looks flawless. Week 4 game: 49-10 win vs. PurdueWeek 5 game: At North Carolina In what most consider a ho-hum 39-point win for the Fighting Irish against a Big Ten cellar-dweller, Notre Dame accomplished a first: Finished the month of September undefeated in the Marcus Freeman era. Perhaps that’s a harbinger of a national title to come? Week 4 game: 41-13 win vs. OklahomaWeek 5 game: Vanderbilt It’s less like Georgia defeated Oklahoma, and it’s more like Oklahoma never gave Georgia a chance to beat the Sooners worse than the Sooners could be themselves. Didn’t matter, though. No. 2 Georgia beat Oklahoma (41-13) by the same margin that it beat Arkansas (45-17) last week: 28 points. Week 4 game: 20-17 win vs. TennesseeWeek 5 game: Bye The Longhorns defense bullied the Volunteers, and true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon became the most popular piñata in the city of Knoxville for three hours. Brandon was sacked 10 times with five coming at the hands of defensive end Colin Simmons, who — despite a stupid, notable penalty — fell just short of setting the single-game record for sacks against what once was a top-15 team in the AP rankings and a top-20 one here.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Skying into the Los Angeles night, Oregon receiver Dakorien Moore slipped on his best red cape and silenced the Tinseltown faithful as he snatched a deep-ball away from defensive back Elbert Hill IV, crashed into the end zone and scored the Ducks’ go-ahead fourth-quarter score on Saturday. On an evening where the Ducks lost starting quarterback Dante Moore minutes into the contest, it was the other Moore whose score pushed Oregon to a 41-27 victory in a Pac-12 After Dark-esque prime-time affair under the lights at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Two weeks after a debilitating loss to Oklahoma State, it was the Ducks who suddenly thrust themselves back into the College Football Playoff conversation. The hometown Trojans, meanwhile, looked up to the task — until fourth quarter misfires saw Lincoln Riley drop his seventh game in eight tries against Associated Press Top 25 teams. Here are my takeaways from the heavyweight West Coast clash between Oregon and USC. 1. Can Dylan Raiola Anchor Oregon At Quarterback? Oregon’s nightmare start to the season seemingly took an even more stark turn when Moore exited Saturday’s contest on a stretcher following an egregious hit from USC linebacker Desman Stephens II. Enter Raiola, the ex-five-star recruit and perceived Nebraska savior. Two plays after Moore left the game, Raiola fired a touchdown pass to Evan Stewart to put the Ducks ahead early. He finished completing more than 75% of his passes for 289 yards and a pair of scores, while flashing the arm strength and mobility that made him one of the more sought-after quarterback recruits in recent memory. Raiola’s career has been well documented. He played at three high schools in four years, before flipping his commitment three different times during the recruiting process. He eventually landed at Nebraska, where he flashed massive arm talent, but lacked the consistency to really elevate the Cornhuskers beyond average. He finished his time in Lincoln suffering a broken fibula, coincidentally against USC, that ended his 2025 campaign before he entered the transfer portal. The plan, at least in theory, was for Raiola to spend the year backing up Moore in the Dan Lanning school of quarterbacking. Now he’s squarely in the mix — depending on when Moore could return — for a team that had national championship-or-bust aspirations. Can he be good enough to meet those preseason expectations? We’ll find out — the Ducks still have Ohio State, Michigan, Washington and an upstart UCLA on the schedule. Oh, and the Ducks’ trip to Lincoln on Oct. 17 just got a hell of a lot more interesting. 2. Dierre Hill Jr. And Oregon’s Run Game Steadies The Ducks While Oregon’s offense has shouldered the load in recent years, the Ducks struggled to run the ball effectively the first few weeks of the season. Lanning’s squad only netted 119 yards on 25 touches in the season-opening win over Boise State — albeit a result that continues to look better by the week — and mustered just three yards per carry on 30 attempts in the loss to Oklahoma State. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Ducks looked far more efficient on the ground against a disruptive USC front-four that created its share of issues in the pass game early. Jordon Davison managed 61 of his 66 yards on 11 carries in the opening 30 minutes, while the team averaged 5.2 yards per touch in the first half. Oregon picked up where it left off in the second half behind the legs of Dierre Hill, who scampered for 63 yards on 15 touches and added another 105 yards on four receptions out of the backfield. It’s not clear how long Dante Moore might be out for the Ducks — more on that in a second — but Lanning’s squad will need the run game to remain steady if Dylan Raiola needs any time to ease into starting again. 3. Dan Lanning Is Maturing As A Coach — And Saturday Was Proof It was there for the taking. A Pac-12 title. A CFP berth. A national championship? Maybe down the line. Again and again, Lanning and his Ducks were stopped on fourth down in a 2023 loss at Washington. They finished the night 0-for-3. Lanning was skewered for the decision-making in the immediate aftermath. Perhaps he’s learned something. Tied at 10 with seconds remaining in the first half, Oregon was thrice stopped inside the 10-yard line as it tried to put a touchdown on the board before the break. If history tells us anything, Lanning in seemingly any other moment would’ve tried a fourth down attempt. He didn’t, the Ducks kicked a field goal and marched into halftime up 13-10. By night’s end, those three points weren’t necessarily crucial, but offered a glimpse into the psyche of the nostril’s flared, youthfully exuberant head coach who suddenly has his Oregon squad pushing in the right direction. Lanning, for all intents and purposes, is among the faces of the sport. His tutelage under Kirby Smart and Nick Saban made him a fast-riser. His efforts in Eugene have seen him push into the upper echelons of the profession. But it’s decision-making like that in the waning seconds of the first half that has doomed him in big spots. It didn’t on Saturday — and that should scare the rest of the Big Ten. 4. Lincoln Riley And USC Lose Another Against Big Ten’s Elite Should we really be surprised? USC has been a perpetual underperformer under Lincoln Riley, and Saturday’s loss to Oregon was another prime example on a growing laundry list of efforts where the Trojans haven’t gotten over the line. In fairness, the Trojans went score for score with the Ducks for 52 of 60 minutes on Saturday. But even with Oregon onto its backup quarterback — experienced as he might be — it was another evening that surely left those around the USC program asking, “What now?” Losing a game to a talented Oregon team that plenty picked to win the national title in the preseason isn’t disqualifying or a complete indictment of a coaching tenure. It’s more a matter of what’s to come — and that it feels like it’s only going to get worse for Riley and the Trojans, no matter how much more competent this squad seems. USC still has Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Washington and UCLA to come this season. It almost certainly won’t lose all those games. It also almost certainly won’t win all of them. Riley isn’t going to be fired for losing to a good Oregon team, but it’s a luxury he surely would’ve loved to have. It’s been an open secret within the college football world that Lincoln’s relationship with athletics director Jen Cohen is, shall we say, frosty. The hiring of general manager Chad Bowden was another move in recent years aimed at rectifying the issues Riley had faced in the early going of his tenure in Los Angeles. This was to be the year the Trojans put it all together. Saturday was another speed bump — a productive one, but a speed bump nonetheless — in Riley’s rocky USC tenure. Hit a few more down the stretch and the pitchforks will be out in full force.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports