Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
Ahead of Tennessee’s trip to Oklahoma, much of the talk was about Volunteers coach Josh Heupel returning to his alma mater. A teary-eyed Heupel told his players that Saturday’s 25-15 win over the Sooners was about them and their future, and he was right. At this point, Tennessee’s future looks like an SEC championship contender.
Though it wasn’t as close as the final score suggests, Tennessee’s win on the road has lifted them to No. 3 in The Athletic 134 this week.
Through four games, the Vols have shown they can win in a variety of ways, which should bode well for SEC play. Saturday’s win was ugly, but that’s not a bad thing. Two years ago, the Tennessee team that finished sixth in the College Football Playoff rankings could score 40 or 50 points against just about any team, but was 31st in rushing yards on offense and 48th in yards allowed on defense. This Tennessee team can run the ball and play better defense.
Oklahoma’s offense struggled, but Tennessee played a game where they knew they could protect a lead, run the ball and run out the clock defensively, and that’s what they did. Tennessee passed 21 times, ran 49 times (not including sacks) and missed two offensive tackles. Oklahoma averaged 1.1 yards per carry and committed three turnovers.
Tennessee is playing flawlessly right now, and the team has risen in the standings after one of the best wins of the weekend.
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Mandel’s final thoughts: Don’t forget the dominance of Travis Hunter. Plus, a “new” CFB is on the way.
With most teams now a third of the way through the season, head-to-head results carry less weight when it comes to teams that aren’t at the same level (Northern Illinois University has a bye), but this weekend’s lopsided results ultimately produced some big jumps up the ladder.
This is the Week 5 edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
1
4-0
1
2
3-0
2
3
4-0
5
4
3-0
3
5
4-0
4
6
4-0
6
7
3-0
7
8
3-0
8
9
4-0
11
10
3-0
10
The only change, other than Tennessee’s emergence, is that Missouri has fallen out of the top 10 and Utah has risen to ninth after beating Oklahoma State 22-19 after it was down 22-3 at one point in the fourth quarter. I don’t think the ceiling is high for a Utah team without quarterback Cam Rising, but the defense is as strong as it’s ever been and Utah is a favorite to win the Big 12.
Georgia’s trip to Alabama this Saturday will likely shake up the standings next week.
As for Ohio State, I’ll point out that I had them ranked No. 1 in the preseason but they’ve dropped to No. 4 due to their schedule. The three teams ranked above the Buckeyes have played much better opponents, and their October opener against Iowa and Oregon will be Ohio State’s first chance to climb back up the rankings.
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AP Top 25 highlights: Who’s No. 1? Tennessee can’t be ignored amid fierce SEC debate
11-25
I don’t know if Missouri just wasn’t as good as expected or if they were just too picky about food. Beating Vanderbilt in overtime after an unexpectedly close game with Boston College was not a performance worthy of a top 10 team. The Tigers are testing my patience and will continue to drop down the rankings with play like this, despite their schedule being very favorable for SEC teams.
Michigan is up again at No. 11 after an upset win at home against USC. Like Utah, I don’t think the Wolverines have a high ceiling. Their offense wasn’t going anywhere after USC made that adjustment. But they’re better up front than most of the teams they’ll face. BYU beat Kansas State, a former top-15 team, 38-9 and moved up to No. 16 by a wide margin. The final margin didn’t show the box score numbers in K-State’s favor, but BYU’s defense was solid and their previous win at SMU looks even better after Saturday’s result.
Illinois moves up to #18 after their win over Nebraska. Illinois is forcing turnovers and playing efficiently on offense. This team is playing really hard and this could be a classic game where Bret Bielema exceeds expectations. Louisville finally plays a noteworthy opponent and moves up to #23 with a 31-19 win over Georgia Tech. Indiana also moves up to #24 in the top 25, but that’s not because the Hoosiers beat Charlotte, it’s because they’ve beaten every team they’ve ever been to. Their next game against Maryland will tell us if this is for real.
Welcome to the Top 25, Washington State. The Cougars are 4-0 after thwarting a two-point attempt to beat San Jose State in overtime. They came away with a win this week over Texas Tech, but that win looks even better. They can only make it to the CFP as an at-large team this year and next, so they should be ranked around the top 10.
Going deeper
Michigan proved they could pull off an ugly win against USC. That’s all for now.
26-50
If Oklahoma wasn’t “Oklahoma,” the Sooners wouldn’t be ranked in the top 25. Outside of a big win over Temple in the season opener, they haven’t played well all season and with quarterback Jackson Arnold on the bench, they faced major issues on offense and dropped to 26th. Iowa still can’t pass, but their new offense is opening up lanes for explosive running back Caleb Johnson. The Hokies beat Minnesota to move up to 28th. Texas Tech beat previously unbeaten Arizona State to move up to 35th. Both teams may not be as good as their rankings suggest, but they’ll stick around for now.
SMU’s 66-42 win over TCU moves the Mustangs up to 36th. BYU’s previous loss to Kansas State doesn’t seem so bad. Navy made its biggest jump of the week, from 105th to 37th, with a win over Memphis. The 3-0 Midshipmen have scored the most points in three games since 1918 and might be the top team in the AAC. Northern Illinois dropped to 38th after blowing an 11-point lead in an overtime loss to Buffalo.
Arkansas’ 24-14 win over Auburn lifts the Razorbacks to 41st, while UC’s loss to Florida State drops the Golden Bears to 42nd. James Madison has had a poor season, but a dominant 70-50 win over North Carolina moves the Dukes to 44th.
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How JMU, a former women’s teacher training school, became a disruptor of college sports
51-75
North Carolina was looking good going into Saturday but dropped to 55th after a loss to JMU. Virginia Tech fell to 58th after a late loss to Rutgers. The bigger problem is that Virginia Tech’s chances of a notable win are all but gone after consecutive losses to Rutgers and Vanderbilt. North Carolina State also fell to 59th after a 59-35 loss to Clemson. It was the Wolfpack’s second loss of the season to an Associated Press top 25 team.
Toledo is also a Group 5 favorite, but this time it dropped after a dramatic loss to Western Kentucky. TCU dropped to 69th after losing to SMU, while Stanford jumped up to 70th after beating Syracuse with a last-second field goal. TCU’s head-to-head win over Stanford speaks volumes about their relative rankings. Wisconsin dropped to 71st without playing a game, but that’s simply because other teams (like Stanford) performed well while Wisconsin was resting. Army is 3-0 and looking pretty solid so far. Are the military academies on the rise again? Cincinnati is 3-1 after a 34-0 win over Houston and is now 73rd, so the Bearcats might be getting back on track. But for that fourth-quarter blunder against Pittsburgh…
Kansas then dropped to 74th after a one-point loss, this time to West Virginia, while Florida State rose to 75th after beating Cal State, becoming the final Power 4 team with a win.
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76-100
San Jose State, ranked 77th, lost to Washington State, but the Spartans are doing well so far under first-year coach Ken Niumatalolo. Virginia beat the Chanticleers to move up to 79th, ahead of Coastal Carolina. South Florida fell to 78th after a 50-15 loss to Miami. The Bulls have a tough non-conference schedule.
Bowling Green, coming off a one-point loss to Penn State and then a one-point loss to Texas A&M, has risen to 86th and looks like a team that can do some serious damage in the MAC. So has Buffalo, who is 3-1 after beating Northern Illinois and is 87th. Sam Houston, who is 3-1 after beating New Mexico State, has risen to 91st and could be a force in Conference USA.
The toughest team to rank this week is South Alabama. The Jaguars lost to Ohio and North Texas, but they did beat Appalachian State 48-14. They were without quarterback Geo Lopez in the Ohio game, so maybe they’re finally figuring things out after an 0-2 start. Or maybe Appalachian State is in big trouble for the rest of the year. We need to watch more of South Alabama to get a better understanding of the team.
Mississippi State is ranked last among the Power 4 teams at 98th, quarterback Blake Shapen is out for the year after injuring his shoulder in a 45-28 loss to Florida, and next up are Texas and Georgia. Sorry, Bulldogs.
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College Football Playoff 2024 predictions: Utah returns, USC remains in bracket
101-134
Troy, ranked 108th, and Temple, ranked 125th, both picked up their first wins of the season. Temple looked like it could go 0-12, but the Owls beat Utah State, 45-29. Is Connecticut turning things around? The Huskies had a close game against Duke last week and beat FAU, 48-14, on Saturday to move up to 113th.
Meanwhile, FIU lost to FCS Monmouth at Pit Bull Stadium and dropped to No. 115. Tulsa beat Louisiana Tech in overtime to move up to No. 118. Wyoming has fallen fast and is now No. 130 after a 44-17 loss to North Texas. A perennial bowl team under coach Craig Bohl, the Cowboys have suffered three blowout losses to FBS teams in coach Jay Sobel’s first season, including a loss to FBS Idaho.
Kent State remains last in total yards gained after losing 718-67 to Penn State, the largest margin of victory I can remember seeing.
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains complete editorial independence. Our partner has no control or opinion over the reporting or editorial process and does not review stories before publication.
(Photo by Brian Baer/Getty Images)
