Josh’s College Football Rankings 2024–Week 6

UPSET WEEKEND! What was supposed to be a meh weekend of college football ended up being pretty incredible since nine of my ranked teams lost. Even crazier, eight teams were on bye, so more than half of the teams in my rankings lost. The biggest upset happened in Nashville as Vandy took out the Crimson Tide. The SEC had a rough day with Bama, Tennessee, and Mizzou all losing. A few of the teams I mentioned early in the season as spoilers proved me right (Texas Tech & GT), while a couple others disappointed me with some shitty losses (lookin’ at you JMU and BC). These losses really helped Penn State and Oregon, as they move up in the rankings after beating their opponents. 

1.  Texas (5-0)–#1–BYE
2. Ohio State (5-0)–#3–W 35-7 Iowa. The Buckeyes had zero problem with Cade McNamara and the Hawkeyes.
3. Georgia (4-1)–#4–W 31-13 Auburn. A nice rebound after that tough loss to Alabama.
4. Penn State (5-0)–#6–W 27-11 UCLA. The Nittany Lions looked good against UCLA, who is not nearly as bad as their record shows.
5. Oregon (5-0)–#7–W 31-10 Michigan State. Time to pay attention to Dillon Gabriel, who is now third all-time in passing touchdown with 136. He needs 19 to tie Case Keenum.
6. Miami (6-0)–#9–W 39-38 California. What a crazy game! I thought for sure the Hurricanes were going to lose, but Cam Ward proved to be worth the NIL money they spent to get him, and led Miami on a massive comeback (also, that loss would have made these difficult rankings even more challenging).
7. Alabama (4-1)–#2–L 40-35 Vanderbilt. An ugly loss, but I could not justify dropping them much lower than this since they beat Georgia. A one-loss Alabama is still better than most teams.
8. Clemson (4-1)–#11–W 29-13 Florida State. Clemson is on a roll after that week one loss to Georgia (is this team better now, or is the ACC that weak???). The rankings are going to be a bit weird from here down.
9. Ole Miss (5-1)–#12–W 27-3 South Carolina. The Rebels defense played well, and the offense did their thing against South Carolina.
10. LSU (4-1)–#14–BYE
11. Notre Dame (4-1)–#15–BYE
12. Tennessee (4-1)–#5–L 19-14 Arkansas. The Vols were looking like a national championship contender, but a loss to the Razorbacks hurts them.
13. BYU (5-0)–#17–BYE
14. Iowa State (5-0)–HM–W 43-21 Baylor. I decided to correct my Cyclone snub and get them ranked where they should probably be.
15. Oklahoma (4-1)–#16–BYE
16. Kansas State (4-1)–#18–BYE
17. Texas A&M (5-1)–#24–W 41-10 #8 Missouri. I should probably have the Aggies ranked higher, but my thinking is that I may have ranked Mizzou too high considering those close wins.
18. SMU (5-1)–HM–W 34-27 #20 Louisville. Can you imagine if the Mustangs won the ACC? This team looks for real, and it is definitely a possibility.
19. Missouri (4-1)–#8–L 41-10 #24 Texas A&M. This feels more right for where the Tigers should be ranked.
20. Texas Tech (4-1)–NR–W 28-22 #19 Arizona. When was the last time Texas Tech was ranked? 2018. Big XII rant coming: The conference lives in the 18-25 spot. Like every team could be ranked there at some point. They never have an elite team (the Big Ten and SEC dominate the top ten every year, but the Big XII lives in this realm). I guess that is parity, since some team can always win against the other.
21. Utah (4-1)–#22–BYE
22. Indiana (6-0)–HM–W 41-24 Northwestern. The Hoosiers have entered the rankings! I think this is the first time I have ever ranked in the long history of these rankings.
23. Pitt (5-0)–HM–W 34-24 UNC. The Panthers have some tough games coming up (Cal, Syracuse, SMU), so we will see if this team is for real. The fans are on-board the hype train, but a loss to one of those teams, and they will become women’s volleyball fans real fast (congrats to them by the way for being #1 in the country).
24. Boise State (4-1)–#25–W 62-30 Utah State. Ashton Jeanty had 186 yards rushing and 3 TDs…and only played the first half.
25. Illinois (4-1)–HM–BYE

Honorable Mention

•  Michigan (4-2)–#10–L 27-17 Washington. The Wolverines have lots of things to figure out, but I am not ready to write them off. They can still ruin some seasons.
• USC (3-2)–#13–L 24-17 Minnesota. Same as above.
• Duke (5-1)–#23–L 24-14 Georgia Tech. They will upset someone and find themselves back in the rankings.
• Nebraska (5-1)–NR–W 14-7 Rutgers. Every time I think the Cornhuskers are back, they let me down. So I will be cautious with them right now.
• Colorado (4-1)–NR–BYE

Watch List
Coastal Carolina (4-1)–NR–W 45-37 Old Dominion. The Chanticleers only loss was to a good Virginia team. Could this be another Sun Belt run for them?
Kentucky (3-2)–NR–BYE. They play Vanderbilt this week. Two 3-2 teams who have huge upsets under their belts. 
Syracuse (4-1)–NR–W 44-41 OT UNLV. Pay attention to his team, they could be for real, or they could rattle off five straight losses.
Sam Houston (5-1)–NR–W 41-21 UTEP. Last year the Bearkats were struggling to pick up their first win in FBS, now look at where they are this year? Good for Coach Keeler!
Kennesaw State/Kent State/UTEP (0-5)–One of these teams has to win a game at some point. UTEP and Kennsaw State play each other. Kent State plays Akron. Those are probably the best chances to win for any of those teams. Who will finish as the worst team in FBS???

This week gave us some great upsets, can next week top it? At least we have a few big games, but first I want to mention some of the interesting games to check out. On Thursday we have Coastal Carolina heading to James Madison. Can JMU rebound after that loss? I mentioned Vanderbilt at Kentucky already, but this could be great (something tells me the Wildcat defense will be too much for Vandy). Two other games to pay attention to: Louisville at Virginia & California at #23 Pitt. If Virginia and Cal both win, they could get themselves into the ranking discussion. If the Panthers win, they have another solid win under the belt. The Nittany Lions travel out to Los Angeles to face the Trojans. This could be a tough game for Penn State, but I think their defense will hand USC easily. And finally, on Saturday night we have #16 Kansas State heading to Colorado. I think we have all been waiting for the Buffaloes to fall apart, well here comes their biggest test so far this season, and we shall see how they perform.

#9 Ole Miss at #10 LSU
#1 Texas at #15 Oklahoma
#2 Ohio State at #5 Oregon

Those are some great ranked matchups. The Red River Rivalry, a top-five battle in Eugene (Will Howard vs. Dillon Gabriel), and a battle in Death Valley. These are the kind of games you tune into college to watch.

Coaching Hot Seat
Beating Alabama automatically puts Clark Lea’s name on the list for many jobs. So this is another reverse hot seat. If he finishes with a solid record, with a win against the #1 team in the country, some big school will consider hiring him. 

Awful Losses
No G5 or FCS losses this week, but there was a crazy loss. Temple had the ball on the 1-yard line with a few seconds left down 23-20. They decided to go for the win instead of the tie. UConn stopped the rush, and knocked the ball loose, Jordan Wright scooped it up and ran it back 99 yards for a TD. Want some more crazy? The O/U was 48.5. If you took the under…I would imagine you threw the remote at the television (also, why are you betting on Temple/UConn???).