The Big 12 is slowly emerging as a contending power among its peers. Half of the remaining unbeaten FBS teams call the Big 12 home.
BYU lifted spirits with a huge win over Notre Dame, the sport’s most recognizable brand, and one-loss Houston picked up an impressive win over giant-killer Oklahoma State. The three remaining undefeated Big 12 teams are slotted in the top 10 of CBS Sports’ Power Rankings halfway through the season.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten and SEC keep beating each other to a pulp. Two of their undefeated teams, Indiana and Georgia, fell in Week 7, though Indiana’s loss was more “impressive,” a 19-15 setback to Ohio State. No. 1 Georgia fell between the hedges to an unranked Auburn squad. The Tigers delivered a historic upset, scoring multiple touchdowns in Athens for the first time in 17 years and securing their first win there in over two decades.
Week 7 was the wildest one yet this fall. Five of the top seven teams in the AP Top 25 lost, the most in the poll’s history. BYU controversially held on in the final second to secure a 28-24 win over Notre Dame, the program’s biggest win since 1990. Elsewhere, unranked Florida chomped Texas 27-24. The Longhorns face an identity crisis and may soon be forced to make tough quarterback decisions.
The rivalry games certainly delivered Saturday. Florida State pushed Miami to the limit in double overtime, seemingly scoring touchdowns on fourth-and-long twice before a holding call erased a score, and then a video review ruled an interception on the ensuing play. Alabama was dominated on the Third Saturday of October as Tennessee cruised to a 26-10 win in Knoxville, too. Auburn shocked Georgia, as previously mentioned.
And poor Nick Marsh. He was one foot away from catching a game-winning touchdown on fourth down against Ohio State, but the Indiana receiver’s left foot was out of bounds when he secured the perfect pass from Josh Hoover. UCLA is now the lone unbeaten team from the sport’s two most powerful conferences, the Big Ten and SEC. The SEC hasn’t had an undefeated team this early in the year since 2007.
So, yeah, it was a heck of a Saturday, perhaps the most chaotic in college football history. Catch your breath. On paper, Week 8 offers little drama, but that might not hold, either. Only two games match teams in these rankings: Ole Miss at Texas and Houston at Utah. Ohio State, Georgia and Notre Dame are idle. The trap games to watch: Ole Miss at reeling Texas, Indiana at Michigan, LSU at an Auburn team fresh off toppling Georgia and Tennessee at South Carolina.
Buckle up.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
Ohio State got a great 19-15 win at Indiana, but QB Julian Sayin hurt his throwing shoulder and will miss several weeks. That’s enough to drop them a spot or two, but we didn’t. The bye week comes at the perfect time. | 4 | 6-1 |
2 |
|
Florida State played its game of the year; Miami was off center but still won 43-35 in double overtime. Malachi Toney caught the go-ahead touchdown in the second OT, then threw the two-point conversion. The Hurricanes are the ACC’s last unbeaten. | 2 | 6-0 |
3 |
|
BYU has what it takes in the trenches to win a championship. It survived Notre Dame as a pass hit the turf with 1 second remaining on the final play of a 28-24 win, its highest-ranked win since Ty Detmer beat No. 1 Miami in 1990. Bear Bachmeier ran, threw and caught TDs. | 12 | 6-0 |
4 |
|
Indiana’s 22-game win streak is over, but the Hoosiers are still elite. We’d be talking about No. 1 Indiana if Nick Marsh got his foot down in the end zone on fourth down. Watch out for the Hoosiers the rest of the way. | 3 | 6-1 |
5 |
|
Georgia led Auburn 14-0 in the first quarter, gave up 24 unanswered points and lost 27-24 on Alex McPherson’s 34-yarder at the gun. Something seemed off with Gunner Stockton, who also fumbled with 58 seconds left. | 4 | 6-1 |
6 |
|
Notre Dame’s 16-game streak of double-digit wins is over, but the CFP hopes are alive and well with Miami coming to South Bend on Nov. 7. CJ Carr threw 49 passes in the loss, but none were TDs. The Irish are 0-4 on the road against top-10 teams under Marcus Freeman. | 3 | 6-1 |
7 |
|
Kentucky beat Oklahoma 21-13 for its fifth straight win, matching its best seven-game start in 76 years. Will Stein is the SEC Coach of the Year at the midpoint of the season. Vanderbilt visits Lexington next. | 2 | 6-1 |
8 |
|
Texas Tech routed Arizona State 53-25 to start 6-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time. J’Koby Williams ran for 165 yards. Can we just get Tech vs. BYU now? Next up is a trip to Cincinnati. | 5 | 6-0 |
9 |
|
Ole Miss spoiled Austin Simmons’ return to Oxford, beating Missouri 31-3 in one of the most impressive ranked-against-ranked wins of an eventful Week 7. The big news: Kewan Lacy is back. He and Makhi Frazier each ran for 100-plus yards. Next is a huge game at Texas. | 2 | 5-1 |
10 |
|
Utah survived a second-half scare in a 27-24 win at Colorado, and now owns the nation’s longest active win streak with 12. Morgan Scalley is 7-0 as a head coach, but that will be tested with Houston coming Saturday to Salt Lake City. | — | 6-0 |
11 |
|
Tennessee beat up Alabama, dominating the trenches in a 26-10 victory, its third straight home win in the rivalry series. DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards. A fascinating fact: the Vols are 3-22 in their last 25 home games against top-10 teams. All three wins are against Alabama. | 6 | 6-1 |
12 |
|
Alabama lost consecutive regular-season games for the first time since 2007, Nick Saban’s first season.. The Tide managed only 201 yards, their fewest since 2008, and QB Keelon Russell’s Heisman Trophy chances plummeted. But the CFP hopes are still alive. | 10 | 5-2 |
13 |
|
LSU blanked shorthanded Mississippi State 31-0, its largest shutout of a ranked team since 1945. The Bulldogs were without QB Kamario Taylor and RB Fluff Bothwell. Sam Leavitt threw 4 TDs, and it was his first game without an interception this season. Next is a trip to Auburn. | 1 | 5-2 |
14 |
|
Ty Dieffenbach made his first UCLA start and the Bruins beat Wisconsin 17-7 to remain the only unbeaten in the Big Ten or SEC. That Bruins defense is for real. Bob Chesney’s 17 straight regular-season wins lead all FBS coaches. | — | 6-0 |
15 |
|
Iowa was idle after its win at Washington, its first regular-season win in the Pacific time zone since 1965. Kirk Ferentz has 230 career wins, 218 at Iowa. The Hawkeyes travel to Minnesota this week. | 1 | 5-1 |
16 |
|
Texas blew a double-digit lead for a second straight week, falling 27-24 to Florida after leading 17-3. It was Arch Manning’s first home loss as a starter, and now he’s facing questions about whether he should be QB1. Could changes happen before Ole Miss visits Saturday? | 10 | 4-2 |
17 |
|
Conner Weigman threw for 343 yards and five TDs in a thrilling 35-32 win over Oklahoma State. He became the first FBS QB since Bo Nix in 2024 to throw for 300 yards and five TD passes. Next up is a huge showdown at Utah. | 4 | 6-1 |
18 |
|
Former Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola came off the bench in the fourth quarter to beat his old team, hitting Jamari Johnson for the winning TD with 28 seconds left in a 17-14 win. Dan Lanning is 10-0 after losses. Somehow, the Ducks are still paddling in the CFP race. | 2 | 4-2 |
19 |
|
Aidan Chiles returned to his former school, Michigan State, and beat Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern’s winningest coach, 24-21 on Jackson Kleather’s 34-yard field goal with two seconds left. You follow all those dense storylines? Good. Rutgers is next. | — | 5-1 |
20 |
|
Gio Lopez threw four TDs in a 41-7 rout at Cal, Wake Forest’s fourth straight road win. It was never close. Wake led 34-0, Cal’s largest halftime deficit in 13 years. Jake Dickert is quickly becoming a name to watch if a top-15 job opens this season. | 3 | 6-1 |
21 |
|
Arizona sat at home as the Big 12 solidified itself as a contender. Noah Fifita leads active FBS quarterbacks with 89 career TD passes and has the Wildcats off to their best start since 2014. Iowa State visits Tucson this week. | 4 | 5-1 |
22 |
|
Missouri managed three points in a 31-3 loss at Ole Miss, and fell back on its old ways, once again failing to impress against a ranked team. The Tigers have lost 40 of their last 41 road games against top-10 teams. Next is a trip to Arkansas on Halloween. | 14 | 5-2 |
23 |
|
USC was idle after its first win in State College against Penn State. The next stretch is huge for Lincoln Riley: at Wisconsin and then Ohio State, which might be without Julian Sayin, on Oct. 31. | 1 | 6-1 |
24 |
|
Nebraska led most of the game but lost 17-14 at Oregon when its former quarterback, Dylan Raiola, entered the game and threw the game-winning TD. Matt Rhule is 2-10 in games decided by four points or fewer at Nebraska. | 6 | 5-2 |
25 |
|
Billy Napier has picked up where Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney left off at James Madison. The Dukes are the only unbeaten team outside the Power Four and the Group of Six frontrunner to reach the CFP. | NR | 7-0 |
