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Thanks to the nationwide FAA groundstop on Friday, a significant number of the College Football Week 11 slate was impacted either by delays, sluggish teams and a postponement. Still, that just adds to the number of ways we can evaluate the best college football teams right now with each program now having played double-digit games.
As always, these are not College Football Playoff rankings projections/ We’ve adamantly disagreed with the CFP committee this year and that’s certainly not going to change on what we witnessed Saturday. Instead, this is simply our analysis of the 25 best college football teams in 2026 at this point in the season. We do also have to give some love to Group of Five teams who have been excellent against the opponents on their schedule this year and that’s all you can ask for.
Let’s dive into our Week 12 college football rankings.
The Georgia Bulldogs are the best team in college football this season. We will never be able to understand what happened at home against Auburn, but what matters now is how this team responded. Entering Week 11, Kirby Smart’s team beat Florida and Ole Miss by a whopping 69-15 scoring margin, outgaining the Gators and Rebels by 295 total yards and generating six takeaways. The domination was not any different on Saturday in Athens against Missouri. Georgia jumped out to a 21-zip lead after the first quarter, utterly dominating the Tigers on both sides of the ball. This is the best team in the nation.
If there was anyone thinking that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1) might fall into a trap game coming off the win against Miami, the second quarter on Saturday against Boston College took that off the board. The Fighting Irish put up 21 points in a 14-minute span, including a fumble recovery returned for a score. SMU vs Notre Dame had a bit of intrigue coming into the weekend, but the Mustangs’ performance leads us to believe the Fighting Irish should win very comfortably at home next Saturday night.
The UCLA Bruins run game struggled on Friday night, with Wayne Knights (3.1 ypc), Jaivan Thomas (4.3 ypc), and Anthony Woods (2.7 ypc) combining for just 89 rushing yards on 28 attempts. While that has been part of this program’s identity this season, quarterback Ty Dieffenbach (232 passing yards and 2-1 TD-INT) stepped up again, posting multiple touchdowns and averaging over 11 yards per pass attempt for the second consecutive game. Of course, UCLA’s defense (3 turnovers and 240 total yards allowed) did its thing. The Bruins are 10-0, something that seemed unfathomable. While a trip to Michigan is up next, we are all-in on believing UCLA will be 11-0 when it hosts USC on Nov. 28.
While there is a major adjustment coming to the College Football Playoff rankings when it comes to the Indiana Hoosiers, they stand pat in our top 25 rankings. Khobie Martin (82 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries) and Lee Beebe Jr. came up with some big runs on Saturday, but it was Charlie Becker’s game-sealing 42-yard score that turned a relatively close contest into a decisive 14-point victory. It seems clear for now that Grant Wilson is the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback for the foreseeable future, and he has a clear path ahead of him now to securing Indiana’s spot in the playoffs.
On a night when Arch Manning turned it over three times and running back Raleek Brown averaged just 2.3 yards per carry, the Texas Longhorns still pulled off the fourth-quarter comeback in Death Valley. We’ll give Manning this: He’s delivered some clutch fourth-quarter performances this season to help Texas reach an 8-2 record. Of course, his interceptions and bad decision-making are also a big reason why they’ve lost twice and have had some other scares. We don’t think Texas should move up in the top 25 after beating a four-loss LSU team, though the committee may disagree.
Manny Diaz’s Duke Blue Devils made things interesting on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium. The Miami Hurricanes only led 13-10 at the half and narrowly increased that lead (22-17) entering the fourth quarter. Darian Mensah and Javian Mallory made sure the fan base and Hurricanes coaching staff did not have to sweat it out much in the fourth quarter. A methodical 13-play, 79-yard touchdown drive made it a two-score game and Miami followed that up with a five-play, 71-yard touchdown drive that Mallory capped off with a 39-yard score. It is good to see the Hurricanes put away an opponent in the fourth quarter like this, but we do still have some concerns about Miami’s defense when it faces a better passer. The Hurricanes (9-1) will not have any trouble closing out the regular season against Virginia Tech and Boston College.
The George MacIntyre injury might have honestly won the game for the Tennessee Volunteers in Week 11. After the opening drive (70 yards on 16 plays), the Volunteers offense totaled just 85 total yards and 3 points with a 2.74 yards-per-play average on the next seven possessions. Faizon Brandon took over after MacIntyre’s injury, and Tennessee immediately delivered consecutive scoring drives, putting up 10 points and 120 total yards (6.0 yards per play) on its next two possessions. Josh Heupel might not trust the true freshman a lot as a passer right now, but Brandon’s rushing ability brings an added threat that defenses have to account for when they are already focused on trying to contain DeSean Bishop. Tennessee has been one of the best college football teams in 2026 when it is at home this year, and home-field advantage will help against LSU next Saturday. We would advise Heupel to start Brandon, because the dual-threat quarterback might be the only way this offense can move the football consistently.
It originally seemed like we would get a look at Austin Mack in Week 11, but the Alabama Crimson Tide made a late change after pre-game warmups by clearing Keelon Russell to play. Playing through that ankle injury and missing some practice time this week might have impacted him a bit, but the Crimson Tide passing game still did not have too much trouble moving the football against Vanderbilt after a scoreless first quarter. Still, we remain worried about Alabama’s inability to run the football effectively. It certainly won’t be an issue next Saturday against Chattanooga, but perhaps it is something to keep an eye on in the Iron Bowl.
That us a Week 11 statement by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. It’s not simply that Jake Dickert’s program went into Dallas and beat the SMU Mustangs (7-3), it’s the fact that a hobbled Gio Lopez and this Demon Deacons defense put up 42 first-half points on the road and sent Mustangs fans home early on Saturday afternoon. This isn’t a ranked victory, but it’s one of the most impressive wins by any college football team this month.
After dropping two of their last three games, both on the road, Bear Bachmeier and the BYU Cougars created some early momentum on Saturday night. Bachmeir and a much healthier LJ Martin powered this offense to consecutive scoring drives in the first quarter. That allowed BYU’s defense to pin its ears back and dial up the aggressiveness and the rest is history. The Cougars (8-2) currently don’t have another team with a winning record on the rest of their schedule, so the team is going to have to hope for some of the top-ranked programs above them to pick up their third losses.
It’s a three-game win streak for the Iowa Hawkeyes, and most impressive is this offense proving it can deliver in a variety of ways. Against Wisconsin, it was quarterback Hank Brown who led the way with a passing clinic. On Saturday, just as he did against Northwestern, running back L.J. Phillips Jr. paved the way to victory with his second consecutive 100-yard game. Iowa (8-2) moves up a spot in the college football rankings with Kentucky losing, but it won’t have a chance to really strengthen its resume to close out the regular season since it can’t make the Big Ten Championship Game and its final two contests are against Illinois and Nebraska.
Here come Dylan Raiola and the Oregon Ducks. Saturday’s dominance against Michigan marked the Ducks’ third consecutive win by eight-plus points, all coming against Big Ten teams that had a winning record (Northwestern, Ohio State, and Michigan). Raiola, after looking shaky against UCLA and Nebraska, is now turning this Ducks offense back into the explosive aerial attack everyone expected to see coming into the season. We also have to give kudos to interim offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, with that change in play-caller proving instrumental to getting Oregon back into the College Football Playoff picture. Oregon (6-3) gets to close out the regular season against Michigan State and Washington.
You can look at the Boise State Broncos‘ victory on Saturday night one of two ways. Take the glass-half-full perspective, and you can highlight an offense that put up 520 total yards and 46 points, this coming on a weekend where Dylan Riley (3.6 yards per carry) didn’t provide much on the ground and that required Maddux Madsen (4 touchdowns, 371 yards, and 11.6 YPA) to step up in a big way. On the other hand, Boise State’s defense gave up 41 points and over 500 total yards to an Oregon State offense that was forced to start backup quarterback Maalik Murphy. Boise State will cruise past San Diego State next weekend, and its spot as host of the Pac-12 Championship Game is clinched, but it’s easy to see how the Broncos could get their proverbial doors blown off if they make the College Football Playoff.
It is never wise to enrage Oklahoma. How the Ole Miss Rebels handled traveling to Norman, refusing to play later on Saturday night and effectively boxing the Sooners into a forfeit or play on Sunday scenario, will be remembered by every Oklahoma fan and player on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. We know the Rebels are still favored, but this feels like the kind of moment where the Sooners take this and use it to hand Mississippi its fourth loss of the season.
There is still a remote chance at the Ohio State Buckeyes making the College Football Playoff, but three losses and a season-ending injury to the star quarterback makes that an unfathomable scenario to come to reality. On the bright side, running back Bo Jackson delivered arguably his best performance of the season and Jeremiah Smith played in Week 11 despite speculation he could eventually take the rest of the season off. With how Nebraska has looked as of late, losing four of its last five games, even this version of Ohio State should be able to beat Matt Rhule’s team.
Remember when the Kentucky Wildcats were a top-10 team in the college football rankings? In the last four quarters, the Wildcats have been outscored 42-14 with defeats against Tennessee and Florida. It initially looked on Saturday as if the Wildcats would get back on track, with a surgical 15-play, 86-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter. From that point on, Kentucky put up just 156 yards and 7 points in the final three quarters against a very bad Gators defense. The Cats only have one victory over a current top-25 team (LSU), and it certainly appears like their fourth-quarter heroics were a bit of a fluke with reality bringing this program back down to earth.
It was closer than the final score indicated. Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans were within 10 yards of tying it in the fourth quarter, twice. The first time ended in a missed chip-shot field goal and that was followed by a devastating interception near the goal line that seemed to break the spirit of this team once and for all. USC will take care of business at home next Saturday against Maryland, but it’s hard to have faith in this offense against an extremely well-coached and undefeated UCLA team on Nov. 28.
Should the Houston Cougars (7-3) be ranked after losing by double digits to Colorado in Week 11? Maybe not. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that many of the teams in the mix for a spot in the top 25—Duke, South Carolina, Northwestern, Illinois, Missouri, and New Mexico—all lost this weekend. That keeps Houston, which beat Oklahoma State and lost by one score on the road against Texas Tech and Utah, with a resume and record that still warrant being ranked 24th. With that said, a performance like that now makes losing at West Virginia or Baylor easier to imagine.
The Louisville Cardinals have to be kicking themselves even a month after that inexplicable three-point loss at NC State. However, it might’ve been the wake-up call that Jeff Brohm’s program needed. Louisville pulled out a nail-biting win at North Carolina on Saturday, extending its win streak to five. It’s also worth noting this team beat SMU by 10 on Sept. 19, and it has another quality loss against Wake Forest (30-27), the closest anyone has played the Demon Deacons since the middle of September. If the Cardinals can close out the season with a seven-game win streak, which would require winning the Governor’s Cup at Kentucky, it would at least be an impressive second-half turnaround after a 2-3 start to the fall.
What are we supposed to think of the Florida Gators at this point? In Jon Sumrall’s first year with the program, he’s delivered victories over Ole Miss, at Texas, and now at Kentucky. On the flip side of that coin, Florida has lost by multiple scores to Missouri, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. This is almost certainly the best four-loss team in college football, but no one would be surprised if the Gators lost at home next week to Vanderbilt.
With LSU losing to another ranked team, the Liberty Flames (9-1) snag the final spot in the top 25. Jamey Chadwell’s team opened the season with a 20-13 loss at James Madison, and they’ve responded to that with a nine-game win streak. The strength of schedule is obviously one of the worst in the nation, but the Flames are likely going to end November having won 11 consecutive games.
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