Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 6: Chaos hits the SEC, and the debate begins

Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

Every college football season contains a Chaos Week that throws these rankings up in the air. This year’s was bigger than any we’ve had in a long time.

Four top-10 teams lost on Saturday, three of them to unranked opponents. Vanderbilt beat Alabama for the first time in 40 years, one week after I said the Tide were Thanos (whoops). Tennessee lost to Arkansas. Missouri got whipped by Texas A&M 41-10, and Michigan lost to Washington in a national title rematch.

This is also the point where we have the impossible conversation about the SEC: Is the league good because it beats up on itself, or is that potential parity actually a sign of weakness? Ultimately, despite major upset losses, Alabama and Tennessee stick in the top 10 in this week’s Athletic 134.

Alabama only drops from No. 1 to No. 3, and the reason is simple: The Tide beat Georgia just a week ago. Yes, the second half of that game was bad, but the first half was good. Alabama is most certainly trending downward over its last six quarters, but I just can’t put Alabama behind Georgia right now when I have them on the same tier and Alabama beat Georgia. Plus, Georgia’s blowout win against Clemson looks better each week. Tennessee’s drop from No. 4 to No. 9 hangs on a win at Oklahoma and otherwise dominant performances. But the Vols are on shaky ground.

The carnage of Saturday could have a big trickle-down effect on the SEC over the back half of the season. Everyone in the league, other than Texas, has a loss, and almost all of these teams still have to play each other. We’re going to see a lot of two- and three-loss SEC teams around that CFP bubble, and I expect that to be a civil and calm conversation. That’s also the point when people will realize the battle for seeding will be as important as the battle to get into the field.

But if you think I’m being too favorable to the SEC here, fire away. The reality is we may not have dominant teams this year because the transfer portal has created more depth across the board, and the expanded power conferences are going to create more losses for top teams. As that happens, an emphasis on who you’ve beaten could emerge, rather than who beat you.

Here is this week’s Athletic 134.

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Texas slides up to No. 1 after Alabama’s loss, but the Longhorns won’t have it easy with Oklahoma and Georgia over the next two weeks. Alabama and Georgia sit ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Miami because they’ve each got a better best win, and because Oregon has been close to losing a few times. Ohio State finally played what I think is a quality Iowa team and pulled away for a 35-7 win. However, we’ve got Ohio State-Oregon this week, so get ready for another shakeup at the top.

Miami rallied back for a win at Cal and moved up to No. 7. BYU slides up to No. 8 off an idle week because of what happened elsewhere, including SMU’s continued rise, which helps BYU due to the Cougars’ 18-15 win at SMU. Clemson has already climbed back into the top 10, as well. The Tigers continue to roll.

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The biggest winner of Texas A&M’s victory against Missouri might’ve been No. 13 Notre Dame. That Week 1 win in College Station looks better every week and will help offset the next week’s loss to Northern Illinois. Meanwhile, Indiana is one of just two teams sitting at 6-0 right now, and the Hoosiers are really in the Big Ten and CFP picture. SMU is up to No. 17 after beating Louisville on the road and are quietly very much in the ACC title picture.

Boise State jumps up to No. 18, ahead of Utah because of their respective results against Utah State. LSU slips to No. 20 on an off week because its Week 1 loss to USC looks worse now, but the Tigers have a brutal schedule coming up.

Navy moves into the top 25 at No. 23 after a 34-7 win against Air Force to continue an impressive start. Illinois also slides back into the top 25 while idle, and Michigan’s loss to Washington drops the Wolverines to No. 25.

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26-50

No. 26 Nebraska moves up after beating Rutgers, while Pitt’s win against North Carolina has the Panthers just outside the top 25. Texas Tech’s win at Arizona moves the Red Raiders up to No. 29 and also pushes up Washington State due to the Cougars’ win against Texas Tech.

Vanderbilt, like everyone else in the SEC, is so difficult to rank. The No. 31 Commodores have wins against Alabama and Virginia Tech, with an overtime loss to Missouri, but they also lost to Georgia State. You tell me what to do with that. Same with No. 34 Arkansas, which beat Tennessee but lost to an Oklahoma State team that has been sliding ever since. Iowa sits one spot ahead of USC at No. 32 due to their results against Minnesota.

Syracuse moves up to No. 35 after an overtime win at UNLV, dropping the Rebels to No. 36. Washington moves up to No. 43 after its win against Michigan, but losses to Rutgers and Washington State keep the Huskies from climbing further. Virginia jumps up to No. 48 after beating Boston College.

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Oklahoma State continues to tumble to No. 52 after a 38-14 loss to West Virginia. Florida makes a jump up to No. 53 after handling UCF. Army is 5-0 and on the rise after handling Tulsa 49-7. The difference between Navy’s and Army’s rankings comes down to Navy’s impressive win against Memphis.

One of the biggest jumps comes from ULM, which is 4-1 and up to No. 58 from No. 101 after beating red-hot James Madison 21-19. Minnesota moves up to No. 67 after beating USC, but the Gophers stay behind North Carolina for now due to their head-to-head result.

Louisiana slides up to No. 75 due to Wake Forest’s win against NC State, one week after the Ragin’ Cajuns beat Wake.

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NC State continues to slide, down to No. 78 after a loss to Wake Forest. Houston jumps up to No. 79 after beating TCU in Fort Worth.

No. 85 Georgia State is another tough team to place. The Panthers beat Vanderbilt but lost to Georgia Southern and needed a fourth quarter comeback to beat Chattanooga. Ultimately, they stayed put. UConn slips one spot to No. 87 after needing a goal line stop to beat Temple.

Arkansas State moves up to No. 93 after beating South Alabama. Marshall’s win against App State moves the Thundering Herd up to No. 96. How about Charlotte? The 49ers are suddenly 3-3 after a stunning 55-24 win against East Carolina and up to No. 97.

GO DEEPER

College Football Playoff 2024 projections: How did Week 6 chaos change the bracket?

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Purdue is the new lowest-ranked Power 4 team after a 52-6 loss to Wisconsin, dropping to No. 103 with a 1-4 record. The Boilermakers have been outscored 184-44 against FBS opponents.

UAB tumbles down to No. 126 after a 70-21 loss to Tulane. It’s not going well in Birmingham.

The bottom five remain the same, but mark down on your calendar that UTEP and Kennesaw State play on Nov. 9.

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Top illustration photo: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)