by Wayne Root
Friday, Nov 06, 2026Halloween provided plenty of scares and the treats were few and far between. Where things stand in our updated top 10 college football rankings coming out of the final action in the month of October and with conference races heating up.
The race to make the college football playoffs starts this week and there’s no clearcut favorite.
1. Miami
Despite giving away a couple of leads on the road at North Carolina, including one in the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes stormed back and withstood another late UNC score to stay undefeated. But this defense needs to tighten things up going to Notre Dame next. Their star wide receiver had surgery yesterday and is out until December 19th. The adjusted line is +7.5 vs Notre Dame.
2. Georgia
Gunner Stockton didn’t score, but the Bulldogs ran for 217 yards and held the Gators’ backfield to 1.7 yards per carry heading into a massive road trip to Ole Miss next weekend and opened at -3.5.
3. Ohio St
Suddenly, the Buckeyes are in trouble. Not having Julian Sayin did end up costing them in a surprise loss at USC, but so did a defense that couldn’t stop the Trojans when it counted. Oregon visits Columbus next with OSU’s playoff hopes in genuine peril going into November.
OSU is -7.5.
4. Notre Dame
It was a little close against Navy early on, but the Irish stacked up 28 unanswered points to pull away, improving to 7-1 and setting up a clash of the titans against undefeated Miami. A loss there could poke a hole in the Golden Domers’ fragile playoff hopes. They still have that loss to BYU and the rest of their schedule is not all that impressive. Can the Irish lay -7.5 points to Miami?
5. LSU
Idle this past weekend, the Tigers are on a two-game win streak, outscoring Mississippi State and Auburn 69-17, but now come into a critical home test against Alabama with a metric ton of College Football Playoff implications. They are -5 to Alabama.
6. Texas
Arch Manning was a crisp 16 of 20 passing with 3 touchdowns and no turnovers to help the Longhorns put away Mississippi State. That’s despite rushing for just 60 yards. Something to work on looking ahead to consecutive road dates at Missouri and LSU. Texas has their hands full at Missouri laying -3.
7. Utah
Still atop the Big 12, the Utes built a strong 42-6 first-half lead at Cincinnati before coasting in the second, but stayed undefeated at 8-0 heading into next week’s home tilt against rival BYU that will further sort things out in this conference. They are a -5 point favorite.
8. Alabama
Off on Saturday, the Crimson Tide stopped a two-game slide by beating Texas A&M, albeit closer than expected in a 31-20 result. Sitting third in the SEC, they go to LSU next with their playoff ambitions hanging by a thread. At LSU and getting +5.
9. Indiana
Moments after surrendering a 60-yard field goal, the Hoosiers raced into position to kick their own to force overtime, and then beat Minnesota in extra time. That avoids a costly second loss and keeps their Big Ten title and playoff hopes intact. But what does this offense look like if the change at quarterback becomes permanent? They’re on a bye week.
10. USC
Coming off a disheartening loss at Wisconsin a week ago, the Trojans redeemed themselves with a gutsy and dominant win against national title hopeful Ohio State. It’s definitely the biggest win for Lincoln Riley in his embattled tenure, and up to him to build on it going forward. They’re on a bye week.
The race to make the college football playoffs starts this week and there’s no clearcut favorite.
1. Miami
Despite giving away a couple of leads on the road at North Carolina, including one in the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes stormed back and withstood another late UNC score to stay undefeated. But this defense needs to tighten things up going to Notre Dame next. Their star wide receiver had surgery yesterday and is out until December 19th. The adjusted line is +7.5 vs Notre Dame.
2. Georgia
Gunner Stockton didn’t score, but the Bulldogs ran for 217 yards and held the Gators’ backfield to 1.7 yards per carry heading into a massive road trip to Ole Miss next weekend and opened at -3.5.
3. Ohio St
Suddenly, the Buckeyes are in trouble. Not having Julian Sayin did end up costing them in a surprise loss at USC, but so did a defense that couldn’t stop the Trojans when it counted. Oregon visits Columbus next with OSU’s playoff hopes in genuine peril going into November.
OSU is -7.5.
4. Notre Dame
It was a little close against Navy early on, but the Irish stacked up 28 unanswered points to pull away, improving to 7-1 and setting up a clash of the titans against undefeated Miami. A loss there could poke a hole in the Golden Domers’ fragile playoff hopes. They still have that loss to BYU and the rest of their schedule is not all that impressive. Can the Irish lay -7.5 points to Miami?
5. LSU
Idle this past weekend, the Tigers are on a two-game win streak, outscoring Mississippi State and Auburn 69-17, but now come into a critical home test against Alabama with a metric ton of College Football Playoff implications. They are -5 to Alabama.
6. Texas
Arch Manning was a crisp 16 of 20 passing with 3 touchdowns and no turnovers to help the Longhorns put away Mississippi State. That’s despite rushing for just 60 yards. Something to work on looking ahead to consecutive road dates at Missouri and LSU. Texas has their hands full at Missouri laying -3.
7. Utah
Still atop the Big 12, the Utes built a strong 42-6 first-half lead at Cincinnati before coasting in the second, but stayed undefeated at 8-0 heading into next week’s home tilt against rival BYU that will further sort things out in this conference. They are a -5 point favorite.
8. Alabama
Off on Saturday, the Crimson Tide stopped a two-game slide by beating Texas A&M, albeit closer than expected in a 31-20 result. Sitting third in the SEC, they go to LSU next with their playoff ambitions hanging by a thread. At LSU and getting +5.
9. Indiana
Moments after surrendering a 60-yard field goal, the Hoosiers raced into position to kick their own to force overtime, and then beat Minnesota in extra time. That avoids a costly second loss and keeps their Big Ten title and playoff hopes intact. But what does this offense look like if the change at quarterback becomes permanent? They’re on a bye week.
10. USC
Coming off a disheartening loss at Wisconsin a week ago, the Trojans redeemed themselves with a gutsy and dominant win against national title hopeful Ohio State. It’s definitely the biggest win for Lincoln Riley in his embattled tenure, and up to him to build on it going forward. They’re on a bye week.
