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This season’s top major college football teams seem to be slipping on banana peels during October.
Indiana’s 22-game winning streak came to a cruel end on Saturday. The Hoosiers’ fourth-down final minute pass into the end zone was juggled briefly by usually sure-handed wide receiver Nick Marsh. His feet were out of bounds after he had gained possession.
That gave Ohio State a hard-fought 19-15 road win over the Hoosiers. Both teams exited the game with a 6-1 record.
Indiana had been the SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25 #1 team coming into last weekend.
The AP’s #1 team (Georgia) didn’t fare any better
The 6-0 Dawgs trotted to an easy 14-0 first quarter lead at home against 3-2 Auburn. A combination of three turnovers by quarterback Gunner Stockton plus an incredibly bone-headed penalty on a Georgia defensive lineman during the final minute led to Auburn’s 27-24 win.
The Tigers from the eastern Alabama plains capitalized on Georgia’s mistakes and converted a walk-off field goal on the game’s final play.
It was Auburn’s first win over Georgia in the past nine attempts.
Georgia dropped to 6-1, while Auburn improved to 4-2.
The AP’s #1 team two weeks ago (Texas) fumbled its way to a second straight loss
Texas lost to rival Oklahoma one week ago on a field goal on the game’s final play. OU’s win was assisted by an untimely interception by Texas’ highly-hyped quarterback Arch Manning. Formerly unbeaten Texas dropped to 5-1 and out of the AP’s #1 spot.
Saturday’s home game against recently-struggling 4-2 Florida was expected to help get the Longhorns back on track as a favorite to win the national title.
Apparently, nobody sent that note to a group of hungry Gators from Gainesville, Florida.
Florida’s defense sacked Texas QB Arch Manning five times and forced a crucial fumble on Texas’ final possession of the game. Florida emerged with a 27-24 win and moved to a 5-2 record.
Texas is 4-2 and is on a two game losing streak.
The Longhorns must now beat 6-1 Ole Miss on Saturday night (6:30PM CDT on ABC) to preserve hopes of reaching the College Football Playoffs.
The SEC is loaded with several very good (but not great) football teams
Georgia and Texas weren’t the only top SEC teams to go down to defeat on Saturday.
Alabama was 5-0 two weeks ago. They are now 5-2 after losing to defensive juggernaut Tennessee 26-10 in a game which was much closer than the final score indicated.
Bama’s freshman quarterback Keelon Russell took his lumps against a swarming Tennessee Volunteer defense. He was intercepted twice and fumbled once as Alabama failed to score a point in the second half of this game.
Surprising Tennessee is now 6-1 and joins a quartet of SEC one-loss teams atop good ol’ Rocky Top this week. The Vols are tied with 6-1 Georgia, 5-1 Ole Miss, and…6-1 Kentucky?
The Wildcats traveled to rejuvenated Oklahoma on Saturday. The 3-2 Sooners were coming off a big win over Texas one week earlier. Kentucky capitalized on OU quarterback John “Pine Time” Mateer’s four interceptions which included one pick-six touchdown for good measure.
The surprising Wildcats could muster only 14 first downs and a meager 230 yards in total offense at Oklahoma.
It didn’t matter.
Kentucky’s last three wins have come by a total of just ten points. That doesn’t matter (yet), either.
Rookie head coach Will Stein is just 36 years old and is a top candidate for national “Coach of the Year” honors.
Don’t forget about Ole Miss!
Saturday’s dominating 31-3 win over 5-2 Missouri moved the Rebels to 5-1 in the SEC and into that four-way tie at the top. Talented running back Kewan Lacy is back on the field after an early-season injury. His addition makes quarterback Trinidad Chambliss even more dangerous as the Rebels attempt to navigate their own difficult SEC finish.
Ole Miss plays at Texas on Saturday night. The Rebels then face consecutive home games against fast-improving Auburn and Georgia. There is little room for error if Ole Miss wants to return to the College Football Playoffs for a second straight season.
Congratulations to Brigham Young for ending Notre Dame’s perfect season!
The BYU Cougars and their enthusiastic fans were primed to take down the highly-touted 6-0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday night in Provo.
BYU took a 28-24 lead with under two minutes remaining. Notre Dame then rallied and finished the game only yards away from the Brigham Young goal line. An incomplete pass into the end zone was ruled to be the final play of the game.
Big 12 officials later admitted that there should have been one second left on the clock. This marks yet another game-ending controversy in college football this season.
The AP’s had five of its top seven teams lose. (Only three of mine lost)
I catch some heat for my logical-but-unique SwampSwamiSports.com ranking system. If you want subjective rankings, stick with the AP’s weekly beauty contest results.
Mine are based on simply having the most wins with the fewest losses. Ties are broken by taking a weekly examination of each team’s best victory of the season. A road win over a 4-2 squad puts you ahead of another team whose best win came in a home win against a 4-2 competitor.
There is only one 7-0 FBS team this week.
James Madison now gets the baton as the nation’s top team for the week ending Saturday, October 17, 2026. The Dukes are closely trailed by impressive 6-0 teams such as #2 Miami (FL), #3 BYU, #4 Texas Tech, #5 UCLA, and #6 Utah.
JMU travels to Boone, North Carolina on Thursday night (6PM on ESPN-U) to play Sun Belt rival Appalachian State. The 4-2 Mountaineers play football in a stadium at nearly 3,400 feet above sea level.
Add a packed stadium filled with exceptionally loud fans, and App State has a chance to upset my new #1 team.
Let’s review the SwampSwamiSports.com Top 25 College Football rankings for the week ending October, 17, 2026:
