Georgia has returned to where it started. The Bulldogs reclaimed the top spot in our college football rankings, moving ahead of Michigan for No. 1 position in the updated CBS Sports 133 after an impressive win in Week 11.
Michigan’s run at No. 1 in the CBS Sports 133, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team compiled by experts at CBS Sports and 247Sports, lasted five weeks, beginning with the Wolverines beating out the Bulldogs by a single voting point on Oct. 9. Even though Michigan is coming out of one of its most significant wins of the season in a dominant victory at Penn State, our voters moved to shake up the order at the top in the wake of Georgia’s dominant display against Ole Miss.
Further down the rankings, much of the top 15 remained static with the exception of both Penn State and Ole Miss dropping a few spots, moves which resulted in some shuffling. Just outside the top 15, however, we see teams like Arizona and James Madison making moves into the top 20 after notable wins. It’s at this point in the season where top-30 teams face pivotal rankings impact every week; any increase in the loss column will lead to a bump down and simply avoiding that loss can result in a move up.
Of course, the opponent and context matter plenty, which is why a team like Utah is not going to face a heavy-handed punishment from the voters for its one-score loss at undefeated Washington. The Utes fell just three spots to No. 21 after the loss, which is still the fourth-best ranking among three-loss teams. For some of the most notable week-to-week adjustments in the CBS Sports 133, check out the Mover’s Report below the top 25 table.
College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-133 on our rankings page.
Rank Team Record Previous 1 Georgia 10-0 2 2 Michigan 10-0 1 3 Ohio State 10-0 3 4 Florida State 10-0 4 5 Washington 10-0 5 6 Oregon 9-1 6 7 Texas 9-1 7 8 Alabama 9-1 8 9 Louisville 9-1 11 10 Oregon State 8-2 12 11 Missouri 8-2 13 12 Penn State 8-2 9 13 Oklahoma
8-2 14 14 Ole Miss 8-2 10 15 LSU 7-3 16 16 James Madison 10-0 21 17 Notre Dame 7-3 20 18 Arizona 7-3 25 19 North Carolina
8-2 29 20 Tulane 9-1 22 21 Utah 7-3 18 22 Liberty 10-0 26 23 Kansas State 7-3 23 24 Iowa 8-2 33 25 Tennessee
7-3 15
Biggest movers
No. 19 North Carolina (+10): The Tar Heels took a swift and steep drop in the rankings after back-to-back losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. But after taking down Duke in double-overtime, there’s been a course correction that has Mack Brown’s group up closer to the other two-loss Power Five teams.
The Tar Heels took a swift and steep drop in the rankings after back-to-back losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. But after taking down Duke in double-overtime, there’s been a course correction that has Mack Brown’s group up closer to the other two-loss Power Five teams. No. 51 Coastal Carolina (+10): When star quarterback Grayson McCall was knocked out after a hard hit last month, it appeared as though the Chanticleers’ season could be in jeopardy. Instead, not one but two backup quarterbacks have stepped in and contributed to what’s become a five-game winning streak. With James Madison currently ineligible to play for the Sun Belt title, Coastal has a chance to be the East division representative with a 5-2 conference record, and they’ll take their 7-3 overall record on the road to Army this week (a game you can watch on CBS Sports Network).
When star quarterback Grayson McCall was knocked out after a hard hit last month, it appeared as though the Chanticleers’ season could be in jeopardy. Instead, not one but two backup quarterbacks have stepped in and contributed to what’s become a five-game winning streak. With James Madison currently ineligible to play for the Sun Belt title, Coastal has a chance to be the East division representative with a 5-2 conference record, and they’ll take their 7-3 overall record on the road to Army this week (a game you can watch on CBS Sports Network). No. 53 Virginia Tech (+10): There is a rankings ceiling for teams with a 5-5 record, but the Hokies are 4-2 in their last six with the only losses coming on the road against Florida State and Louisville. Running over and through Boston College in a 48-22 win over the weekend has Virginia Tech in a tie for third place in the ACC standings and knocking on the door of the top 50 in our rankings.
There is a rankings ceiling for teams with a 5-5 record, but the Hokies are 4-2 in their last six with the only losses coming on the road against Florida State and Louisville. Running over and through Boston College in a 48-22 win over the weekend has Virginia Tech in a tie for third place in the ACC standings and knocking on the door of the top 50 in our rankings. No. 24 Iowa (+9): The Hawkeyes continue to climb, slowly but surely, both towards another Big Ten west title and in our CBS 133 rankings. The team is one called-back punt return away from 9-1, but even with that bad break, Iowa is 8-2 overall after a 22-0 win over Rutgers.
The Hawkeyes continue to climb, slowly but surely, both towards another Big Ten west title and in our CBS 133 rankings. The team is one called-back punt return away from 9-1, but even with that bad break, Iowa is 8-2 overall after a 22-0 win over Rutgers. No. 26 Oklahoma State (-9): The five-game winning streak for Oklahoma State included three wins against teams we have in the top 30 and resulted in major jumps from where the Cowboys were ranked following a 2-2 start to the season. But a 42-point loss at UCF, which was under .500 going into the game, is going to draw enough attention to lose some tiebreakers against other teams in the 20’s of the rankings.
The five-game winning streak for Oklahoma State included three wins against teams we have in the top 30 and resulted in major jumps from where the Cowboys were ranked following a 2-2 start to the season. But a 42-point loss at UCF, which was under .500 going into the game, is going to draw enough attention to lose some tiebreakers against other teams in the 20’s of the rankings. No. 37 Air Force (-9): Did the turnover-filled first half against Army break something at Air Force? The Falcons have dropped 21 spots in our rankings over the last two weeks after back-to-back losses as heavy favorites against the Black Knights and Hawaii.
Did the turnover-filled first half against Army break something at Air Force? The Falcons have dropped 21 spots in our rankings over the last two weeks after back-to-back losses as heavy favorites against the Black Knights and Hawaii. No. 25 Tennessee (-10): There just aren’t enough quality wins on Tennessee’s profile to not see a major adjustment after the Volunteers take a third loss, especially when it’s a one-sided result like Saturday’s 36-7 defeat at Missouri.
There just aren’t enough quality wins on Tennessee’s profile to not see a major adjustment after the Volunteers take a third loss, especially when it’s a one-sided result like Saturday’s 36-7 defeat at Missouri. No. 35 Fresno State (-11): Air Force wasn’t the only Mountain West title contender to take a head-scratching loss on Saturday. Fresno State got blasted 42-18 by San Jose State, a loss which snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bulldogs and leaves little margin for error the rest of the way to make the Mountain West title game.
Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 133: Teams ranked 26-133
