Bye week carnage is unique to college football and one of the best experiences for fans enjoying a relaxing Saturday away from the emotional attachment of their team. This past Saturday we got a banger of a weekend. USC? Lost. Michigan? Lost. Tennessee? Lost. Plus, the number one team in the country went into Nashville and couldn’t stop Vanderbilt’s tricky offense. Congratulations to Clark Lea on the biggest win of his football career!
Here’s the latest 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll:
18 Stripes Top 20 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | NEXT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas (+1) | 5-0 | vs. Oklahoma |
| 2 | Oregon (+2) | 5-0 | vs. Ohio State |
| 3 | Ohio State (+2) | 5-0 | at Oregon |
| 4 | Miami (+3) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 5 | Penn State (+3) | 5-0 | at USC |
| 6 | Alabama (-5) | 4-1 | vs. South Carolina |
| 7 | Georgia (-1) | 4-1 | vs. Miss State |
| 8 | Iowa State (+2) | 5-0 | at West Virginia |
| 9 | BYU (+2) | 5-0 | vs. Arizona |
| 10 | Tennessee (-7) | 4-1 | vs. Florida |
| 11 | Indiana (+4) | 6-0 | BYE |
| 12 | Ole Miss (+4) | 5-1 | at LSU |
| 13 | Clemson (+5) | 4-1 | at Wake Forest |
| 14 | Notre Dame (NR) | 4-1 | vs. Stanford |
| 15 | Texas A&M (NR) | 5-1 | BYE |
| 16 | Kansas State (+3) | 4-1 | at Colorado |
| 17 | Utah (+3) | 4-1 | at Arizona State |
| 18 | Missouri (-9) | 4-1 | at UMass |
| 19 | Oklahoma (NR) | 4-1 | vs. Texas |
| 20 | LSU (NR) | 4-1 | vs. Ole Miss |
OUT:
#12 USC
#13 UNLV
#14 Michigan
#17 Louisville
If USC can’t beat Minnesota on the road, things aren’t looking great for the Trojans to return to the 18S Top 20 this season. The unbeaten season for UNLV is over following a 44-41 overtime loss to Syracuse. Michigan were soundly outplayed in Seattle losing 27-17 to Washington and hopefully this is the last we hear of the Wolverines for the rankings in 2024. As suspected, Louisville was going to have a hard time this weekend and lost to SMU 34-27.
First round bye watch (if they win their conferences):
#1 Texas
#2 Oregon
#4 Miami
#8 Iowa State
Texas now moves up to the no. 1 spot in the country and with it the SEC bye for the playoffs. The 3 other teams remain the same from last week except everyone moves up in the polls a little bit.
National Storylines
Back on Friday night, Oregon took care of Michigan State 31-10 to set up this weekend’s massive matchup with Ohio State. The Buckeyes blew out Iowa 35-7 in Columbus to remain unbeaten.
Houston picked up its first Big 12 win of the season beating TCU 30-19.
A historic win for Vanderbilt who upsets no. 1 Alabama 40-35 and looked pretty damn good in doing so! Clark Lea may have something cooking in Nashville right now.
Penn State keeps sneaking up in the polls. They beat UCLA 27-11 in Happy Valley.
Tennessee laid an egg on Saturday night in Fayetteville. The Vols lost 19-14 on the road and tumble in our rankings.
It was a methodical 31-10 win for Georgia over Auburn. The Tigers are 0-3 in the SEC now.
Ole Miss bounced back from their loss last week with a 27-3 win at South Carolina.
Iowa State remains undefeated with a 43-21 win over Baylor.
Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty’s remarkable season continued as he’s the first runner over 1,000 yards in 2024 on just 95 carries after the Broncos beat Utah State 62-30.
Is this a charmed season for Miami? Or will the hammer drop eventually? Trailing 35-10 in the middle of the 3rd quarter, the Hurricanes came back to win 39-38 in a certified wild one.
Indiana is already bowl eligible and 6-0 following a 41-24 at Northwestern.
A strong 2nd half saw Pittsburgh remain undefeated at 5-0 with a 34-24 win at North Carolina.
Nebraska handed Rutgers their first loss in 2024 with a Big Ten-ish 14-7 score in Lincoln.
Opponent Watch
Texas A&M (5-1): Notre Dame’s best win of the season looks a lot better now after the Aggies rocked Missouri 41-10 in College Station.
Northern Illinois (3-2): The Huskies struggled for a long time before putting away UMass 34-20.
Purdue (1-4): We’re checking the status on that Ryan Walters contract (roughly $14 million remaining on a deal through 2027) as the Boilermakers are blown out again, this time 52-6 at Wisconsin.
Miami [OH] (1-4): The Red Hawks dropped their MAC opener 30-20 at Toledo.
Louisville (3-2): Jeff Brohm has lost 5 out of his last 8 games with the Cardinals, FWIW.
Stanford (2-3): The Cardinal head to South Bend this weekend coming off a 31-7 home loss to Virginia Tech.
Georgia Tech (4-2): Duke is no longer undefeated after the Yellow Jackets beat them 24-14 in Atlanta.
Navy (5-0): The Middies are officially a problem after a 34-7 blowout win at Air Force.
Florida State (1-5): The Seminoles haven’t lost more than 7 games in a season since the mid-1970’s and drop their 5th game of 2024 after Clemson beats them 29-13.
Virginia (4-1): The Cavaliers are 1 of 5 remaining undefeated teams in the ACC following a 24-14 win versus Boston College.
Army (5-0): The Black Knights blasted Tulsa 49-7 and are an impressive +145 in point differential through 5 games.
USC (3-2): A big, Big Ten game awaits for USC as they host Penn State this weekend.
So tell us E, how good did it feel to have the honor of bouncing Southern Cal & Skunkbears in the same week?
Did not expect Miami and IU to be the first two teams to be bowl eligible this year.
I feel like between Brohm, Lea, and Elko, our next coach is in this article if HCMF can’t improve.
Maybe? Lea and Brohm are at their alma maters. Elko and Lea are still fairly new (3rd and 4th years as a HC respectively) and are in the prove it stage of their careers. Elko has had one good season so far. This one could make two out of three…if he does would he leave the SEC for a tougher job? Lea has thus far been in the normal range at Vandy, if he can build on yesterday’s win does he want the bigger, better job? Or does he want to be the school legend coaching for 20 years raising the bar and occasionally having Stanford 2010-16 like runs? Brohm has shown he can raise the bar at lesser programs, but will that lead to sustained success at a program that can contend for the ACC perennially?
Out of the four Elko might be the best coach, but along with Freeman and Lea the track record just isn’t long enough. If Freeman doesn’t improve (and i’m certain he gets at least two more years) will any of the other three still be the hot name in 2027? And if so, do any of them even want to leave their current job?
Southern Cal stays home for PSU I believe. Another loss eliminates them from playoff contention this year. I wonder how warm Riley’s seat feels to start 2025
Edited, I had it right in the poll but not the article.