We’re back with the latest set of rankings after what I’m going to call a very frustrating weekend of college football, highlighted by USC’s insistence on coughing up their first Big Ten matchup. It makes me want to throw my laptop through the window.

Here’s the latest 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll:

18 Stripes Top 20 Poll

RANK TEAM RECORD NEXT
1 Georgia 3-0 at Alabama
2 Texas 4-0 vs. Miss State
3 Tennessee (+7) 4-0 BYE
4 Oregon (-1) 3-0 at UCLA
5 Ohio State 3-0 at Michigan State
6 Alabama (+1) 3-0 vs. Georgia
7 Ole Miss (+1) 4-0 vs. Kentucky
8 Miami (+1) 4-0 vs. Virginia Tech
9 Missouri (-5) 4-0 BYE
10 Utah (+3) 4-0 vs. Arizona
11 Louisville (+1) 3-0 at Notre Dame
12 Penn State (+6) 3-0 vs. Illinois
13 Illinois (NR) 4-0 at Penn State
14 USC (-8) 2-1 vs. Wisconsin
15 Iowa State (+1) 3-0 at Houston
16 BYU (NR) 4-0 at Baylor
17 UNLV 3-0 vs. Fresno State
18 Michigan (NR) 3-1 vs. Minnesota
19 Indiana (NR) 4-0 vs. Maryland
20 Clemson (NR) 2-1 vs. Stanford

OUT:

#11 Kansas State
#14 Oklahoma
#15 Oklahoma State
#19 Nebraska
#20 Northern Illinois

Tough week for teams in the Midwest. I woke up on Sunday and saw BYU blew out Kansas State and was quite shocked. Oklahoma also didn’t look very threatening as visiting Tennessee looks pretty freaking dangerous. Oklahoma State faced Utah without quarterback Cameron Rising and they still lost. Nebraska lost a brutal game in overtime to Bert and the Illinois gang.

NIU to win the MAC? I’m afraid that doesn’t look likely as the Huskies ate a massive letdown sandwich and lost in overtime to lowly Buffalo.

First round bye watch (if they win their conferences):

#1 Georgia
#4 Oregon
#8 Miami
#10 Utah

The Big 12 team keeps switching weekly in our first round bye watch. Utah is the team now, although they have a quarterback controversy brewing after Isaac Wilson (brother of Zach Wilson) has made a move as a true freshman with Rising on the sideline.

National Storylines

Look out for 4-0 Washington State after a wild 54-52 double overtime win over San Jose State.

It was too easy for Texas in Arch Manning’s first career start, thumping UL Monroe 51-3.

Ohio State started slow again and then cruised past Marshall easily 49-14.

Jaxon Dart leads the country in passing yards (1,554 through 4 games) after Ole Miss won 52-13 over Georgia Southern.

Missouri had themselves a SCARE nearly avoiding an upset to Vanderbilt 30-27 after a couple overtime sessions.

UCLA had LSU on the ropes and then the Bruins didn’t score in the 2nd half, ultimately losing 34-17.

NC State has played a pair of Power 4 conference teams this year and allowed 110 combined points. They lost to Clemson 59-35 this weekend.

Florida showed a pulse in the Sickos Committee SEC Game of the Week, beating Mississippi State 45-28 in Starkville.

Indiana hasn’t been truly tested yet but we’re noting they are 8th nationally in yards per play offensively after a 52-14 win over Charlotte. Perhaps a frisky Hoosiers team is ready to wreak havoc in the Big Ten?

Mack Brown talked about retiring (and the backed off that once the emotions died down) after witnessing North Carolina lose 70-50 to visiting James Madison. Seventy points allowed is…something.

18 Stripes pre-season Big 12 favorite Kansas is now 1-3 following a 32-28 loss at West Virginia.

While Deuce Knight can’t make up his mind, Auburn lost their SEC opener 24-14 versus Arkansas.

Rutgers is 3-0 and went into Blacksburg to pick up a 26-23 win over Virginia Tech.

Washington beat Northwestern 24-5 in Seattle to open up their Big Ten campaign.

The Floyd of Rosedale resides with Iowa after beating rival Minnesota no problem 31-14. P.J. Fleck is 4-8 over his last 12 Big Ten games.

Absolute scenes in Boulder as Colorado came back to in OT to beat Baylor 38-31.

Sneaky decent Boston College is still out there–they beat Michigan State 23-19 and handed the Spartans’ their first loss.

Opponent Watch

Texas A&M (3-1): Conner Wiegman remained out as the Aggies struggled to beat Bowling Green 26-20.

Northern Illinois (2-1): This upset was Buffalo’s 4th win in the MAC stretching back to November 2022.

Purdue (1-2): The Boilermakers might really suck. They lost 38-21 at Oregon State over the weekend.

Miami [OH] (0-3): Tough start to the RedHawks season but now their schedule softens up considerably with UMass coming up next.

Louisville (3-0): One of the biggest games of the Freeman era is upon us as Louisville got past Georgia Tech 31-19.

Stanford (2-1): The Cardinal came from behind to beat Syracuse 26-24 for their first-ever ACC win.

Georgia Tech (3-2): An early season darling ever so briefly have lost 2 games in ACC play already.

Navy (3-0): The Middies are averaging 47.7 points per game (10th nationally) and just beat Memphis 56-44 in a crucial early-season AAC game.

Florida State (1-3): The woke liberal agenda couldn’t get it done this weekend as Cal lost 14-9 on their road trip to Tallahassee.

Virginia (3-1): Once dangerous Coastal Carolina lost 43-24 to the Cavaliers.

Army (3-0): Another military academy remained undefeated as Army beat up on Rice 37-14.

USC (2-1): The scene was set. It was 3rd & 1 from Michigan’s own 20-yard line with the 2-minute timeout fast approaching. To that point, the Wolverines had totaled 32 yards on their previous 16 plays in the 2nd half. Even a short gain and 1st down boosts the Trojans’ odds of winning tremendously. Instead, USC allowed a 63-yard gain, with a clown show display of tackling, and eventually the game-winning touchdown was scored with little time remaining.