College Football

College Football Rankings: Alabama loss, Georgia, Iowa wins shake up RJ Young's Top 25

Updated Oct. 10, 2021 7:45 p.m. ET

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By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer 

Editor’s note: Every Sunday morning during the college football season, RJ Young will release his updated Top 25 rankings.

We live in a twilight world. The tenets of college football have been shaken.

The best example of Jerry Lee Lewis’ whole lot of shaking going on is unranked Texas A&M knocking off undefeated juggernaut and (formerly) No. 1 Alabama. Never mind that Ampersand U began the season ranked No. 6 in the country. The Aggies knocked off the Tide with a backup quarterback.

Another example of college football's shakeup is perhaps just who is left among the undefeated teams.

Who’d have thought that among Oklahoma, Ohio State and Alabama, only the Sooners would be bowl-eligible after Week 6? Or that Coastal Carolina, San Diego State and Texas San-Antonio would boast more wins than Texas, LSU and Clemson.

But that is the reason we play the games and cast not our view toward recruiting rankings and eye tests alone. 

We watch the results, and, like the Eternals, intervene only when presented with a deviant.

For more up-to-date news on all things college football, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Here are my Top 25 teams in the country after Week 6:

1. Georgia Bulldogs (6-0)
Defeated Auburn 34-10

Georgia has beaten three Top 25 teams by a combined score of 81-13 through six weeks.

2. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-0)
Defeated Penn State 23-20

Iowa also has defeated three Top 25 teams and two top 10 teams in six games. The Hawkeyes are 6-0 for the first time since 2015.

'They're not the fake ID of College Football' - Joel Klatt reacts to Iowa's victory over Penn State

Alongside Iowa fans in the parking lot, Joel Klatt breaks down the Hawkeyes' victory over Penn State.

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-0)
Idle

The Pokes have beaten two Top 25 teams in five games, twice as many wins over ranked teams as the remaining unbeatens below them. Don’t like their ranking here? Find a team that can beat them.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats (5-0)
Defeated Temple 52-3

Cincy owns a top 10 win on the road at Notre Dame.

5. Kentucky Wildcats (6-0)
Defeated LSU 42-21

UK is 6-0 for the first time since 1950. Like Cincinnati, the Wildcats have an AP top-10 victory — UK's was over Florida.

6. Oklahoma Sooners (6-0)
Defeated Texas 55-48

This was the first AP Top-25 win of the season for the Sooners. They trailed 28-7 before mounting the largest comeback in Red River Rivalry history.

RJ Young reacts to Oklahoma's dramatic win over Texas in Red River

RJ Young shares his thoughts after the Oklahoma Sooners pulled off an epic 55-48 comeback win over the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry.

7. Michigan State Spartans (6-0)
Defeated Rutgers 31-13

8. Michigan Wolverines (6-0)
Defeated Nebraska 32-29

9. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-0)
Defeated Syracuse 40-37 (OT)

10. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-0)
Defeated Arkansas State 52-20

The Chants have scored at least 49 points in five of their six games this season and average 48.8 PPG.

11. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-1)
Lost to Texas A&M 41-38

The loss is Alabama’s first in 101 games (100-1) to an unranked AP Top 25 opponent and the first by Nick Saban to a former assistant (24-1). The defeat also snapped the nation’s longest active win streak at 19. 

Alabama, however, has three ranked wins in six games. That’s more than any other one-loss team in the country.

12. Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1)
Lost 23-20 to Iowa

13. BYU Cougars (5-1)
Lost 26-17 to Boise State

BYU still has two AP Top-25 wins on its résumé.

14. Ole Miss Rebels (4-1)
Defeated Arkansas 52-51

15. Oregon Ducks (4-1)
Idle

While both Notre Dame and Oregon have wins against ranked teams, Oregon beat Ohio State, which was No. 3 in the country at the time. Notre Dame beat then-No. 18 Wisconsin.

Then there are the losses. ND’s is to an undefeated and top-10 Cincinnati while UO’s is to unranked Stanford.

16. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)
Defeated Va. Tech 32-29

17. Arizona State Sun Devils (5-1)
Defeated Stanford 28-10

18. North Carolina State Wolfpack (4-1)
Idle

19. Baylor Bears (5-1)
Defeated West Virginia 45-20

The Bears have a Top 25 win against Iowa State and their only loss came to an undefeated Oklahoma State.

20. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1)
Defeated Maryland 66-17

The Buckeyes have looked spectacular since losing to Oregon. But they still haven’t beaten a single ranked team. But keep winning, Ohio State. The season is only half-done, and your schedule is backloaded.

21. Arkansas Razorbacks (4-2)
Lost to Ole Miss 52-51

The Razorbacks are the best two-loss team in the country. But they have two losses. One is to the No. 1 team here, and the other is to the No. 14 team here. They've beaten the team that knocked off Alabama (Texas A&M) and the one that nearly knocked off undefeated Oklahoma (Texas).

22. Texas A&M Aggies (4-2)
Defeated Alabama 41-38

This is the best win of the season for any team. It’d be easier to rank the Aggies higher without two losses, though. One is to an Arkansas team that got thumped by Georgia and Ole Miss, and the other is to a Mississippi State squad that lost to Memphis. And that Memphis team lost 35-29 to 2-4 Tulsa.

23. Nevada Wolf Pack (4-1)
Defeated New Mexico State 55-28

24. Houston Cougars (5-1)
Defeated Tulane 40-22

25. Florida Gators (4-2)
Defeated Vanderbilt 42-0

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.

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Georgia Bulldogs

Iowa Hawkeyes

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Cincinnati Bearcats

Kentucky Wildcats

Oklahoma Sooners

Michigan State Spartans

Michigan Wolverines

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

Alabama Crimson Tide

Penn State Nittany Lions

BYU Cougars

Ole Miss Rebels

Oregon Ducks

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Arizona State Sun Devils

North Carolina State Wolfpack

Baylor Bears

Ohio State Buckeyes

Arkansas Razorbacks

Texas A&M Aggies

Nevada Wolf Pack

Houston Cougars

Florida Gators

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