Joel Klatt’s top four didn’t budge this week, even though one of them didn’t play.
Georgia holds at No. 1 after taking care of Vanderbilt, while Texas and Ohio State sit right behind at two and three. Alabama is climbing fast, moving up to No. 5 off a blowout of Mississippi State, and Indiana jumped a spot after a statement road win at Rutgers.
Elsewhere, BYU cracks the top 10 for the first time this season despite a banged-up, grind-it-out win over TCU, while Oregon and Utah both move up during bye weeks.
Now that five weeks of college football are in the books, here are Klatt’s 10 best teams in the country.
Record: 4-0
Previous ranking: Unranked ↑
Klatt’s thoughts: “Listen, you’re going to be mad even though I included you. But here you are in the top 10 because I know that you’re a good program. I didn’t think you played your best against TCU, but here’s BYU. They’re going to go in at number 10.
“They had to grind out that 17-10 win. Running back LJ Martin did go down in that game — I’m not thrilled about that. Hopefully it isn’t serious. Isaiah Glasker also had to leave the game. QB Bear Bachmeier just found a way. He’s kind of gritty.”
Record: 4-0
Previous ranking: 10 ↑
Klatt’s thoughts: “At nine, I’ve got Utah. They were off this past week, but all they’ve done is take care of business. Who’d have thought that I’d be sitting here with Utah in my top 10 and Michigan not even close right now, man.
“I’m already circling that holy war, by the way. The Utah-BYU game is going to be fire. That’s November 7. Winner of that one, I think, is definitely in Dallas for the Big 12 Championship Game, and I think the winner of that one likely wins the Big 12 Championship Game.
“So the winner of that game, I really like in the College Football Playoff.”
Record: 3-1
Previous ranking: Unranked ↑
Klatt’s thoughts: “At No. 8 I’m going Oregon. They were off this week after that big win over USC. You guys know how I still feel about Oregon. They can walk on any field in America, and they can tell themselves if they play their best, they can win.
“So the top eight teams are just different than everybody else right now in the country, and Oregon is number eight.”
Record: 5-0
Previous ranking: 5 ↓
Klatt’s thoughts: “At seven, I’ve got Notre Dame. And listen, maybe I can even say the top seven are interchangeable. I think Notre Dame could be the best team in the country.
“They’ve just been a little bit inconsistent and at times sloppy. They were sloppy early against North Carolina, but they win it 37-26. They gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half, but they’ve won their 15th straight game. CJ Carr had five total touchdowns in that game. The rainstorm made it kind of sloppy, and it was interesting, but 30 rushes for 166 yards — five and a half per. I’ve been wanting them to run it better. They have and did in that game.”
Record: 5-0
Previous ranking: 7 ↑
Klatt’s thoughts: “At six, I’ve got Indiana. Like any other program in the country, if they were the defending national champion and undefeated, on a 21-game winning streak — would they be number six? I’m just kicking myself for having them number six right now.
“Turbo Richard was back. He ran for over 200 yards. Lee Beebe ran for over 100 yards — over 300 on the ground between them. Wide receivers Nick Marsh and [Charlie Becker] both went over 100 each. Hoover is playing well. They’ve got a couple of shutouts — they basically shut out Rutgers until the fourth quarter in that game.
“And I know it’s just Rutgers, and their schedule hasn’t been great, but the Northwestern win looks a lot better now than it did when they beat them. Indiana — 21-game winning streak — No. 6. That’s just fuel for Curt Cignetti.”
Record: 5-0
Previous ranking: 6 ↑
Klatt’s thoughts: “I’m kind of all in on Bama. I kind of love it, guys, I really do. Bama’s excellent. Where are they at in my top five? They’ve gone all the way up to number five. You might’ve thought I was going to put them number one, but I put them at five. And candidly, my top five teams are totally interchangeable. Maybe even my top six. Bama is right up there. They are excellent.”
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Record: 5-0
Previous ranking: 4
Klatt’s thoughts: “At number four, I’ve got Miami. Miami is impressive, man. They destroyed Clemson 41-13 on the road. QB Darian Mensah continues to look like a dude. He’s really good. Mensah is an upgrade for the Canes. Wide receiver Malachi Toney didn’t have the biggest day, but he doesn’t have to, because they can do a lot of things — they can run it, and they’ve got other players who can get the ball too.
“The defense was outstanding, they got after the quarterback. Miami’s going to be an issue, and they should absolutely win the ACC. They’ve separated themselves in the ACC by quite a large margin.”
Record: 4-1
Previous ranking: 3
Klatt’s thoughts: “Ohio State is going to be in my top 10. They did not move. I can’t put them over Texas because they did not beat Texas. So Ohio State is No. 3.”
Record: 4-0
Previous ranking: 2
Klatt’s thoughts: “Texas No. 2. Longhorns were off — they’ve got Oklahoma coming up. Nobody else has two wins over top-15 teams. They’ve got Ohio State and Tennessee on their résumé, so they’re there.”
Record: 5-0
Previous ranking: 1
Klatt’s thoughts: “I have Georgia No. 1. There’s just something about this Georgia team. It’s not as emphatic a statement as it was last week against Oklahoma, but they took care of Vanderbilt, a game that was a seven-point game at half, and then they ran away with it in the second half.
“Bulldogs have a big one this week, though, that ‘Bama game. If they don’t get pressure on Keelon Russell, they will lose this week, because Russell is outstanding. I think the winner of that game will be, at least for me, in the driver’s seat in the SEC, even with Texas out there with their two top-15 wins.”
