This weekend had all the makings to be memorable. Two top-10 matchups, four other games between ranked teams, some rivalries, all coming in the wake of news that the sport’s playoff is expanding to 24 teams.
Somehow, Saturday exceeded even the loftiest expectations, delivering one of the most exciting days in college football history.
Try picking the best game.
Was it Ohio State over Indiana? The defending national champions nearly extended their winning streak to 23 games, but a possible game-winning touchdown pass came down inches out of bounds.
How about unranked Auburn, a 20-point underdog, beating No. 1 Georgia on a field goal as time expired?
In Provo, Utah, No. 8 BYU beat No. 2 Notre Dame in a game that was decided on the final play. But should there have been another second on the clock? Should BYU have been called for pass interference on the final play?
No. 3 Miami trailed Florida State in the third quarter and overtime, before winning in double overtime. Florida State had one miracle play wiped away by a penalty and another thwarted by an interception that needed a replay review to end the game.
Fans stormed the field at Tennessee after the No. 14 Vols beat No. 6 Alabama. No. 7 Texas lost to unranked Florida in Austin, after which Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian expressed his frustration with the offense, which sputtered behind a poor performance from quarterback Arch Manning.
There are no wrong answers here.
It was a historic day in college football. According to ESPN Research, it was the first time since 1936, when the AP poll began, that five of the top-seven teams lost on a single day. Georgia also became a footnote in history by joining Texas to become the first No. 1-ranked teams to lose on the last play of the game in consecutive weeks.
It all came amid a larger debate about how postseason expansion will impact the regular season.
In the four-team playoff era, any of these losses from Saturday’s big games might have been disqualifying. In the current 12-team playoff era, the impact isn’t quite as severe, but they still reframe how the second half of the year will look. Also, a week like this won’t be as consequential for the best teams in the sport in the future.
Whether that’s good or bad is a matter of personal taste.
This year, it puts Texas and Alabama — both of which have two losses — on the brink of playoff elimination. Alabama got in last year with three losses, and Texas was left out at 9-3.
Georgia, Indiana and Notre Dame still have some margin for error, but will also play the rest of the season knowing another loss could knock them out. Last year, BYU and Notre Dame got left out as two-loss teams, along with Vanderbilt and Utah.
In a 24-team playoff, though, the calculus changes dramatically. A loss that once threatened to derail a national championship pursuit could instead become little more than a setback. Coaches would have time to diagnose problems, make adjustments and position their teams to peak in the postseason, rather than needing to sustain something close to perfection just to get there.
The idea that the regular season will matter less with a larger playoff field has never really stood up to scrutiny. A few games for teams near the top might not be as impactful, but a larger playoff field also means more teams will be playing games with playoff ramifications later into the season. Games that previously wouldn’t have mattered will have real stakes.
But there is also something disingenuous about the whole exercise because it ignores a basic truth: Football is fun. This country tunes in by the millions to watch NFL preseason games and bowl games between mediocre teams with depleted rosters.
It will never be a hard sell to watch college football because days such as Saturday will always be possible.
Jump to:
Indiana’s win streak ends
SEC parity
Michigan benches Underwood
Closing bell
Pour one out for Indiana’s win streak
For a brief moment, it looked as if Indiana had done it again.
Thousands of people inside Indiana’s Memorial Stadium erupted when they saw Nick Marsh haul in what appeared to be an iconic, winning touchdown pass against Ohio State. But Marsh’s reaction told a different story. He knew immediately his foot came down out of bounds, effectively ending the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak that included a national championship.
The end of the streak offers an obvious chance to reflect. It was a heartbreaking loss, but Hoosiers fans can still probably appreciate that coming within inches of beating Ohio State, the preseason No. 1, now qualifies as a major disappointment. Until Curt Cignetti arrived, a performance like that might have even been celebrated with optimism.
It’s not surprising anymore, but it can still be a bit surreal, at times, to see Indiana on this stage.
Considering where it came from, Indiana’s winning streak is one of the most impressive in decades.
Parity in the SEC
Six SEC games Saturday featured at least one ranked team. In four of those games, the lower-ranked team won. It left the conference without a clear favorite or an undefeated team.
The biggest takeaway? The SEC doesn’t have a great team right now, not by its own standards.
Two weeks ago, Texas and Alabama were very much considered national title contenders. Now, with both teams dropping their past two games, a third loss — at least — for each seems almost inevitable.
1:11
Auburn stuns No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in Athens
Even after losing to unranked Auburn at home, Georgia still feels like the favorite. But its next three games will be revealing: Florida, at Ole Miss, Missouri. The Bulldogs are one of four teams with one conference loss, along with Kentucky, Tennessee and Ole Miss.
The depth and parity make the SEC tough to evaluate. With 16 teams and so many circular results, trying to establish an SEC hierarchy is complicated. Every impressive performance seems to be followed by a counterexample.
That pattern puts Ole Miss and Tennessee on notice.
Who has it worse, Michigan or Penn State?
Coming into the weekend, Penn State–Michigan might as well have been the Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme: Two bluebloods with new coaches, falling well short of expectations and trending heavily in the wrong direction.
Michigan’s 21-18 win against Penn State ended a two-game skid, but not before quarterback Bryce Underwood was benched in favor of Tommy Carr. This was bound to happen. All the money Underwood received to play for Michigan is a sunk cost. Kyle Whittingham couldn’t let him continue to go out there and expect different results. As much as everyone at Michigan wanted — and still wants — Underwood to succeed, the offense had been too bad not to give Carr a chance.
And when Carr came on in the third quarter after a scoreless first half, the offense improved. Bryson Kuzdzal ran for a 43-yard touchdown, Carr guided the Wolverines on an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive and later rushed for a 12-yard score.
Whittingham admitted that Carr gave the Wolverines the spark they were hoping he would provide, but stopped short of naming him the starter for next week’s game against Indiana. With the writing on the wall, it would be shocking if Carr didn’t get the nod.
Carr didn’t fill the stat sheet: He completed just 5 of 7 passes for 47 yards. But after Underwood was 5-of-11 for 43 yards and two interceptions, it was clear who gave Michigan the best chance to win.
A win next week against Indiana would be unlikely, but this season has had a way of shattering those sorts of predictions.
Penn State is in worse shape. The facade that was built with wins against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo to start the season has been shattered. The Nittany Lions got rid of a coach who took them to the College Football Playoff semifinal two seasons ago. Now, they are 0-4 in the Big Ten, and any sense of optimism that arrived with new coach Matt Campbell is gone.
The closing bell
Buy: Texas Tech
The Red Raiders had been an anomaly over their first five games: An undefeated team that had still managed to underwhelm. That changed against Arizona State, as Tech routed the Sun Devils 53-25. Red Raiders quarterback Will Hammond was outstanding, and J’Koby Williams ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries.
Sell: Arizona State
Two seasons removed from the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff, ASU has now lost consecutive Big 12 games by more than five touchdowns.
Buy: Ole Miss
Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels delivered perhaps the most complete performance of the day, beating No. 13 Missouri 31-3. Chambliss threw for 241 yards and three touchdown passes in a game that was well in control by halftime.
Sell: Mississippi State
The Bulldogs played well enough over the first four games of the season to allow for the possibility that they could be a playoff contender. That is no longer the case. It became clear at LSU that there is still a wide gulf in talent between Mississippi State and the big boys in the SEC. Even if Kamario Taylor had played, the Bulldogs’ 31-0 loss to LSU was too lopsided for his presence to have mattered meaningfully.
Hold: Rutgers
Rutgers’ loss to UMass opened the possibility it could go winless — at least against FBS teams. That watch is over. The Scarlet Knights picked up a 37-30 win against Maryland, preventing the worst-case scenario for the season.
Buy: Western Michigan
The Broncos (5-2, 3-0 MAC) continue to look like the class of MAC, with an intriguing game coming up next week against Toledo (5-2, 2-1). Ohio is the only other unbeaten team in conference play, but the teams won’t play in the regular season.
Sell: Penn‘s game management
Ivy League football might not feature the best athletes, but most people assume that situational decision-making shouldn’t be an issue in the conference. Then, a scenario like what happened Friday night calls into question that line of thinking. Trailing 28-27, Penn completed a 16-yard pass to get the ball to the Columbia 35-yard line with 10 seconds left. The obvious follow-up is to spike the ball, then trot out the kicker to attempt a difficult game winner. Instead, Penn rushed out the kicking unit, and the attempt fell short. It’s possible that would have been the result regardless, but it was a poorly managed ending.
1:17
Columbia hangs on to win after Penn’s last-second FG falls short
Buy: Air Force
After an early loss to FBS newcomer North Dakota State, it would have been easy to write off the Falcons as a contender in the Mountain West. Four straight wins later, including a 41-31 win against UNLV — the Rebels’ first loss in Mountain West play — Air Force looks like a conference contender.
Sell: Duke
After starting 4-0, Duke was looking at a manageable schedule that suggested a 9-0 start might be possible heading into its game vs. Miami. In hindsight, it was a silly suggestion. After losing to lowly Georgia Tech last week, it didn’t get better this week with a 24-20 loss to North Carolina. And now the Blue Devils — the defending conference champs — are just another mediocre ACC team.
Buy: Mickey Hart + the Cal band
From an iconic career as a drummer with the Grateful Dead to helping the Cal band prepare to honor the Dead in Berkeley, what a long, strange trip it has been for Mickey Hart.
Drummin’ to the beat in Bear Territory 🥁
@mickeyhart joined the @CalBand to jam before tomorrow night’s Grateful Bears game! https://t.co/iKpY0CKQgu
— Cal Athletics (@CalAthletics) October 16, 2026
