Ranking of 134 college football teams after Week 13: Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas A&M relearns an old lesson

Editor’s Note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

Winning matches is difficult.

That’s a press conference cliché you’ll hear from every coach, but it’s true, especially for coaches who deal with college athletes. How else can you explain what happened on Saturday?

For two weeks, SEC fans beat the narrative drum that Indiana had never played on. On Saturday, Indiana played Ohio State and was battered 38-15. Justification! Well, until a few minutes later when Ole Miss lost to a previously 5-5 Florida team. Then Alabama lost to a 5-5 team from Oklahoma (24-3). Then Texas A&M lost to a 4-6 Auburn team. Suddenly, three SEC teams that started the day with two losses and a clear path to the College Football Playoff had a third loss.

It turns out that winning is hard. That’s not to say that all 10-1 records are created equal, or that more wins should equal a higher ranking. They don’t. Beating good teams is important. But there must be appreciation for winning games, even against average or above-average teams.

At one point Friday, the SEC appeared to have a path to sending five teams to the 12-team College Football Playoff. By the end of the weekend, there will be three SEC teams in the CFP field, based on this week’s Athletic 134 rankings.

This season has brought us a shock every week that has turned the CFP upside down. I wouldn’t plan anything going into the last weekend either. That’s why we love college football.

But college football is more than the power of schedule rankings, betting odds and hypotheticals. You have to play games. That’s what sports is about. You never know what could happen. So when you get a win, no matter what kind of win it is, make sure you enjoy it.

Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

1-10

Notre Dame fans, I told you I’d put you in the top five if you beat Army, and you did, so here you are. Beat USC and the Irish will host a Playoff game in South Bend. I almost ranked Notre Dame over Penn State, given the Nittany Lions’ close calls against USC and Minnesota. But Penn State’s win against Illinois is now a top 25 win, and the Irish’s loss to Northern Illinois remains a drag. If they handle a USC team that took Penn State to overtime, there’s a case for beating the Nittany Lions.

Indiana drops to No. 9 after the loss to Ohio State, thanks to the aforementioned SEC losses. But the Hoosiers have also had their fair share of solid wins, and their strength of schedule in the ESPN metric has risen to No. 51, higher than Oregon, Miami, SMU, Notre Dame or Boise State, for what it’s worth. SMU is number 8 in my rankings. The Mustangs are rolling and have that loss of quality for BYU. I still don’t understand why Miami ranks higher than SMU in the polls and the CFP rankings.

Boise State moves up to No. 10 after escaping a bad Wyoming team, but the Broncos are reeling from some recent close calls. Still, UNLV’s win and narrow loss at Oregon in Week 2 keep them here for now. But with a rematch against No. 24 UNLV likely in the Mountain West championship game, that Group 5 spot in the Playoff is far from wrapped up.

Also, Georgia and Tennessee can’t overlook Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt, respectively, this week.

11-25

Miami is ranked No. 11, even though it took a surprising amount of time to pull away from Wake Forest. But along with Indiana, the biggest winner from the SEC losses could be the ACC, which now has a strong case to earn two Playoff bids, assuming SMU and Miami win this week. I have Miami in my CFP field as an overall team.

Alabama and Ole Miss fall to Nos. 12 and 14, respectively. I don’t think the Tide are out of the CFP mix yet, but they will need help. Arizona State moves up to No. 13 after the win against BYU and takes first place in the Big 12, while BYU drops to No. 16. The Cougars still have wins against SMU and Kansas State, so they don’t fall too far.

Clemson moves up to No. 17, and I don’t understand why the Tigers are No. 12 in both polls. They haven’t had good wins, and they shouldn’t be behind two SEC teams that beat Georgia, since Georgia beat Clemson. If Clemson beats South Carolina, we can start an overall CFP conversation, but the Tigers shouldn’t be anywhere near that right now, and it’ll be hard to convince me that a second ACC spot wouldn’t go to SMU or Miami have to go. . I’m very curious to see where the committee places Clemson. Anything close to No. 12 opens up the possibility of the Tigers skipping the loser of the potential SMU-Miami matchup.

Kansas State is ranked No. 19, back ahead of No. 20 Colorado and still ahead of No. 21 Tulane because the Wildcats beat both. Iowa State is ranked No. 22 and, after all, has a path to the Big 12 Championship Game.

26-50

Army falls out of the top 25 to No. 27 after a 49-14 loss to Notre Dame. No. 28 Syracuse is quietly an impressive 8-3 in Fran Brown’s first season, including a win against UNLV. Florida moves all the way to No. 33 after beating Ole Miss, a week after the win against LSU. The Gators are the top-ranked 6-5 team, with all five losses coming to the top 25 teams.

Washington State drops to No. 43 after a loss to Oregon State, which came after a loss to New Mexico. Oklahoma rises to No. 46 after beating Alabama, its first win since September. No. 47 Kansas is the best 5-6 team in the country. The Jayhawks are the first team in history to beat three consecutive top-25 teams while a sub-.500 team, the latter having a dominant performance against Colorado. West Virginia defeated UCF to gain bowl eligibility and move up to No. 50.

51-75

Boston College edged North Carolina and moves up to No. 52. James Madison drops to No. 55 after losing to Appalachian State in the snow, and the Tar Heels fall to No. 56.

Cal came back to beat Stanford, gain bowl eligibility and move up to No. 54, still ahead of Auburn, which climbs after beating Texas A&M. Cal’s win against Auburn keeps the Golden Bears ahead.

Marshall jumps to No. 65 after beating Coastal Carolina to stay atop the Sun Belt East division. No. 73 Jacksonville State has won eight straight games after an 0-3 start and secured a spot in the Conference USA Championship Game. Liberty’s win against Western Kentucky puts these two plus Sam Houston in the mix for the other CUSA spot.

76-100

Colorado State got bit and lost at Fresno State, significantly damaging the Rams’ Mountain West championship hopes. They now need UNLV to lose to Nevada. Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Bowling Green are all 6-1 in MAC play heading into the final weekend, and all three are moving up after wins. No. 84 East Carolina is now 4-0 under interim head coach Blake Harrell, who inserted himself into the conversation to get the full-time job.

Oregon State rises to No. 88 after beating Washington State, but trails San Jose State due to head-to-head results. Texas State drops to No. 91 after losing to Georgia State. Oklahoma State finally showed a pulse, but lost 56-48 to Texas Tech, making it eight straight losses and an 0-8 record in Big 12 play.

101-134

No. 103 Florida State finally got a second win, against FCS Charleston Southern. No. 112 Charlotte defeated FAU in a battle for interim coaches. No. 113 Central Michigan defeated Western Michigan, after which coach Jim McElwain retired.

No. No. 134 Kent State missed its last best chance at victory in a 38-17 loss to No. 128 Akron. The Golden Flashes need to win at Buffalo to avoid an 0-12 season.

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories prior to publication.

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