October Fifth brought an end to the most chaotic weekend in college football so far. Something must have been in the air with number one-ranked Alabama (now ranked seven) falling to unranked Vanderbilt and number nine Missouri losing to previously unranked Texas A&M (now 15), bumping them down 14 spots. Five of the top 25 teams lost to unranked programs. After many surprising upsets, five new programs joined the top 25 list this weekend: Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, SMU, Illinois, and Army. This week has left us with many questions including, who will make the playoffs?

The College Football Playoff will introduce a 12-team playoff bracket for the 2024-25 season, expanding from the four-team format. The new 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, which will receive automatic bids. The seven highest-ranked teams remaining will round out the 12-team format. There are many common favorites to make the 12-team playoffs including Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Oregon, and Tennessee. These teams all have many fans but other teams especially in North Carolina get lots of love at Apex. UNC is a common favorite among many students, such as Taylor Mele.

Let’s take a look at the top three teams in college football as of week six The Ohio State Buckeyes sit at number one after an amazing performance from their star receivers Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. After an easy start to their season, they are finally facing some challenges in Iowa and Oregon. Ohio State is a favorite to make the playoffs and even to win the national championship and with good reason. Another favorite the Oregon Ducks jumped up five spots and now sit at number two after defeating unranked Michigan on Friday, October Fourth. The Oregon offense showed why it is one of the best in the country. Third-ranked Texas Longhorns watched all the action during this insane week from their home in Austin. They are headed to face Oklahoma on Saturday for one of the biggest rivalry games in college football.

While all of these teams are deserving of their high ranks, they are not guaranteed to make the playoffs. Anything can happen in college football. These teams will have to keep playing at their best to be one of the 12 teams in the playoffs. For example,  Alabama showed this weekend that even if you are ranked number one you can still lose. They proved this by losing to unranked Vanderbilt in one of the biggest upsets in SEC history, bumping them down to number seven. While this is an amazing underdog story it shouldn’t lead anyone to believe that Alabama is not a good team. This was a wake-up call for all top-ranked teams not to become overconfident. If Alabama and other high-ranking teams take these opportunities to improve they will have a very good chance at making the playoffs.

However, there are other less-mentioned teams with the potential to make the playoffs. Iowa State, Ole Miss, Indiana, and Texas A&M all have great records and shouldn’t be forgotten.

Iowa State defensively is one of the best in the country. They have playmakers all over the field. They are first in total defense, pass defense, and defense efficiency. They are 5-0 overall and have a good chance of making the playoffs. 

Ole Miss is another team with a defense to talk about. They have a 91.5 overall defensive grade out of 100. Topping Ohio State, Missouri, and Alabama. The defense, however, is not the only part of this team that is mentionable. JJ Pegues had two rushing touchdowns for Ole Miss, giving him four on the season, the most for an SEC defensive lineman in the past 20 years.

For the fifth game in a row, Indiana scored 40 points or more maintaining its undefeated (now 6-0) record. The streak of six games, by the way, is a school record. The Hoosiers are averaging 515 yards of offense per game, which is sixth in the country and nearly 200 yards more per game than last season. The Hoosiers’ offense has been averaging over seven yards per play with one of the most efficient passing units in the nation thanks to their quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Indiana is one of the stories of the year.

 Texas A&M beat Missouri (formerly ranked nine) 41-10. The Aggies made a statement with a perfectly balanced offense, passing for 276, rushing for 236, and averaging 8.8 yards per play. After a season-opening loss to Notre Dame, head coach Mike Elko and his Aggies are playing confidently and improving every week. 

In conclusion, the chaotic weekend of October 5th has reshaped the college football landscape, starting discussions about playoff potential and the unpredictability of the sport. With traditional powerhouses like Alabama and Missouri stumbling, new contenders such as Texas A&M and Indiana have emerged, demonstrating that rankings can change swiftly. As we dive into the coming weeks, fans can expect more surprises and intense matchups that will determine the fate of this year’s playoff contenders.