Top 25 College Football Rankings: Mike's Week 1 Standings

August 31, 2026

Mike's top 25 college football teams for Week 1 of the 2026 college football season. His complete top 25 rankings, including Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, and more.

We finally had some college football games over the weekend. The eight-game slate wasn't a monster by any means, but there was still some very good (and very bad) football.

Did any of the eight teams deserve a spot in our rankings? Absolutely! Do all eight of them? Not a chance!

Florida State won ugly. USC was solid, even without star WR Tanook Hines. North Carolina State was a paper tiger. Missouri held Beau Pribula back. The Bison might be able to rule FBS as well, at least in the Group of 6 ranks. There aren't a lot of movers this week, but some teams showed that they should be on my list.

25. Memphis (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 27-21 vs. UNLV

Surprise, surprise, Charles Huff had another top-notch debut. Memphis went into Vegas and beat a team that was supposed to make noise in the Go6 rankings this year. The Memphis run game was impressive. Marcus Stokes showed why he beat out Air Noland.

A dime puts Memphis right back in it! pic.twitter.com/pz5xk1NkND

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) August 30, 2026

The Memphis defensive line got after Jackson Arnold in this one. That defensive line, which is largely the same one Huff had at Southern Miss last year, is going to be one of the best outside of the power conferences.

24. SMU (0-0)

Previous ranking: 22 (⇓2)

If SMU pounds Florida State in the ACC before conference play officially starts, will anyone even notice? We'll find out soon enough.

23. North Dakota State (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 33-7 vs. Jacksonville State

Okay, I’ll say it.

North Dakota State has one of the best entrances in the FBS. pic.twitter.com/MM4Qwjujnl

— Andrew's College Football Tour (@collegeFBtour) August 31, 2026

North Dakota State's jump to FBS went just like its last 15 seasons in FCS. This was domination of a very good Jacksonville State team. The Gamecocks have won at least eight games in all three of their seasons at the FBS level, and the Bison trampled them.

22. Houston (0-0)

Previous ranking: 21 (⇓1)

I still think that I'm low on Houston, but I can't decide who to move under them. It will sort itself out soon enough.

21. Auburn (0-0)

Previous ranking: 20 (⇓1)

Let's just say that if Auburn played Penn State or Oklahoma State, I would pick Auburn. The Tigers are only this low because of the schedule.

OKAY BYRUM BROWN??️#BuiltToRise x @USFFootball pic.twitter.com/Y4uzK0Ci5q

— The American (@American_Conf) October 4, 2025

20. Michigan (0-0)

Previous ranking: 19 (⇓1)

If I believe that Kyle Whittingham was holding Utah back, it should also mean that I'm not a huge believer in Michigan. That is partially true, but I still think Michigan is better off with Whittingham than Sherrone Moore. We'll see a different Wolverines team, and probably in a good way.

19. Oklahoma State (0-0)

Previous ranking: 18 (⇓1)

I'm ready to see what this team can do, especially since it's a really good 2025 North Texas offense with a defense behind it.

18. Alabama (0-0)

Previous ranking: 17 (⇓1)

TRENDING: Keelon Russell has one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL releases you’ll ever see.

One NFL scout reportedly believes there’s “shades” of Jayden Daniels (Commanders QB) to Russell’s game.

Russell is reportedly “pulling away” in Alabama’s battle for QB1 ?? pic.twitter.com/CIqijWVzcw

— Rookie Watch (@RookieWatxh) August 18, 2026

Keelon Russell won the starting job, but that RB room is still hurt or unproven...or both.

17. USC (1-0)

Previous ranking: 16 (⇓1)

Result: W 42-26 vs. San Jose State

I know that a lot of people are chirping about USC giving up 26 points, but 23 of those were scored in the fourth quarter after USC built a 35-3 lead. This isn't an indictment of Gary Patterson's defense. This was a lot of garbage-time points.

16. Penn State (0-0)

Previous ranking: 15 (⇓1)

The Penn State optimism has reached a fever pitch now that the casual fans have taken a peek at the 2026 schedule.

Penn State’s schedule is an absolute joke: pic.twitter.com/kFTrCfqh9q

— GlennW (@givemeglenn) August 29, 2026

15. LSU (0-0)

Previous ranking: 14 (⇓1)

At this point, I'm not even sure that Lane Kiffin will make it to next weekend's game before he's fired. I didn't have the SEC backing down on my bingo card. Greg Sankey has strutted around puffing his chest for so long that I didn't think he had it in him.

Unfortunately, all other conferences followed his lead and are now behind in recruiting former NFL training camp players. Maybe this was all on purpose...

14. Virginia (1-0)

Previous ranking: NR

Result: W 34-8 vs. (23) North Carolina State

Not only did Virginia dominate their Week 0 opponent, but they did it against an in-conference rival. The Virginia defense held North Carolina State to just 168 total yards of offense.

Missouri transfer Beau Pribula completed 9-of-11 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team with 15 carries for 110 more yards. I've watched Jekail Middlebrook toil away for a bad Middle Tennessee State team. He looked good in his Virginia debut.

Virginia just had a *23-PLAY* drive.

I repeat: 23-PLAY DRIVE.

12 MINUTES AND 15 SECONDS LONG.

Per the ESPN broadcast, it’s the longest drive in program history. pic.twitter.com/tlsIiBf91D

— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) August 29, 2026

It appears that Chandler Morris was holding this team back, and Missouri was holding Pribula back. This was a big-time win for the Wahoos.

13. Utah (0-0)

Previous ranking: 13 ⇔

There were a lot of unsavory reports coming out of Utah about Whittingham. This was not the first time I've heard about it, so I wasn't a bit surprised. He lost the team over the Cam Rising saga (among other things). We're going to see a much better team this year.

12. Texas A&M (0-0)

Previous ranking: 12 ⇔

QB Marcel Reed is second in passing yards among players returning to the same team in 2026. Reports out of camp are that Reed looks better than ever. I'm not worried about Reed. I'm worried about Reed being the run game AND the passing game again.

I took a different approach to today’s Texas A&M football practice.

Instead of diversifying, here is everything I saw from Aggies’ QB Marcel Reed during the five periods open to reporters: pic.twitter.com/aGOJKBiBtT

— Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) August 13, 2026

11. Texas Tech (0-0)

Previous ranking: 11 ⇔

Thomas Castellanos is now on the Texas Tech payroll. The brass still insists that Will Hammond is healthy enough to start. I get that Castellanos is a decent insurance policy, but would he have gone to Tech strictly as a backup? I find that hard to believe.

10. Notre Dame (0-0)

Previous ranking: 10 ⇔

No part of me thinks Notre Dame is better than last year, but I honestly can't think of who to put in front of them right now. They didn't make the CFP last year. The Irish need to beat Miami or BYU in order to get in. The rest of the schedule isn't strong enough on its own.

9. BYU (0-0)

Previous ranking: 9 ⇔

The Big 12 is wide open. The more I hear about Texas Tech, the less I feel good about them running the table. BYU is heading for another 10-win season.

8. Mississippi (0-0)

Previous ranking: 8 ⇔

LSU fans going after Ole Miss fans over Trinidad Chambliss and his eligibility is objectively hilarious. September 26 can't come soon enough.

7. Oklahoma (0-0)

Previous ranking: 7 ⇔

The air ? there pic.twitter.com/SK0XzRYTqY

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) August 20, 2026

The defense is really good. John Mateer looked great in camp. Even the RB room looks like it could be a positive. I'm cautiously optimistic, but I've seen this movie before.

6. Indiana (0-0)

Previous ranking: 6 ⇔

I always get nervous when my rankings are the same as the national outlets. Josh Hoover turned it over 40 times in three years at TCU. Can Curt Cignetti curb those turnovers?

5. Georgia (0-0)

Previous ranking: 5 ⇔

Georgia is the youngest Power 4 team this season with an average age of 19.81 years. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Average Age of P4 College Football Teams in 2026, per RotoWire ? pic.twitter.com/6Zk1IxwYqG

— College Football Report (@CFBReport) August 28, 2026

4. Miami (FL) (0-0)

Previous ranking: 4 ⇔

What is standing in Miami's way of a return trip to the championship game? It's certainly not the schedule.

3. Texas (0-0)

Previous ranking: 3 ⇔

There's a lot of noise around Texas right now, but most of it is not from the Texas camp. Based solely on the roster, Texas is at the top of the SEC. When has that really mattered?

2. Oregon (0-0)

Previous ranking: 2 ⇔

Oregon might have the best offense in the country on paper. Unlike previous years, this defensive unit isn't far behind. Oregon has a chance to prove the haters wrong this year.

1. Ohio State (0-0)

Previous ranking: 1 ⇔

Nothing changes with Ohio State. No one looked remotely good enough in the opening week to challenge this spot. The same is true for the rest of the top 10 teams.

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