Rankings of 134 college football teams after 5 weeks: Alabama is inevitable

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

“You couldn't live with your failure. Where did that bring you? Return to me.”

When Nick Saban retired, many wondered if Alabama would take a step back. It was, right? The greatest coach in sports history has passed away. Surely the days of the Alabama dynasty are over. Georgia emerged as the new Alabama.

But a Thanos-like Bama may be inevitable. After a 41-34 win over Georgia, the Tide moved back to No. 1 in the Athletic 134 rankings.

Alabama tops the rankings for the first time since the 2022 preseason. That year, Georgia took a week off after plastering Oregon, and the Tide hasn't returned to No. 1 since.

But it turns out that when you let head coach Kalen DeBoer plan something for elite-level talent, he can do a lot. Jalen Milroe looks like the best quarterback in the country. After a wild swing in the Game of the Year, I don't know exactly how to feel about either team. Alabama had a 28-0 lead and blew a 28-0 lead. Georgia overcame that deficit on the road. But in the end, it was the best win of the season for any team, so Alabama went from No. 7 to No. 1.

Georgia falls to No. 3, and not just because of this result. Clemson's Week 1 blowout looks better with each passing week. The Bulldogs' schedule doesn't get any easier, however, with a trip to No. 2 Texas just a few weeks away.

Here is the latest edition of The Athletic 134.

1-10

I know the SEC has a top four spot here. I don't expect that to be the case at the end of the season. But so far, Alabama has beaten Georgia, Texas has defeated Michigan, Georgia has defeated Clemson, and Tennessee has defeated NC State and Oklahoma. So that's exactly how it is now. Ohio State has big games coming up, and if they win, the Buckeyes will be up.

Miami moved up to No. 8 after needing an upset Hail Mary to beat Virginia Tech, and Penn State moved up to No. 7 after beating a ranked Illinois team. I don't think the ceiling is too high for Michigan after holding it. beat Minnesota, but the Wolverines' win over USC last week means they're here to stay unless something changes.

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11-25

BYU moved up to No. 12 after beating Baylor, but its previous win over SMU looks even better after the Mustangs moved to 4-1 with a 42-16 rout of Florida State. (K-State's win last weekend looks even better). Clemson is ranked No. 13 and still rolling from Week 1 after a 40-14 win over Stanford.

Utah dropped from No. 9 to No. 17 after a 23-10 loss to Arizona. It's really hard to place the Utes because we don't know when (or if) injured quarterback Cam Rising will return. Notre Dame inches up to No. 18 after defeating Louisville. The Northern Illinois loss looks worse, but wins over Louisville and Texas A&M help. Indiana moves up to No. 19 after a 42-28 win over Maryland.

Ole Miss dropped from No. 5 to No. 20 after a 20-17 loss to Kentucky. No better win for the Rebels to make up for the loss and make a case for a higher ranking. They defeated Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest and Georgia Southern. Oklahoma moves back into the top 25 after a comeback win at Auburn. Unbeaten UNLV bounced back after beating Fresno State 59-14, and Boise State beat Washington State 45-24 to enter the top 25.

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26-50

Texas A&M's win over Arkansas moved the Aggies to No. 29. Navy's 41-18 win at UAB moved the Midshipmen to No. 31. Rutgers moved up to No. 32 with a win over Washington on Friday night, and Arizona is No. 1 after a win over Utah. It was Arizona's 31-7 loss to Kansas State a few weeks ago that kept the Wildcats from being high for now.

Oklahoma State dropped from No. 20 to No. 37 after a 42-20 loss to K-State. The Cowboys are 0-2 in Big 12 play and need a late comeback to beat Arkansas. Kentucky's win over Ole Miss moved the Wildcats up to No. 39, but a Week 2 loss to South Carolina kept the Wildcats behind the Gamecocks for now.

Colorado jumped from No. 67 to No. 44 after a 48-21 win at UCF, the most impressive performance of the Deion Sanders era.

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51-75

No. 55 NIU is now 0-2 since the Notre Dame upset, but the Huskies were close in a 24-17 loss to NC State, which moved up to No. 54. Virginia Tech actually moved up two spots to No. 56 after a Hail Mary loss to Miami was reversed, given the nature of the finish. Army is 4-0 and No. 62 after its third straight win against an Owls team (FAU, Rice, Temple).

Sam Houston jumped from No. 91 to No. 68 after a 40-39 win over Texas State to go 4-1. Since starting 0-8 as an FBS program last year, the Bearcats are 7-2 in their last nine games.

76-100

Kansas drops to No. 80 after falling to 1-4. The Jayhawks entered the weekend with three straight one-score losses, but their latest setback was a 38-27 loss to TCU. Florida State drops back to No. 81 after beating SMU.

Louisiana moved up to No. 84 after beating Wake Forest, which dropped to No. 88. UConn made the big jump to No. 86 after a dominant 47-3 win over Buffalo. The Huskies have definitely trended up over the past three weeks. Georgia State dropped from the top 50 to No. 85 after the loss to Georgia Southern, downgrading the win over Vanderbilt. USF may have been beaten after a tough non-conference schedule, dropping to No. 87 after a 45-10 loss to Tulane.

East Carolina beat UTSA 30-20 to climb to No. 92 Purdue and Mississippi State were held close by Nebraska and Texas, respectively, in the first half, but they remain the lowest-ranked Power 4 teams at No. 98 and No. 99. Purdue fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell on Sunday.

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101–134

ULM is now 3-1 after defeating Troy, up to No. 101. That's already an improvement over first-year coach Bryant Vincent's 2-10 record last season. Bowling Green competed well with Penn State and Texas A&M but dropped to No. 105 with a loss to previously winless Old Dominion. Wyoming also got its first win of the season, over Air Force, climbing to No. 119, while Air Force dropped to No. 120, followed by Navy.

San Diego State dropped to No. 112 after losing on a last-second field goal to Central Michigan. Charlotte beat Rice in a wild finish to move to 2-3 and move up to No. 124.

We're only on three winless teams, and they make up the bottom three. After Kennesaw State lost 24-13 to UT Martin, they each suffered losses to FCS programs. Kent State remains at No. 134. The Golden Flashes played to a box score against Eastern Michigan, but committed four turnovers in a 52-33 loss.

The Athletic 134 Series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains complete editorial independence. Partners have no control or input over the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)