Week Nine College Football Resume Rankings

The craziness of the 2026 college football season continued in week eight despite a lighter slate compared to recent weeks, as we saw five unranked teams take down ranked opponents. After several different upsets this week, here are our resume rankings for each team in college football heading into week nine.

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Explaining the Ranking

With BYU losing to UCF and Miami beating Pittsburgh (39th in FPI), the Hurricanes jump up to No. 1 in our rankings. Ohio State had the top spot in our rankings a week ago, but that has changed now that Miami is 3rd in SOR and 3rd in FPI.

I understand Indiana did not look good against Michigan, but they still got the win. A loss would hurt their resume big time, but they are still 5th in SOR and 6th in FPI. They deserve to be top four right now, but I have been a little discouraged by some of their offensive performances recently.

Alabama shooting up my rankings was a bit surprising after struggling a bit against Texas A&M, but here's why the Crimson Tide returned to my top five. My ranking system views the win against the Aggies very positively because they are 22nd in FPI. Seem crazy? Even SP+ has them at 34th in their power ratings. This win took Alabama to 7th in SOR after being 12th last week. That's the reason for the jump.

Utah had a big jump as well after beating Houston (18th in FPI), going from No. 14 to No. 6. The Utes haven't had the hardest schedule this year, but they are 7-0 with wins against Houston, Kansas (55th in FPI), and Arkansas (59th in FPI). They also rank top ten in both SOR and FPI now. That's a solid body of work.

Ole Miss's ranking probably seems insane, but here's why they are still in my top ten. Ole Miss is 5-2 with wins against LSU (7th in FPI), Louisville (21st in FPI), and Missouri (28th in FPI). Their two losses are to Florida (17th in FPI) and Texas. The Rebels are a good team (9th in FPI) who have lost two games they shouldn't have while also winning against some good teams. Despite the two losses, they are 9th in SOR. Being top ten in both SOR and FPI is why they are still so high in my rankings.

It was a rough week for BYU, who fell to UCF (45th in FPI) for their first loss of the season. The Cougars fell from No. 2 to No. 10 in my rankings, but they still have a good resume as they rank 8th in SOR and 15th in FPI. We'll see if they recover from this but their margin for error is very slim.

Heading into this week, Texas was free-falling after being No. 1 in the AP poll earlier in the season. Then they beat Ole Miss (9th in FPI), which pretty much saved their season. This win took Texas from No. 19 to No. 12 in my rankings, and now the Longhorns are 12th in SOR and 8th in FPI. The rest of their schedule isn't easy, but they have a path to the playoff once again.

LSU has had a great last two weeks, and they shone this week, beating Auburn (29th in FPI) on the road. LSU is a great team (7th in FPI) whose raw resume doesn't quite match up with their talent, as they rank 16th in SOR. The loss to Kentucky (24th in FPI) hurts their SOR, but they are on the up-and-up. Their remaining schedule is really tough, but the Tigers look like a playoff-caliber team right now.

Tennessee and Texas Tech both struggled this week, with the Volunteers losing to South Carolina (26th in FPI) and the Red Raiders losing to Cincinnati (47th in FPI). The losses dropped Tennessee to 15th in SOR and Texas Tech to 19th in SOR. This was especially brutal for Texas Tech because they haven't looked great all season, and this loss revealed some serious flaws with the team. Now it's looking questionable if either team will make the playoff now.

I have been down on SMU for a while, but the Mustangs finally cracked my top 25 this week. SMU doesn't have the most impressive resume, but they are 6-1 with wins against Florida State (37th in FPI) and Virginia (46th in FPI). Now they are 21st in SOR and 27th in FPI, earning them a top-25 ranking.

Arizona joins my top 25 as well at No. 21 after playing some great ball the last couple of weeks. The Wildcats don't have any true signature wins, but they are 6-1 with a win against Cincinnati and one loss to BYU. Now Arizona is 22nd in SOR and 23rd in FPI. I'm all aboard the Arizona train.

Wisconsin and Oklahoma have been in and out of my top 25 the last couple of weeks, and they both return after Wisconsin took down USC (25th in FPI) and Oklahoma took down Mississippi State (40th in FPI). Oklahoma is still outside the top 25 in SOR, but the Sooners are 19th in FPI, which helps a lot.

A handful of teams ranked in my top 25 last week fell out this week, including Oregon, Auburn, USC, Iowa, and Mississippi State who all lost this week.