College football’s latest shake-up has Danny Kanell leaning heavily on the SEC, even after a weekend that didn’t feature much league action.
Following Week 9, Kanell released his updated top 12, and five SEC teams made the cut. Georgia sits highest among them at No. 3, while Kentucky checks in at No. 5 in a tie with Indiana.
Texas lands at No. 9, Ole Miss is right behind at No. 10, and LSU rounds out the SEC group at No.
Kanell’s full list starts with Miami at No. 1 and Utah at No. 2.
UCLA comes in at No. 4 after improving to 8-0, with Indiana and Kentucky tied at No. 5.
Wake Forest is No. 6, BYU No.
7, Notre Dame No. 8 and Texas Tech No. 12.
"It's the best because it has no bias. After 9 weeks it's the #DKtop12"
- Miami
- Utah
- Georgia
- UCLA
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- Wake Forest
- BYU
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) November 1, 2026
Week 9 brought plenty of movement across the sport. Miami, still unbeaten, had to survive close calls against Florida State and North Carolina.
Ohio State fell to USC without star quarterback Julian Sayin. Georgia responded to its loss to Auburn by rolling past Florida.
The SEC had a lighter slate because of bye weeks, but that changes fast in Week 10. Alabama-LSU, Texas-Mizzou, Ole Miss-Georgia, Tennessee-Kentucky and more are on deck, and those matchups could send Kanell’s rankings spinning again.
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Ole Miss Just Got A National Title Endorsement Fans Will Notice
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The Ole Miss mention is the one that will likely stick with fans around the SEC, especially with Kanell highlighting both Gunner Stockton and Trinidad Chambliss as part of the Rebels' quarterback picture. He also singled out Darian Mensah at Miami, CJ Carr at Notre Dame and Jayden Maiava at USC, tying the discussion to performances and the matchups ahead. For Georgia, the takeaway is less about the praise itself and more about the company it keeps, because any list built around national title quarterbacks is really a snapshot of where the sport thinks the real contenders are headed. [Read more 🡒]
Mike White Is Already Worried About One Georgia Weakness
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Defensive rebounding is already the concern White keeps circling back to as Georgia prepares for its opener against N.C. Central. The staff is counting on help from the incoming transfers and freshmen to tighten that area, and the next stretch of practice will be about turning that emphasis into something more reliable once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]