The middle of the 2026 college football regular season is here, and the target on ranked teams is getting harder to miss.
At least five top-25 teams have gone down in consecutive weeks, which is exactly why this Saturday feels loaded with upset potential. A few of the teams sitting in the rankings are winning, but not exactly convincing anyone along the way.
One of the most intriguing matchups sends Bob Chesney back to Oregon, this time with UCLA. Less than a year ago, Chesney brought an overmatched James Madison group to Eugene for a College Football Playoff game against the Ducks. Oregon won that one 51-34, but James Madison made it a fight and actually outscored the Ducks 28-17 in the second half.
Now Chesney returns with a UCLA team that has already beaten expectations. The Bruins are 4-0 and ranked No. 21, and both of their road wins have come by 21 points or more.
Oregon, meanwhile, bounced back from its early loss to Oklahoma State with a big win over USC, but there’s a catch: star quarterback Dante Moore was injured in that game and may not be able to go Saturday. Even with the hostile setting, UCLA doesn’t look like a team that’s planning to roll over.
Missouri also enters the weekend with momentum after one of the possible upsets from last week came through. The Tigers hammered Florida in Columbia and are coming off a win over a top-10 opponent after a loss to Mississippi State.
Still, there’s a reason they keep showing up in upset conversations. This is the same Missouri team that sleepwalked through a home game against Troy and had to rally from a double-digit deficit.
The flaws are there, and they tend to surface.
Texas A&M gets the next shot at testing that. The Aggies have been underwhelming so far, though the talent is still obvious, and this could be the week Marcel Reed gets something going.
Missouri may also be a little vulnerable to a letdown after such a dominant performance. Replicating that kind of outing back-to-back is never easy.
USC is in familiar territory on this list, too. Lincoln Riley’s team keeps living on the edge, barely surviving Rutgers 42-35 and Washington 25-21 before getting knocked around by Oregon at home.
The Trojans are 5-1, but the defense remains a real issue. Penn State comes in having lost two straight and is somehow the favorite, but USC is still the ranked team here, which makes this an upset spot by definition.
If the Trojans’ defense disappears again, Riley’s seat only gets hotter.
Houston has also been hanging around danger. The Cougars haven’t looked the same since the loss to Texas Tech.
They needed 42 points to get past Georgia Southern by 14 and had to rally from 17-0 down against UCF. Now they’re on the road again, where the challenge gets much tougher.
Kansas State is trying to land the shocker, and while the Wildcats lost last week, they did win all three of their home games by double digits. First-year head coach Collin Klein is still looking for his first signature win.
Pittsburgh closes out the list in what could be one of the ACC’s most interesting games of the weekend. The Panthers survived at Virginia Tech, but they lost starting quarterback Mason Heintschel for the rest of the season in the process.
Holden Geriner, who previously played at Auburn and Texas State, is the veteran option, but his résumé is thin: he has thrown for 334 yards, and 219 of those came in 2026. His first start comes at home, but North Carolina brings a defense that can get creative under Bill Belichick.
The Tar Heels have dropped two straight, and a win over Pittsburgh would be a chance to steady things.
In Other News...
Mizzou Just Sent A Serious Message With That Texas A&M Win
Missouris win over Texas A&M was about more than just ending a skid against the Aggies. The Tigers controlled the game from the start, leaned on a relentless defense and got a huge night from Jamal Roberts, who ran for 222 yards and two touchdowns while extending a remarkable personal surge. It was the kind of performance that made Missouri look firm in the trenches and confident on both sides of the ball.
The defense did its part too, holding Texas A&M to six points and keeping the Aggies from ever really finding a rhythm. Nicholas Rodriguez led the Tigers in tackles, and the pass rush added pressure with sacks and interceptions to back up the offenses big night. For Missouri, the larger question now is whether this was a one-off statement or the start of something that can carry forward from here. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Secondary Faces Its Biggest Test Yet Against Texas A&M
Missouri heads into its matchup with Texas A&M with its secondary set for a real proving ground, and the challenge starts with the Aggies receiver pairing of Isaiah Horton and Mario Craver. They bring different problems for a defense to solve, which is part of what has made them such important pieces of Texas A&Ms offense. For a Mizzou back end that has been trending better recently, this is the sort of assignment that can tell you a lot about how much progress has actually stuck.
The Tigers do not just have to stay attached to a couple of dangerous targets, either, because Texas A&Ms passing game has been a steady force and Marcel Reeds season has helped drive it. That raises the stakes for Missouris coverage group, which will need more than clean technique and a few timely stops to get through the afternoon. If the Tigers can keep Horton and Craver from dictating the game, it goes a long way toward making the rest of the matchup tilt their way. [Read more 🡒]
College GameDay Just Put Missouri In A Spot Fans Will Feel
ESPNs College GameDay crew saw enough in Missouri to lean toward the Tigers over Texas A&M, a sign of how far this matchup has shifted in Columbia. Missouri comes in ranked No. 14 and fresh off a strong showing against Florida, while the Aggies arrive trying to steady a season that has had its share of uneven moments. With Faurot Field hosting the showdown, the setting has the feel of a late-season test that could say plenty about where both programs really stand.
For Missouri fans, the optimism around the pick is one thing, but the pressure that comes with it is another. Being favored on a national stage changes the mood around a game like this, especially when the opponent is talented enough to make every mistake matter. The Tigers have earned this spotlight, but they also know those GameDay nods can turn into a bigger spotlight if the afternoon starts to tilt the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]