College football’s Week 6 shakeup left the Coaches Poll with a new question at the very top: who steps into the No. 1 spot after Texas fell?
Texas entered the weekend at the top of the rankings but couldn’t handle rival Oklahoma, and Arch Manning’s two interceptions directly set up the Sooners’ game-winning points. That opened the door for a new No. 1 heading into Week 7, with one team standing out among the contenders.
Texas didn’t tumble all that far for a loss to unranked Oklahoma, sliding to No. 6 from No. 1. Even so, the defeat left fresh doubts about Manning’s development and whether this offense can truly contend.
The biggest drop of the week belonged to Oregon, which fell 12 spots after a second loss and now clings to a place in the poll. The road ahead doesn’t get any easier, with Ohio State looming in a few weeks.
LSU was the other major mover in the wrong direction, dropping 11 spots after Lane Kiffin walked off a road field as a loser for the second time. The result left him 13-13 on the road at both LSU and Ole Miss, and the article says his playoff ambitions are in tatters.
There was also a notable jump for UCLA, which moved up 10 places after upsetting Oregon on the road in a messy 17-15 game. The Bruins made plenty of mistakes, and the score could have been even more lopsided in their favor, but the win counts all the same. Their upcoming schedule also gives them a favorable path for playoff hopes.
Boise State finally cracked the rankings after a solid road performance at Fresno State, fueled especially by a strong rushing game.
Wake Forest also entered the national poll, and the Deacons’ 5-1 record got them in after a dominant win at NC State. They also gave Miami its toughest test of the season.
Florida is out after a second straight blowout loss. The Gators had already seen wild swings in the rankings over the past few weeks - first the biggest riser, then the biggest faller - and now they’ve fallen out entirely, prompting what the article describes as a sudden reassessment of the Jon Sumrall regime.
Duke also dropped out after a three-point loss to Georgia Tech, with a missed field goal proving costly after the Blue Devils had entered the poll a week earlier.
Pittsburgh is gone too, as the Panthers couldn’t survive the loss of quarterback Mason Heintschel in a defeat to North Carolina after getting ranked last week.
Teams receiving votes but not enough for the top 25 were Northwestern with 107, Arizona with 92, Nebraska with 74, Oklahoma with 50, Wisconsin with 39, Duke with 35, James Madison with 33, Florida with 32, Pittsburgh with 25, New Mexico with 16, UTSA with 10, Baylor with 9, Memphis with 6, Oregon State with 2 and North Carolina with 1.
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What gives the game an extra layer is the familiar face factor, with former Rebels Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee now helping drive Missouris success. The Tigers also just showed how disruptive they can be defensively by slowing Floridas Jadan Baugh, who had previously been a problem for Ole Miss, so the Rebels will have to sort through both the emotional edge and the tactical challenge if they want to protect home field. [Read more 🡒]
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Ole Miss Defense Just Revived A Question That Will Define November
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That kind of bounce-back matters now because the schedule is about to get a lot more demanding. Ole Miss is heading into ranked conference games with November looming, and the defenses ability to hold up against better offenses may end up shaping whether this team stays in the College Football Playoff conversation. For Golding, the Vanderbilt showing was a useful reset, but the real test is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]