Week 4 gave the 2026 college football season a little more clarity, and it also made the AP Top 25 look shaky in a few places.
Six ranked teams fell on Saturday, with No. 16 Louisville’s home loss to Wake Forest standing out as the biggest jolt. Iowa and Oregon also went on the road and came away with top-25 wins, while Florida kept climbing after a lopsided win over Ole Miss in Gainesville.
But not every team in the poll is holding up its end of the bargain. A few rankings feel more like reputation than reality right now.
Indiana got the kind of test it should have handled cleanly, and instead Northwestern kept things uncomfortable. At home and favored by three touchdowns, the Hoosiers never fully shook loose. Northwestern trimmed the margin to 15-13 in the fourth quarter before failing on the two-point try, and Indiana escaped 29-23.
The Hoosiers did control the yardage and scored on three of their last four possessions, but this doesn’t look like the same unbeatable outfit from last season. Curt Cignetti’s team should still get through Rutgers and Nebraska, but the October 17 trip to Ohio State is the one that will tell the real story.
Utah has stayed a little out of the spotlight because so many of its games kick off late on the East Coast, but the Utes haven’t exactly blown the doors off anyone. They handled Arkansas, though the Razorbacks won’t be much in 2026, and then went on the road for a 31-17 win over Iowa State.
Even there, the second half was a concern. The Cyclones outscored Utah 14-7 after halftime. The schedule should help the Utes hang around for a while, too, since they don’t face another ranked team until October 24, when Houston comes to town.
USC’s ranking looks even harder to justify. The Trojans slipped after a 41-27 loss to Oregon, but the bigger issue is that they never looked sharp before that. They were mediocre against Louisiana and Rutgers, and the Oregon game only reinforced the same problem.
A dirty targeting call knocked Dante Moore out of the game, and even after that USC still couldn’t keep things close. Jayden Maiava completed barely 50% of his passes, the Trojans averaged 3.6 yards per carry, and the defense continues to be a mess. USC has now allowed 30 or more points in three straight games and at least 26 in four of five.
Houston is another team getting a little too much benefit of the doubt. The Cougars opened with a shaky showing against Oregon State, then earned some respect in a top-25 loss to Texas Tech. But the follow-up was underwhelming: a 42-28 win over Georgia Southern on the road.
That’s not the kind of performance that should move a team up two spots. Georgia Southern entered at 1-3 and had scored just 34 points combined against its last two FBS opponents. Houston now gets back-to-back ranked games in October against Oklahoma State and Utah.
SMU has its own warning signs. The Mustangs trailed Missouri State 10-0 at home before pulling out a 34-24 win, and that was after a Week 0 escape against Florida State in which they outgained the Seminoles by more than 200 yards.
Against Missouri State, SMU finished with a 592-239 edge in total yards, but the game still wasn’t the kind of clean statement it needed after losing to Louisville. Kevin Jennings has thrown at least one interception in each of SMU’s three games against FBS opponents, including two picks apiece against Florida State and Louisville.
The schedule may soften for a while, with no other ranked opponent until a trip to South Bend on November 21. Even so, the Mustangs are not playing to their ceiling right now.
In Other News...
Utah Players Sent A Clear Message In That First Big 12 Win
After Utah picked up its first Big 12 win of the season, the postgame mood matched the result: confident, physical and eager to explain how the Utes wanted that game to look. Wayshawn Parker and Johnathan Hall both met with the media to break down their roles in the win, with Parker walking through his mindset, a few key plays and the backing he felt from teammates and coaches. It was the kind of response that suggested Utah did not just win a league game, it won it by leaning into an identity it wants to keep sharpening.
Hall put the focus on the defenses commitment to physicality and doing the job together, which has become a pretty clear calling card when Utah is at its best. Dampier also reflected on his performance, noting how much the opening touchdown meant and crediting the support he got from his family. For a team trying to establish itself in a new conference, the message from the locker room was hard to miss: the Utes believe their style travels, and they liked the way it showed up when the game was on the line. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Could Be Heading For An Awkward Isaac Wilson Reunion
Isaac Wilson may be back in a familiar spotlight soon, and for Utah fans it comes with a strange twist. The former Utes quarterback is expected to start for Colorado against No. 12 Texas Tech, after taking over at halftime in the Buffs previous game and settling in well enough in the second half to put himself in line for another look.
Deion Sanders still has not made a final decision, but he has publicly backed Wilson and the other quarterbacks on the roster, which keeps the picture fluid for now. Still, if Wilson gets the nod, it would set up an odd reunion for Utah in a game that already carries plenty of weight on Colorados schedule. [Read more 🡒]