Wasserman's College Football Top 10 Ranking: Massive shakeups after chaos hits

It’s a new era of college football. 

When the College Football Playoff committee starts releasing rankings later this season, they aren’t going to be the end-all, be-all given the new seeding rules of the 12-team field. But the rankings are still fun and people are still going to fight over them. They still matter. 

So after every weekend, after the dust settles from the games, I’m going to unveil my updated top 10. Here is the latest edition: 

1. Texas (5-0) 

It was a pretty advantageous week for Texas to have a bye. With top teams falling all over the place, the Longhorns were at home preparing for next weekend’s Red River Rivalry. Texas has been blowing teams out with Arch Manning at the helm the last few weeks, but Quinn Ewers should be back against Oklahoma ready to lead this Longhorns team in the SEC race. Texas’ lone test of the season was at Michigan, and the luster of that win has worn off. Fully healthy, the Longhorns have the opportunity to flex their muscles on the national stage again.
Last week’s rank: 2

2. Ohio State (5-0) 

Ohio State got dragged into Iowa hell for a half of football Saturday, but the Buckeyes eventually took control of the game and won 35-7. The Buckeyes have yet to be truly tested through their first five games. On paper, Ohio State has the deepest, most talented roster in the country. It has stars all over the field, including freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith, who caught another circus touchdown against the Hawkeyes. But is this team truly one of the three elites? We’ll find out a ton next weekend when Ohio State travels to Autzen Stadium to take on Oregon.
Last week’s rank: 4

3. Oregon (5-0)

Oregon’s season got off to a rough start, but the Ducks have been starting to look more like we anticipated in the last three weeks. Playing in a Friday night spot that tends to see things go off the rails, Oregon took care of business at home and blew out Michigan State, 31-10. Simply going 6-0 is an accomplishment in the sport this year, but if Oregon is a fraud, we’ll find out next weekend with Ohio State coming to town.
Last week’s rank: 6

4. Georgia (4-1)

Georgia responded to the heart-breaking loss it suffered to Alabama last weekend with a win. Thought it was in only a four-point game early in the third quarter against Auburn, the Georgia took control of the game in the second half and cruised to a 31-13 win. It’s hard to place the Bulldogs ahead of Alabama on this list given it is only a week removed from losing to the Crimson Tide, but Georgia answered questions about its offensive playmakers in that loss. It’s still built for success at the highest level. If Georgia doesn’t belong this high, we’ll find out in two weeks when it plays Texas on the road. 
Last week’s rank: 5

5. Miami (6-0)

If you went to bed early, you went to bed thinking Miami lost. The Hurricanes were down 35-10 midway through the third quarter and could have given up. Instead, quarterback Cam Ward led Miami to a thrilling comeback victory over the Golden Bears on the road, scoring 21 unanswered points in the games final 11 minutes. Ward threw for 437 yards and turned what was a Miami nightmare into a dream. For a minute there, it felt like Miami was going to revert back to the old version of itself. This team? It’s different.
Last week’s rank: 7

6. Penn State (5-0)

A few weeks ago, there probably didn’t seem like a reasonable route to the top five for Penn State before mid-October. But when half of the top-10 implodes in a single week, being a team that has won all five of its games is a pretty nice accomplishment. Though it’s fair to question how this Penn State team would do against the Ohio States and Georgias of the world, the Nittany Lions have walked through their schedule without really having to break a sweat (if you can look past that weird Bowling Green game). Penn State beat UCLA 27-11 on Saturday and now heads to LA to face USC next weekend in a game that all of a sudden seems much more manageable.
Last week’s rank: 8

7. Clemson (4-1)

It seems like yesterday Clemson got destroyed by Georgia, but in a sport where there are a whole lot of imperfect teams, we have to get past it. Since the loss to the Bulldogs, Clemson has handled everyone on its schedule with ease. The latest win was a victory over lowly Florida State, a game in which the Seminoles never had a chance to win. Cade Klubnik is turning into a star in front of our eyes and Clemson is starting to feel good about itself. This is a team that basically seems guaranteed to at least make the ACC Championship Game, especially Miami struggled with Cal on Saturday night.
Last week’s rank: 10

8. Alabama (4-1) 

Alabama is a very tricky team to rank this week. It’s not just that it suffered a 40-35 upset to Vanderbilt, it was how it lost Vanderbilt. This wasn’t some flukey thing. Vanderbilt lined up for four quarters and just beat the Crimson Tide. Alabama probably would have fallen out of the top 10 entirely if so many other teams didn’t lose Saturday, but here we are. The Crimson Tide still have one of the best wins in college football over Georgia and it certainly has the talent to turn Saturday’s disaster around.
Last week’s rank: 1 

9. BYU (5-0) 

Who would have thought your BYU Cougars would be in the top nine nationally in early October? That’s partially because everyone is falling apart around it. But it’s also because the Cougars have taken care of business so far this year. Not only is BYU 5-0 on the season, it has a win over SMU (which looks better today than it did Friday) and a blowout of Kansas State, a trendy pick to win the Big 12 this year. BYU still has a lot of work to do to maintain this ranking, but it has earned it thus far.
Last week’s rank: NR

10. Iowa State (5-0) 

The Big 12 is a hodgepodge of nonsense, but Iowa State has been as consistent fixture out of that conference this year. The Cyclones got a close win over Iowa in a rivalry game in the nonconference slate and followed that up with wins over Houston and Baylor in their first two Big 12 games. Though nothing jumps out on Iowa State’s schedule as overly impressive, take a look at this team’s schedule. It won’t be easy because the Big 12 is unpredictable, but the Cyclones could realistically be 10-0 before ending the season with games against Utah and Kansas State.
Last week’s rank: NR