Kirk Herbstreit ranks his top teams in college football following Week 5

After a weekend of games with huge implications, Kirk Herbstreit revealed his top-six teams in college football. Using his patented ‘top-four plus-two’ method, Herbstreit revealed the teams he believes are in the best shape after Week 5.

Here we go!
First week of October.
My top 4 after week 5…

1-@AlabamaFTBL
2-@GeorgiaFootball
3-@HawkeyeFootball
4-@GoBearcatsFB
Next 2 @PennStateFball @OU_Football

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) October 3, 2021

First, Herbstreit stays with the status quo — ranking Alabama as his number one team in the country. The Crimson Tide dominated Ole Miss and their potent offense, as Nick Saban improved to 24-0 against his former assistants.

Second, the Georgia Bulldogs had one of the most impressive showings of the year in yesterday’s dismantling of Arkansas. It’s impossible to rank any other teams one and two, as Herbstreit has Kirby Smart’s team as a close second.

Third, the Iowa Hawkeyes shoot up Herbstreit’s rankings. Undefeated and dominant, Kirk Ferentz’s squad took care of business and then some against Maryland.

Fourth, the Cincinnati Bearcats enter the College Football Playoff conversation. Using a loss by Oregon and a rousing victory over Notre Dame, the Bearcats have a golden opportunity in-front of them. If they win out, it’ll be hard to keep them out of the dance.

Finally, Herbstreit adds in the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Oklahoma Sooners as the two teams on the outside looking in. Last week, Penn State was Herbstreit’s fourth-ranked team. Evidently, they didn’t do anything inherently wrong — Iowa and Cincinnati just had impressive weekends.

As for Oklahoma, they avenged last season’s loss against Kansas State. However, a true test comes this weekend — if they can defeat Texas, perhaps they can jump into Herbstreit’s top four.

Who missed the cut?

A heart-breaking loss to Stanford sent the Oregon Ducks spiraling out of Herbstreit’s rankings. Last week, the Ducks were the College GameDay analysts’ third-ranked team. Now, they’re out of the top-six all together.

While Iowa and Penn State make the top six, they aren’t the Big Ten squads you would’ve expected to see when the season started. Perhaps they can be joined by Michigan and Ohio State, who are both looking good following big wins.

Finally, could we see a shocking team in Herbstreit’s top teams as the season goes on? If things keep shaking out like they did this week, it’s possible Coastal Carolina could make their way up the rankings.

Ranked #16 in the country, the Chanticleers defeated UL Monroe handily, 59-6. Additionally, six teams ahead of them were defeated. As the season goes on, Kirk Herbstreit could look to the Chanticleers to spice up his rankings.