College football rankings: Michigan soars to 2nd, Oklahoma State into top 5 in CBS Sports 130

While Georgia remained the #1 team for most of the season, a few spots on CBS Sports 130 – our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team in college football – offered as much appeal as No. 2.

Since Alabama lost to Texas A&M in early October and the Bulldogs rose to No. 1, CBS Sports 130 has seen the shares of the other team College football National championship and playoff contenders rose and fell from 2nd place. Some teams fell out of place after the loss, as Ohio State did this week after the loss at Michigan, while others Another team was “jumped” by another candidate after an impressive win. Since Georgia took over the No. 1 spot, we’ve seen Iowa, Cincinnati, Alabama and Ohio State all take their place behind the Bulldogs, and now a new member of the No. 2 club has popped up with Michigan.

Michigan’s jump from 5th to 2nd provides examples of both the Buckeyes’ drop (down five places to 7th) after the loss and the Wolverines taking a well-deserved leap ahead other opponents after the victory. When Cincinnati and Alabama were knocked out of second place earlier this year, neither of them lost. Those same two teams remain at the top of the leaderboard, rounding out the top 4 with the Bearcats in 3rd and the Crimson Tide in 4th.

Oklahoma State cemented its place as one of the top teams in the country with a win over Oklahoma and a two-place boost to No. 5. The Cowboys edged out a Notre Dame team that remained in No. 5. 6 after finishing his season with a win at Stanford to finish 11-1.

Sticking to the ACC Atlantic Division in an emphatic fashion proved to be a worthwhile boost for Wake Forest as the Demon Deacons rose six places to 15th, and the State of San Diego also moved up (from 24th to No. 20th). following the division’s championship win over Boise State on Friday. For more on this week’s CBS Sports 130’s most notable and dramatic tweaks, check out the Mover Report below the top 25.

College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute votes each week, averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and the 26-130 on our ratings page.

Biggest motivation

• Number 58 Texas (+20): Texas is back (in the top 60)! The Longhorns won’t be bowling and have an all-important season ahead of them to correct the problems that led to a season 1 end-of-season collapse with Steve Sarkisian, but beating Kansas State to close the year requires a win adjusted in the FBS Global Rankings.
• No. 59 Virginia Tech (+15): Achieving poor performance with a home win under an interim coach shows the extent of strong buy-in from the Hokies squad that may have packed it after Justin Fuente’s sacking. Beat a solid Virginia team that edged the Hokies to 6-6 for the season and a point ahead of the Wahoos in CBS Sports 130.
• No. 33 Minnesota (+10): The Golden Gophers took their second win for Paul Bunyan’s Ax under the leadership of PJ Fleck, knocking out Wisconsin to finish second in the Big Ten West with a 6-3 aggregate and 8 overall record. -4. After so many disappointing setbacks during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Gophers have regained the traction built by a ground-breaking 11-win season in 2019.
• No. 22 UTSA (-10): The bid for a 12-0 regular season fell right near the finish line as the Roadrunners lost 45-23 at North Texas over the weekend. The loss didn’t affect UTSA winning the title at the USA Conference, which will play this weekend against Western Kentucky, but it did cost them the rankings.
• No. 25 Wisconsin (-10): For much of the last month, the Badgers were one of the teams that suffered more losses than the recommended quality of performance, but adding to that total would lead to a reversal from their surge in charts. Wisconsin could very well be one of the best 8-4 teams in the country, but 8-4 wouldn’t be the quality to consider the top 15.
• No. 28 Texas A&M (-10): The Aggies have a better win over Wisconsin with a win over Alabama, but unlike the Badgers, this isn’t the team to move up the ranks at the end of the season. Texas A&M lost its last two games with the SEC (at Ole Miss, at LSU) to finish 4-4 in the conference game and 8-4 overall.

Watch the rest of CBS Sports 130: Teams ranked 26-130