In a week that brought much chaos, with five Top 25 programs losing to unranked teams, it’s time to realize that our College Football Playoff 12-team field will include teams with one, two, maybe even three losses this season. If a team with multiple losses can win its conference, it’s still in the CFP race.
Indiana is having its best start to the season, holding a 6-0 record for the first time in 57 years under first-year coach Curt Cignetti. As it becomes the first team to become bowl-eligible, what are the Hoosiers doing right this season?
The Big 12 has proved to be the conference most up in the air at the moment. With five teams still undefeated in conference play, no program stands out as the favorite to take the Big 12 title and CFP first-round bye.
Our college football experts break down key takeaways from what was an unforgettable Week 6.
Everyone in and around college football has to retrain their brains to accept losses in the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Blueblood programs USC and Michigan already have two losses (including USC’s loss to Michigan), but in the new, expanded format, there are going to be two-loss teams included in the field on Selection Day. Maybe even a three-loss team.
(The selection committee has never ranked a four-loss team in its top 12.)
So while some teams have bad losses (Alabama and Notre Dame), and others have multiple losses (hey, Tulane!) any team that can still win its conference is technically still in the race. What hasn’t changed in the committee meeting room, though, is the standard. Even teams with multiple losses need statement wins and have to look like a team capable of winning the national title. — Heather Dinich
Cignetti, Indiana a model for programs seeking turnarounds
Indiana‘s first 6-0 start since 1967, under a first-year coach in Curt Cignetti, carries a natural element of shock. The Hoosiers simply don’t do this, regardless of who is leading their program. But what stood out to me in watching Indiana become the nation’s first — and, amazingly, only — bowl-eligible team is how unfazed the team looks. Indiana is exceptionally well-coached by Cignetti and his staff. The offense is undeniably legitimate, from quarterback Kurtis Rourke to wide receiver Elijah Sarratt to a barrage of backs to an offensive line that doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Indiana is a machine right now, built by Cignetti, through mostly veteran transfers who understand their roles, the schemes and don’t flinch.
Programs that are trying to flip their fortunes in the transfer portal/NIL era should model themselves after Indiana, which found a veteran, proven coach in Cignetti and armed him with the resources to completely change the roster in one offseason. Indiana might not be a true CFP contender — its second-half schedule includes Ohio State, Nebraska, Washington and Michigan — but the team is not a fluke and is likely the envy of many. — Adam Rittenberg
The O has left Oklahoma State
With 10 returning starters on an offense that produced the Doak Walker Award winner last year, the Cowboys entered this season with hopes of contending for a spot in the playoff.
Instead, Oklahoma State’s offense has inexplicably collapsed during a three-game losing streak.
Ollie Gordon II led the nation with 1,732 rushing yards last year, as the Pokes advanced to the Big 12 title game. This season, he ranks 209th, averaging just 3.8 yards on his 101 carries. The offensive line has been incapable of opening up running lanes for Gordon, while a dreadful passing attack behind seventh-year quarterback Alan Bowman has failed to capitalize on loaded boxes.
Mike Gundy has a bye week to shake things up and try to salvage the season. Otherwise, Oklahoma State could finish with its first losing record since Gundy’s first season as head coach 19 years ago. — Jake Trotter
Good luck making Big 12 predictions
Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham has coached in only two Big 12 games, but he has seen enough to arrive at perhaps the best description yet for his new conference.
“It’s the ultimate league of, ‘Did you see that score?'” Dillingham said recently.
If you want to appreciate the unpredictable nature of this new 16-team edition of the Big 12, just check the conference standings. There are five teams that have yet to lose a conference game. Those teams were picked to finish 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th in the league’s preseason media poll.
Iowa State and BYU are still undefeated and among the biggest beneficiaries of all the Saturday chaos at the top of the polls, rising to No. 11 and No. 14 respectively in the new AP Top 25. Texas Tech is off to a 3-0 start in conference play after a late-night road win at Arizona. West Virginia started the year 1-2, but just dominated Oklahoma State in Stillwater. And Dillingham’s Sun Devils pulled off one of the best wins of his tenure, a last-minute comeback to defeat Kansas.
The struggles of the Jayhawks (1-5) and Cowboys (3-3) have been genuinely surprising given all the talent they returned for 2024, and TCU (3-3) is heading in the wrong direction. But that’s the nature of this conference: Evenly matched teams, close games and upsets aplenty.
As we approach the midpoint of the first Big 12 season without Texas and Oklahoma, you can’t point to one program and confidently say it’s going to run the league going forward. Seven weeks in, it sure seems like anybody can make it to Arlington and grab the CFP bid. — Max Olson
Not too early to start thinking about Aggies-Longhorns
Picture it: One-loss Texas A&M hosting a top-five Texas team at Kyle Field on the final weekend of the regular season, resuming a 130-year-old rivalry on Nov. 30 with College Football Playoff stakes attached.
We’ve still got a long way to go. But there could be a classic brewing when the Aggies and Longhorns meet for the first time since 2011 in Week 14.
Texas A&M pulled itself back into the playoff conversation with its 41-10 beatdown of Missouri on Saturday, the Aggies’ largest margin of victory over a top-10 team in program history. Texas A&M led 17-0 after three possessions and outgained the Tigers 510 to 254. Quarterback Conner Weigman returned from injury to go 18-of-22 for 276 yards. And the Aggies defense, powered by Purdue transfer Nic Scourton, tallied six sacks and eight tackles for loss, looking very much like a CFP-caliber unit in Year 1 under Mike Elko.
Texas, meanwhile, spent its bye week at No. 2 in the AP Top 25. Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers looks set to return in Week 7 against Oklahoma. Texas ranks third in total defense through six weeks with a résumé win over Michigan already under its belt.
Texas A&M has its work cut out for it between now and Nov. 30, hosting LSU on Oct. 26 before trips to South Carolina (Nov. 2) and Auburn (Nov. 23). Texas still has to get through Oklahoma next Saturday and a visit from the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on the following weekend, too.
But the end-of-season meeting between Texas A&M and Texas that already has plenty of energy behind it could be even juicier by the time Week 14 rolls around. — Eli Lederman
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida has offensive help on the way with a freshman receiver who just might make a difference against No. 9 Texas on Saturday.
Dallas Wilson is practicing for the first time since injuring his left foot in training camp and is scheduled to make his collegiate debut against the Longhorns, coach Billy Napier said Monday.
Napier called Wilson’s availability “a big deal.”
“Three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well,” Napier said. “He feels really good. So far, so good.”
Wilson, a 6-foot-3, 213-pound newcomer from Tampa, was the star of Florida’s spring game in April. He caught 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns, and all indications in fall practice pointed to it not being a fluke.
But Wilson injured his foot late in camp, spent weeks in a protective boot and watched from afar as the Gators (1-3, 0-1 SEC) struggled to move the ball and find the end zone. Florida scored 16, 10 and 7 points, respectively, in consecutive losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami, raising speculation about Napier’s future in Gainesville.
Quarterback DJ Lagway has been the focus of the team’s offensive woes. The sophomore who went 6-1 as a starter last season missed most of the year dealing with injuries and looked rusty when the season began.
Although Lagway’s mechanics seemed improved in the team’s 26-7 setback at Miami on Sept. 20, his offensive line got manhandled and allowed way too much pressure for anyone to notice. Lagway completed 12 of 23 passes for 61 yards against the Hurricanes.
Napier used the off week to get Lagway more live-action reps in hopes of getting him “caught up.” But he also reiterated the need to “play better around him.”
“Each position group needs to step up,” Napier said. “More detail, eliminate errors, eliminate penalties, whatever the case may be. I just think more detail and better overall play around him. And, obviously, he needs to continue to get back closer to being himself.”
Dallas Wilson has been unable to help — until now. The Gators are confident he will change the narrative against the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC.
“Just having him out is going to be amazing for us,” Lagway said. “His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath and be able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hands, it’s going to be great to have him back.”
SEC Network host Paul Finebaum said Monday that he would consider leaving ESPN to run for the U.S. Senate, representing Alabama.
The 70-year-old Finebaum said during a recent interview with Outkick that he’d run as a Republican to fill the seat vacated by former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who has said he’ll run for Alabama governor in the 2026 elections. Tuberville’s current Senate term ends in 2027.
The qualifying deadline to run for Senate is Jan. 26, 2026. Finebaum said he would likely have to leave his hosting and analyst duties if he decided to run. He told Outkick he’d make a decision within the next 30-45 days.
Finebaum said he hadn’t seriously considered politics, but the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the impetus to give a run at politics further thought. He noted that he had received a “text” from “one or two people in Washington” gauging his interest in politics.
“[It was] something I never thought about before,” Finebaum told Outkick.
Finebaum is currently registered as a Republican in North Carolina, where he works for the SEC Network. He told Outkick he recently moved to Alabama, where he hosted a radio show for years, and would re-register there.
Finebaum hosted radio shows in Alabama for almost 30 years before joining ESPN and the SEC Network. He started his media career as a newspaper writer and columnist.
“Alabama has always been the place I’ve felt the most welcome, that I’ve cared the most about the people,” he said. “I’ve spoken to people from Alabama for 35 years, and I feel there is a connection that is hard to explain.”
Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.
Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.
“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.
Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.
“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.
Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.
Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.
“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”
Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.
“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.
Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.
Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.
Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.