College football rankings: Georgia, Cincinnati keep top spots while UTSA, Alabama move up as Oklahoma tumbles
By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer
Editor’s note: Every Sunday morning during the college football season, RJ Young will release his updated Top 25 rankings.
No. 13 Baylor’s 27-14 win against No. 8 Oklahoma was hardly unpredictable, but it was shocking.
Baylor coach Dave Aranda wrote the book on defending Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley's offense. Aranda’s LSU defense put the clamps on the Sooners two years ago en route to the College Football Playoff national title.
That 2019 defense was good against OU. Aranda’s 2021 defense was better Saturday.
The Bears held Oklahoma to its lowest point total in seven years en route to their first win over OU in the same stretch of time. The Sooners, who had averaged nearly 500 yards of offense through the first nine games, were held to about half that (260).
With the win, Baylor dumped OU’s CFP chances in a trash can and set them on fire.
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RJ Young breaks down the Sooners' loss, ending their quest for an undefeated season and their chances at the College Football Playoff.
The CFP committee already did not believe that OU was as good as its record, but in doing so, it was betting against what had previously been a certainty. As a head coach, Riley had been undefeated in the month of November — Championship November, as it was known in Norman.
Well, the Sooners can cancel Championship November and perhaps use the rest of the month to shop for Christmas. What OU fans will be getting for Christmas is yet another Big 12 title or New Year’s Six bowl berth. Either way, that lump of coal labeled "Year 21 without a national title" will be there on Christmas morning.
The Sooners drop 10 spots in my rankings. That's because results need to matter more than my or your opinion. And that is how I create my rankings, using rationality and reason and the following criteria:
1. How many AP Top-25 teams (ranked at the time of the matchup) a team has beaten.
2. A premium is placed on being undefeated. Power 5 teams, more than likely, play tougher schedules than Group of 5 teams.
3. Being undefeated supersedes strength of schedule, with the belief that winning every game is more difficult than losing a game to a good football team.
4. Results, résumé and winning matter. When two teams have identical résumés, that's when the eye test becomes necessary.
Here are my Top 25 teams in the country for Week 11:
1. Georgia Bulldogs (10-0)
Defeated Tennessee 41-17
Top-25 wins: four
2. Cincinnati Bearcats (10-0)
Defeated South Florida 45-28
Top-25 wins: one
3. UTSA Roadrunners (10-0)
Defeated Southern Miss 27-17
Top-25 wins: zero
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1)
Defeated New Mexico State 59-3
Top-25 wins: three
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Alabama coach Nick Saban tells Tom Rinaldi about how he got to Alabama and where he finds happiness as he leads one of the top college football programs in the nation.
5. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-1)
Defeated TCU 63-17
Top-25 wins: three
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Oklahoma State running back Dezmon Jackson scores his second rushing touchdown as the Cowboys beat TCU 63-17.
6. Michigan State Spartans (9-1)
Defeated Maryland 40-21
Top-25 wins: two
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Spartans running back Kenneth Walker III bolstered his Heisman résumé against the Maryland Terrapins, rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns in Michigan State's 40-21 win.
7. Oregon Ducks (9-1)
Defeated Washington State 38-24
Top-25 wins: one
8. Ohio State Buckeyes (9-1)
Defeated Purdue 59-31
Top-25 wins: one
9. Michigan Wolverines (9-1)
Defeated Penn State 21-17
Top-25 wins: zero
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1)
Defeated Virginia 28-3
Top-25 wins: one
11. Houston Cougars (9-1)
Defeated Temple 37-8
Top-25 wins: one
12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (9-1)
Defeated North Carolina State 45-42
Top-25 wins: one
13. Oklahoma Sooners (9-1)
Lost to Baylor 27-14
Top-25 wins: one
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Joel Klatt reacts to Baylor beating the Sooners 27-14, saying that Bears coach Dave Aranda has had Lincoln Riley's number for three years.
14. San Diego State Aztecs (9-1)
Defeated Nevada 23-21
Top-25 wins: zero
15. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (9-1)
Defeated Troy 35-21
Top-25 wins: zero
16. Iowa Hawkeyes (8-2)
Defeated Minnesota 27-22
Top-25 wins: three
17. BYU Cougars (8-2)
Idle
Top-25 wins: two
18. Baylor Bears (8-2)
Defeated Oklahoma 27-14
Top-25 wins: three
19. Ole Miss Rebels (8-2)
Defeated Texas A&M 29-19
Top-25 wins: two
20. Appalachian State Mountaineers (8-2)
Defeated South Alabama 31-7
Top-25 wins: one
21. SMU Mustangs (8-2)
Defeated UCF 55-28
Top-25 wins: zero
22. Texas A&M Aggies (7-3)
Lost to Ole Miss 29-19
Top-25 wins: two
23. Wisconsin Badgers (7-3)
Defeated Northwestern 35-7
Top-25 wins: two
24. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-3)
Defeated LSU 16-13 (2OT)
Top-25 wins: three
25. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-2)
Defeated North Carolina 30-23 (OT)
Top-25 wins: zero
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.