College football rankings: Penn State sits above Ohio State as Georgia moves to No. 2 in CBS Sports 134

When it comes to midseason college football rankings updates, it is important to remember that not every change is a direct result of that team’s weekend action. You are, of course, judged against the company you keep, and as pollsters or the voters in the CBS Sports 134 — our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team — continue to gather more information with each week of action, the landscape is constantly shifting.

We have seen teams move down in the rankings, even after a win, and sometimes you can move without playing at all. That’s the case for Georgia, which moved up two spots from No. 4 and now sits only behind No. 1 Oregon in the latest edition of the CBS Sports 134. That’s not a reflection of Kirby Smart’s team dominating the bye week as much as it is our voters changing their rating for Penn State and Ohio State. The Nittany Lions remained steady at No. 3 after winning at Wisconsin, but the Buckeyes were dropped two spots to No. 4 after a late touchdown helped them survive an upset bid at the hands of Nebraska.

And while Georgia moved up without playing, Clemson actually dropped spots during its off week. In the case of the Tigers, there is not a crisis of confidence in their ability to be a top-10 team — as they are down just two spots to No. 10 — as much as there is increased reward for Iowa State and BYU to make it another week into the season without taking a loss.

Because while fans will often associate their team with a certain ranking and look for concrete responses, the rankings process is fluid as every team’s rating is constantly changing. That will be important to keep in mind as the playoff race gets started in earnest next month and the competition for positioning will be even more scrutinized. No top-10 or top-12 position is safe once it is attained because you’re always fighting off the potential of getting passed in the race.

Outside the top 10, the changes this week were mostly minor, such as LSU dropping five spots to No. 18 and some big jumps up for Colorado (10 spots to No. 22) and Tulane (nine spots to No. 28) as both teams logged key conference wins to stay in their respective conference title races.

For more on some of the larger and notable week-to-week adjustments outside the top 30, check out the Mover’s Report below the top 25 table.

College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-134 on our rankings page.

Biggest movers

No. 56 North Carolina (+20): This is admittedly a larger than expected adjustment for a Tar Heels team that just beat Virginia 41-14 to improve to 4-4 on the season. But in looking for an explanation, it seems clear that voters believe the stock price had just been driven too low in the wake of a four-game losing streak that included three losses by 10 points or less. The continued success of JMU, Pitt and Duke put those results in a different light, and North Carolina did put together its most complete performance of the season in the 27-point win following a week off.
No. 64 Fresno State (+16): The Bulldogs are 5-3 and one game out of first place in the loss column in the Mountain West standings after Mikey Keene and the defense had a big day in a 33-10 win against San José State. The rankings profile has all three losses coming to teams ranked between Nos. 20 and 40 in the CBS Sports 134 with No. 39 Michigan being the “worst loss.” While San José State was the first win against an FBS team with a winning record, getting that victory gives Fresno a profile worthy of top-60 consideration.
No. 52 Baylor (+12): Like North Carolina, here’s another example of a team that was buried early in the season with a losing streak and might be circling the wagons. Dave Aranda’s team beat Texas Tech by 24 last week and snapped a Big 12 home losing streak over the weekend with a 10-point win against Oklahoma State. The hardest part of the schedule is in the rearview, and suddenly the Bears are positioned make a bowl game if they can go 2-2 in November.
No. 48 James Madison (+11): This is a bit of a course correction following a rankings penalty for last week’s loss at Georgia Southern. Beating a Southern Miss team that just fired its head coach isn’t the kind of result that will wow the voters, but when stacking up teams between Nos. 40 and 60, the Dukes’ profile (6-2 with an a road win against a power conference opponent) is worth a top-50 ranking.
No. 51 Texas Tech (-9): Blowing a 17-point lead to TCU has led to a nine-spot drop for the Red Raiders, and for some voters that might have included needing to line up the in-state foes on their ballots since both teams are 5-3, and now the Horned Frogs have the head-to-head advantage. This is now two losses in a row for Texas Tech, and it’s led to a 22-spot tumble from when they were No. 29 with a 5-1 record.
No. 67 Maryland (-10): The Terps have now lost three of the last four, and while last week’s home win against USC could have generated some momentum for the final month of the season, Maryland is in its off week trying to figure out how to go 2-2 against a schedule that includes Oregon, Penn State and Iowa just to make a bowl game.
No. 79 Kentucky (-16): Things have not gone well for the Wildcats since beating Ole Miss in Oxford, and after three straight losses, Kentucky is now 15th in the SEC standings with a 1-5 conference record. The final two games on the SEC schedule are road trips to Tennessee and Texas, so it’s fair to consider that this three-game skid has been Kentucky’s best opportunity to log wins it needs to make a bowl.
No. 49 Liberty (-20): Though still 5-1 on the season, Liberty’s lack of quality wins against other top teams hurts its rankings position, and now that the Flames have a loss, their greatest rankings argument (being undefeated) has taken a hit. Also, losing to previously winless Kennesaw State was bound to result in some swift reaction from the voters.