the first week of the 2026 college football season

published september 8, 2026

info for this year

after last year's rankings, i have come to the conclusion that the tier system was a bad idea. i will be switching back to simply ranking on wins and points, and see how it goes. also, this being my senior year of college, i will not be elaborating on events as much and will not include any this week as the long week means this article is a day later than usual. but yes i did see the end of the michigan game.

the rankings

  1. north dakota state (2-0, +64)
  2. usc (2-0, +55)
  3. memphis (2-0, +24)
  4. louisiana tech (1-0, +74)
  5. virginia tech (1-0, +70)
  6. kansas state (1-0, +68)
  7. ucf (1-0, +67)
  8. arizona state (1-0, +63)
  9. syracuse (1-0, +63)
  10. maryland (1-0, +62)
  11. georgia (1-0, +60)
  12. south carolina (1-0, +57)
  13. byu (1-0, +56, 63 pf)
  14. army (1-0, +56, 59 pf)
  15. ohio state (1-0, +53)
  16. utah (1-0, +52, 66 pf)
  17. tied - minnesota (1-0, +52, 59 pf)
  18. tied - texas (same)
  19. appalachian state (1-0, +52, 55 pf)
  20. oklahoma (1-0, +51)
  21. texas a&m (1-0, +50)
  22. mississippi state (1-0, +49, 62 pf)
  23. georgia state (1-0, +49, 59 pf)
  24. uconn (1-0, +49, 62 pf)
  25. tennessee (1-0, +47, 56 pf)
  26. kennesaw state (1-0, +47, 47 pf)
  27. southern miss (1-0, +46)
  28. florida (1-0, +45, 66 pf)
  29. pittsburgh (1-0, +45, 59 pf)
  30. kansas (1-0, +45, 51 pf)
  31. penn state (1-0, +45, 45 pf)
  32. lsu (1-0, +41)
  33. missouri (1-0, +40, 54 pf)
  34. iowa (1-0, +40, 40 pf)
  35. miami (1-0, +39)
  36. alabama (1-0, +38)
  37. indiana (1-0, +36)
  38. nevada (1-0, +35, 49 pf)
  39. delaware (1-0, +35, 42 pf)
  40. air force (1-0, +34)
  41. san diego state (1-0, +33)
  42. kentucky (1-0, +32)
  43. tied - new mexico (1-0, +31, 38 pf)
  44. tied - louisiana (same)
  45. georgia southern (1-0, +31, 31 pf)
  46. utsa (1-0, +29)
  47. nebraska (1-0, +28, 49 pf)
  48. notre dame (1-0, +28, 41 pf)
  49. iowa state (1-0, +28, 38 pf)
  50. arizona (1-0, +28, 35 pf)
  51. rice (1-0, +28, 31 pf)
  52. navy (1-0, +27)
  53. virginia (1-0, +26)
  54. purdue (1-0, +25, 44 pf)
  55. south alabama (1-0, +25, 39 pf)
  56. tied - middle tennessee (1-0, +24, 38 pf)
  57. tied - temple (same)
  58. texas tech (1-0, +23)
  59. wake forest (1-0, +22, 38 pf)
  60. colorado state (1-0, +22, 35 pf)
  61. ucla (1-0, +21, 45 pf)
  62. old dominion (1-0, +21, 31 pf)
  63. illinois (1-0, +19, 42 pf)
  64. cincinnati (1-0, +19, 34 pf)
  65. vanderbilt (1-0, +19, 28 pf)
  66. arkansas (1-0, +17)
  67. umass (1-0, +16, 37 pf)
  68. northwestern (1-0, +16, 34 pf)
  69. tied - tulsa (1-0, +14, 24 pf)
  70. tied - washington (same)
  71. duke (1-0, +14, 17 pf)
  72. houston (1-0, +13)
  73. michigan state (1-0, +10, 30 pf)
  74. south florida (1-0, +10, 19 pf)
  75. oregon (1-0, +7, 34 pf)
  76. west virginia (1-0, +7, 31 pf)
  77. james madison (1-0, +7, 20 pf)
  78. north carolina (1-0, +5)
  79. buffalo (1-0, +4)
  80. ole miss (1-0, +3, 41 pf)
  81. smu (1-0, +3, 27 pf)
  82. troy (1-0, +3, 24 pf)
  83. auburn (1-0, +1, 17 pf)
  84. colorado (1-0, +1, 14 pf)
  85. michigan (1-0, +1, 13 pf)
  86. sacramento state (1-1, +41)
  87. new mexico state (1-1, +20)
  88. jacksonville state (1-1, +16)
  89. florida state (1-1, +14)
  90. unlv (1-1, +9)
  91. eastern michigan (1-1, +5)
  92. san jose state (1-1, -10)
  93. stanford (1-1, -29)
  94. baylor (0-1, -1, 16 pf)
  95. georgia tech (0-1, -1, 13 pf)
  96. western michigan (0-1, -1, 12 pf)
  97. charlotte (0-1, -2)
  98. louisville (0-1, -3, 38 pf)
  99. sam houston (0-1, -3, 21 pf)
  100. tcu (0-1, -5)
  101. boise state (0-1, -7, 27 pf)
  102. coastal carolina (0-1, -7, 24 pf)
  103. tied - liberty (0-1, -7, 13 pf)
  104. tied - bowling green (same)
  105. toledo (0-1, -10, 20 pf)
  106. florida international (0-1, -10, 9 pf)
  107. utah state (0-1, -12)
  108. oregon state (0-1, -13)
  109. tied - oklahoma state (0-1, -14, 10 pf)
  110. tied - washington state (same)
  111. tulane (0-1, -14, 3 pf)
  112. rutgers (0-1, -16)
  113. arkansas state (0-1, -18)
  114. uab (0-1, -19, 23 pf)
  115. boston college (0-1, -19, 15 pf)
  116. california (0-1, -21)
  117. akron (0-1, -22, 16 pf)
  118. wyoming (0-1, -22, 13 pf)
  119. nc state (0-1, -26)
  120. ohio (0-1, -28, 21 pf)
  121. wisconsin (0-1, -28, 13 pf)
  122. central michigan (0-1, -31)
  123. western kentucky (0-1, -35)
  124. north texas (0-1, -36)
  125. east carolina (0-1, -38)
  126. fresno state (0-1, -39)
  127. northern illinois (0-1, -40)
  128. clemson (0-1, -41)
  129. florida atlantic (0-1, -45, 21 pf)
  130. miami ohio (0-1, -45, 14 pf)
  131. marshall (0-1, -45, 0 pf)
  132. louisiana monroe (0-1, -49)
  133. missouri state (0-1, -50)
  134. utep (0-1, -51)
  135. texas state (0-1, -52)
  136. ball state (0-1, -53)
  137. kent state (0-1, -57)
  138. hawaii (0-2, -25)

the belt

notre dame retains the belt. wisconsin proved an easy opponent even at lambeau and rice is next on the chopping block.