Do you want to share your predictions, analysis or thoughts on Saturday\u2019s Georgia-Alabama game? Get involved with our coverage at live@theathletic.com.<\/p>\n
This past Saturday was an opportunity for a new crop of teams to make a statement, and boy, did they.<\/p>\n
With much of the top 10 idle or playing an inferior opponent, the story of Week 4 was the play of Texas Tech and Indiana, both of whom move into the top 15 of this week\u2019s Athletic 136.<\/p>\n
Neither the Red Raiders nor the Hoosiers had played a team of note, so they had largely not moved in these rankings. But on Saturday, Texas Tech went up to Utah and out-physicaled the Utes in a 34-10 win. At night, Indiana poured it on top-10 Illinois in a 63-10 beatdown.<\/p>\n
Who will be this year\u2019s Indiana? Maybe it\u2019s Indiana<\/a>. Maybe it\u2019s Texas Tech. Maybe it\u2019s someone else, since it\u2019s still only September, and we have a long way to go. But two programs with questions for 2025 answered their first tests. Texas Tech\u2019s big spending is paying off so far<\/a>. Indiana doesn\u2019t appear to be dropping off anytime soon.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve started to get a feel for almost every team now, and some big games are on the menu in the coming weeks. I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n The major change here is Oklahoma moving up to No. 3 after beating Auburn. The Sooners now have two solid wins against Michigan and Auburn, and the former looks better after Michigan won at Nebraska<\/a>. OU will sit up here for a while, with an idle week and Kent State coming up, before a showdown with Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n LSU slips despite an FCS blowout win because its wins against Clemson and Florida continue to lose value, with both now 1-3.<\/p>\n Ohio State remains No. 1, with the only win against a team currently in my top 10. I was ready to move Miami to No. 1, but the Hurricanes’ performance against Florida lacked some luster until the very end<\/a>. It\u2019s very close.<\/p>\n Good news: Oregon and Penn State finally play each other this Saturday in Happy Valley. It’s the first real test for both and an opportunity to shoot back up these rankings.<\/p>\n The aforementioned Texas Tech and Indiana sit at the top of this section for two statement wins. Ole Miss\u2019 45-10 win against Tulane moves the Rebels up as well, and Missouri climbs after beating South Carolina. (Again, Iowa State didn\u2019t \u201cdrop,\u201d it just got jumped by teams that had impressive wins while the Cyclones were idle, though the close call against Arkansas State looks worse after the Red Wolves lost to Kennesaw State).<\/p>\n TCU moves up after beating SMU, while Michigan returns to the top 25 for that win against Nebraska<\/a>\u00a0and USC jumps into the top 25 after a comfortable win against Michigan State<\/a>, its first notable opponent.<\/p>\n Utah and Illinois slide out of the top 25 after their respective losses, Illinois more so because of that massive margin of defeat. Memphis climbs to No. 31 for its comeback win against Arkansas to move to 4-0.<\/p>\n BYU continues to sit around because it hasn\u2019t played anyone of note. At least Colorado this week has a pulse, but the Cougars have a very backloaded schedule. The same reasoning applies to Washington, which hosts Ohio State next.<\/p>\n