Yahoo Top 10: Chaos has arrived this college football season

Ranked teams in college football are never safe.

Unranked enemies lurk around every corner. Upstarts and surprises abound. Madness lives here in college football. Crazy is the norm. The path is crazy.

So in many ways, week six of college football delivered exactly what we expected. And maybe even more.

Four top-11 teams lost to unranked opponents: (1) Vanderbilt’s historic victory over No. 1 Alabama; (2) Arkansas’ fourth-quarter comeback against No. 4 Tennessee; (3) Washington’s revenge victory in a national title rematch against No. 10 Michigan; and (4) Minnesota’s wild – and risky – fourth-down goal-line play that defeated No. 11 USC.

It is the first time since 2007 that four teams ranked this high lost to unranked opponents on the same day. It’s the first time in history that two of the top five SEC teams lost to unranked conference opponents. And it’s the first time in 61 tries that Vanderbilt has beaten a top team.

Six undefeated teams lost, including the two top-five teams plus Duke (vs. Georgia Tech), Missouri (at Texas A&M), UNLV (vs. Syracuse) and James Madison (vs. UL-Monroe). That gives us a total of 12 undefeated in the entire FBS, with two of them meeting next week (Oregon-Ohio State).

The Army and Navy are 5-0 for the first time since the 1940s. Iowa State is 5-0 for the first time since 1980. Indiana is 6-0 for the first time since 1967. Pitt is 5-0 for the first time since 1991.

Aside from the surprises, there was a lot of other craziness.

How about Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty? The Boise State running back ran for a 63-yard touchdown on the first snap Saturday and broke the season’s 1,000-yard mark on his 90th carry and in the fifth game of the year.

Who would have thought that the Texas A&M Aggies and first-year coach Mike Elko would be 3-0 and atop the SEC standings? And that five weeks into the season, Texas would be the only undefeated team in its new league?

In the meantime there was much misery. Kansas lost its fifth straight game after taking a lead in the fourth quarter; Auburn and coach Hugh Freeze lost a third straight; Mack Brown’s Tar Heels lost to Pitt for third straight season; Florida State fell to 1-5; and USC is now 22-10 in its third year under $10 million coach Lincoln Riley.

The wild Saturday produced a pretty wild top 10. Keep in mind that we do not take into account preseason rankings or results after this season in our poll. The top 10 relies heavily on strength of schedule and quality of wins. Enjoy!

1. Penn State Nittany Lions

This week: Beat UCLA 27-11

Next week: at USC

Are you surprised that the Nittany Lions are at the top of the rankings? Don’t be. They had two good wins – a road win at West Virginia and at home against a ranked Illinois team. They earned a narrow win over the Bruins on Saturday. Good performance from the offensive. Great performance by the defense. James Franklin’s team hasn’t overlooked one LA team after another. A win at USC next week would eliminate the Trojans from playoff contention and put Penn State in position for at-large or automatic play.

2. Oregon Ducks

This week: Beat Michigan State 31-10

Next week: vs. Ohio State

The Ducks started the season with poor performances against Idaho and Boise State. Since then, they have outscored Oregon State, UCLA and Michigan State 114-37. Dan Lanning’s group plays the Buckeyes in a Big Ten showdown on Saturday night. Can RB Jordan James (269 yards in the last two games) continue to break through?

3. Texas Longhorns

This week: Bye

Next week: vs. Oklahoma (Dallas)

The Longhorns should get a healthy (or mostly healthy) Quinn Ewers back in time for their annual rivalry matchup with the Sooners in the old Cotton Bowl, followed by a highly anticipated game against Georgia in Austin. The Michigan win looks less impressive and there really isn’t much else on the resume (so far).

4. Ohio State Buckeyes

This week: Beat Iowa 35-7

Next week: in Oregon

The Buckeyes are – finally – making their debut in the Top 10. And if you’re wondering why it took so long, just look at their early-season schedule (Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall). Blowout wins over Michigan State and Iowa are enough to put them in the rankings a week before the showdown against the Ducks, where one question remains: Can freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith make it three straight games with a one-handed touchdown catch ?

5. Miami Hurricanes

This week: Beat Cal 39-38

Next week: Bye

The Hurricanes were down 25 points late in the third quarter and needed a wild fourth-quarter comeback for the second straight game. QB Cam Ward led the attack, running for a 24-yard score, completing an 18-yard touchdown pass and then hitting his favorite target, Xavier Restrepo, for 77 yards to put the Canes in position within 26 seconds for the game-winning touchdown to the left.

6. BYU Cougars

This week: Bye

Next week: vs. Arizona

One may question a top-five finish for BYU, but the Cougars have two good wins (Kansas State and SMU), are atop the Big 12 standings and have one of the best defenses in the country. Dual-threat quarterback Jake Retzlaff is averaging 272 yards on offense.

7. Georgia Bulldogs

This week: Defeat Auburn 31-13

Next week: vs. Mississippi State

After Georgia’s loss at Alabama last Saturday, Nick Saban said he texted Kirby Smart: “This isn’t the worst thing that ever happened. “Most of our best teams have lost a game somewhere and they responded the right way,” Saban wrote to Smart. Well, a week later at Auburn the Bulldogs were largely coming off a win, perhaps the first in a long series?

8. Clemson Tigers

This week: Beat Florida State 29-13

Next week: at Wake Forest

Since a season-opening 31-point loss to Georgia in Atlanta, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have won four straight by an average of 28 points. The path to 11-1 and a shot at the ACC Championship game is very real. Currently, none of Clemson’s seven remaining regular season opponents are ranked.

9. Iowa State Cyclones

This week: Beat Baylor 43-21

Next week: in West Virginia

The Cyclones are 5-0 for the first time since Donnie Duncan coached at the school (they lost five of the next six that year, 1980). Hopefully this 5-0 ends differently. And it should. Matt Campbell’s team had a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver, and QB Rocco Becht nearly reached the 300-yard mark.

10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

This week: Bye

Next week: against Stanford

The Irish haven’t had any great wins yet (although this one certainly looks better in College Station), but we’re running out of teams to put in the top 10! Saturday’s chaos resulted in a complete shift in the rankings, with three teams dropping out. And so here we sit, ranked 9th with a team that lost to Northern Illinois!

Dropped out: Alabama (1), Tennessee (2), Miami (5), Missouri (10)