It’s college week five in football, and the rankings never went through such a shake-up as they did this week. The SEC is on display with Alabama upsetting Georgia, LSU rising back up the ranks, and the Colorado Buffaloes with a 4-1 record remaining on the outside looking in for the Top 25 rankings.

The Crimson Tide handed Georgia their first loss of the season, which ended with a 41-34 score. The win placed Alabama at the pinnacle of the B/R Top 25 this week, thus seeing Georgia ranked fifth down the list. However, Colorado Buffs are still without a Top 25 ranking despite a 4-1 record and a 48-21 thrashing of UCF. The Buffs are at the door seriously, but the door has not had the privilege of being opened to them yet.

The shockers of the week were seen at the SEC, where Ole Miss was beaten by the unranked team, Kentucky, thereby adding more confusion to the ranks. These weren’t the only games causing upset to the standings. Upsets included Kansas State, Notre Dame, and Penn State all getting victories against ranked teams, while many Big 12 faithful were left scratching their heads as to where Utah fell out of the rankings after falling to Arizona.

The meeting of two giants of the conference, Alabama and Georgia, ended with an unprecedented outcome. After a very poor first half, Georgia did come out for the blood and nearly provided one of the great second-half comebacks. However, Bama’s defense stood tall and tallied, while Jalen Milroe threw for 374 yards. This indeed resulted in a final win to Alabama 41-34 gaining them the ranking of No. 1.

Now Georgia is not out of it yet, but slipping to the 5th position is what must hurt for the Bulldogs who came into the game gunning for another perfect season. Alabama, on the other hand, makes them look like they are ready to seriously make a play for the playoffs with Milroe as their quarterback.

LSU’s surge, Colorado’s standby, and Alabama’s triumph over Georgia

In other parts of the SEC, the Rebels of Ole Miss had their bubble burst after the loss to the wildcats of Kentucky, while the volunteers from Tennessee did not let up and maintained their No. 4 standing. The SEC remains as tough as ever, and now Alabama has pulled ahead on the SEC and to the playoffs.

It had a slow beginning of the season and was almost counted out but as you can see, LSU has come back. The Tigers have redeemed themselves after their poor performance in their first-week game against USC by starting a winning streak; with the defeat of South Alabama 42–10. Their ranking of 4-1 is exactly outside the top 12, looking to burst through the later stages of playoffs if they continue with this form.

Among highly beloved comebacks, LSU rises to the No. 16 of the Week 5 B/R Top 25. Garrett Nussmeier has been picking apart defenses, throwing for over 1,300 yards in five games, and the Tigers’ D is starting to come around. LSU could move into playoff discussion after a few more big wins, something no one thought was possible when they were struggling at the start of the season.

Now, let’s talk Colorado. Deion Sanders’ Buffs have done themselves well, coming from a week two loss to Nebraska that saw Nebraska put up a stunning 28-10 win over the Buffaloes with wins over Baylor and UCF that saw the Buffaloes give the Knights of UCF a taste of what Sanders brought to Colorado’s defense with a 48-21 whipping. However, when the Buffs achieved a 4-1 record at that table, they did not occupy the Top 25. People are disappointed and asking what more should Colorado do to get some respect.

Sometimes it is still puzzling to understand why a team with an opulent offense and noteworthy victories has not entered the list yet. However, with the games exceeding opponents of comparatively higher caliber in prospects, it could well turn the other way around soon for Coach Prime’s team.

In the fourth week, the top five teams included Texas, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Georgia respectively. But things have shifted massively with Week 5’s rankings. Here’s a look at how the rankings changed:

Week 4, top 5:

1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Tennessee
4. Ole Miss
5. Georgia

Week 5, top 5:

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Ohio State
4. Tennessee
5. Georgia

But that is not the end of the reshuffle. It also showed that after the latest upturn, LSU rose to the 16th place; and Penn State, Oregon, and Miami got into the top ten list. The battle between Utah and Arizona in which Utah lost set Utah at No. 17 while BYU remained steady at No. 21.

With all this movement, it becomes more likely to witness large scales of turmoil over the next weeks. To be honest, it is only Week 5, but college football is indeed serving up drama in great measure already. All but becoming even more chaotic as we see Alabama’s statement win or Colorado’s search for legitimacy.

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