Most voters had no issue placing Georgia in the No. 1 position in the new college football rankings coming out of last weekend.
But one pollster is taking a different view, dropping the SEC powerhouse in favor of a Big Ten contender entering Week 7.
Ohio State has overtaken Georgia as the top team in the latest SP+ football rankings, even as the Bulldogs sit undefeated and hold the top spot in the human polls after a signature road win.
Georgia’s Drop Despite Alabama Win
The other notable fact about the Bulldogs’ drop? They actually were No. 1 in last week’s SP+ ranking heading into the Alabama game. Beating the Tide by a 20-17 count vaulted them to the top of the polls, yet they slipped to No. 2 in the one where they were already No. 1.
The close margin and underlying efficiency numbers against a strong Alabama team were not enough to keep them ahead of Ohio State’s more dominant recent profile. SP+ prioritizes consistent dominance over the narrative weight of a rivalry win.
How SP+ Works and Why It Matters
SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency that focuses on the most sustainable and predictive elements of the game — primarily efficiency (success rate) and explosiveness — rather than raw wins, losses, or resume.
Unlike the human polls, the SP+ model does not automatically reward big wins or schedule strength. Lucky or inefficient wins can lower a rating, while strong performances in losses can raise it.
Preseason projections are gradually phased out as more game data accumulates. The result of a forward-looking tool that projects how teams are likely to perform going forward, making it especially useful for evaluating true talent levels and playoff potential beyond narrative or voting biases.
Ohio State’s Jump to No. 1
The current favorite from the Big Ten climbed to the top of the SP+ rankings after dismantling Maryland by a 45-16 count last weekend.
The way the Buckeyes win has propelled them to rank tops overall in the country in both offensive and defensive productivity, a rare dual distinction that underscores their balance and efficiency at this point in the season.
Despite an earlier, one-point loss at Texas, a game they led by 20, the Buckeyes have looked increasingly dominant in subsequent games. Their jump highlights how the model rewards sustained excellence over marquee wins alone.
The Current Top 10
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Miami
- Indiana
- Texas
- Utah
- Alabama
- LSU
- Texas Tech
Are They Right?
Georgia still looks like the best team in the country, regardless of what other models say. And if you want our opinion, they’ve been the best from the start. Its road win at Alabama was a statement of that fact: physical, resilient, and complete.
Kirby Smart’s team showed championship DNA, stifling a talented Tide offense after halftime while relying on depth and a physical ground attack.
Make no mistake, Ohio State is elite, especially while Jeremiah Smith is around, but Georgia has more firepower at each position, and arguably the best win in the country. The computers can have their rankings, but events on the field have already spoken.
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