VIBES UP
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas Tech: It's not just that these schools -- who are only friends in the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" type of way -- are having special seasons, is that they're having special seasons while their shared arch-rival also happens to be college football's biggest disappointment. Look at it this way: before this season, the last time OU, A&M and Tech all won on a day Texas lost was Oct. 16, 2021; Saturday was the third time it's happened in 2025. And as for their own Saturdays?
Oklahoma earned its biggest win in a decade or more, putting them on the 18th fairway to a College Football Playoff bid that seemed unattainable just three weeks ago. Texas A&M locked up Mike Elko for the long term, then pulled off a win that wasn't just a banked in 3-pointer, it was a banked in 3-pointer from the third row of the stands. Texas Tech had a relatively uneventful, ho-hum 48-9 win, but in the process it seems the Red Raiders may be willing linebacker Jacob Rodriguez into an actual Heisman candidate.
4. Georgia: Kirby Smart is not Nick Saban, no one is, but by the time Saban reached his 10th year at Alabama, he was already 65 years old. He "only" had seven years of coaching ahead of him. By contrast, Smart, in his 10th year at Georgia, is only 49. What does that mean? It means Georgia fans could easily have another 15 years of showing up to big games at Sanford Stadium knowing their team is going to be the most physical, hardest playing squad on the field. Again, no one is going to be Saban, but Smart could easily become his generation's Bobby Bowden.
5. Jacksonville State: The most you can ask for in football, especially at the Group of 5 level, is consistency, and Jacksonville State appears to have found it. After three straight 9-win seasons with a bowl win and two conference championships in the Rich Rodriguez era, Jax State has gotten better in Year 1 under Charles Kelly. The Gamecocks won a showdown game with Kennesaw State on Saturday (both teams entered the game 5-0 in C-USA play) and have now set themselves up for the opportunity to defend their C-USA title at home, so long as they handle business in their final two games.
6. San Diego State: What happens on the islands stays on the islands, apparently. San Diego State shook off that shellacking at Hawaii and handled Boise State, 17-7, ending a 3-game losing streak to the Broncos. The Aztecs have allowed 51 points, total, in their eight wins, including three shutouts.
7. East Carolina: Memphis, Navy, Tulane, South Florida, North Texas -- all have had their moments in the AAC sun this year, but East Carolina is right there with them all at 5-1 in conference play. Time will tell if Saturday night's 31-27 upset of Memphis is enough to put them in the conference championship, but Katin Houser's 31-yard touchdown pass with 1:08 left was a helluva way to close out a 5-1 home schedule.
8. North Texas: We could have the Mean Green here every week, but on Sunday Eric Morris's team entered the AP Top 25 for the second time in program history (1959 being the other). North Texas has played better defense since surrendering 63 in a loss to South Florida, while still topping 50 points in three of their last four outings.
9. USC: Left for dead umpteen times, USC now has an opportunity to play its way into the College Football Playoff with a win at Oregon on Saturday. All you could've asked for after the Notre Dame loss.
10. Navy: Having lost two straight by double digits, Brian Newberry's team got off the mat and beat a Top 25-ranked South Florida, surviving Byrum Brown's 463-yard, 4-touchdown performance. The Midshipmen now have a week and a half to prepare for their Thanksgiving visit to Memphis with a 7-1 AAC record on the line.
VIBES DOWN
1. Baylor: The word on the street was that Baylor would've moved on from Dave Aranda if they'd lost their Homecoming game to UCF on Nov. 1. Baylor won that game, then took Nov. 8 off. In the two weeks since, all hell broke lose. AD Mack Rhoades is on an indefinite leave of absence, and so, too, is Aranda's defense. Utah ran the ball 43 times for 380 yards and five touchdowns in their 55-28 win at Waco Saturday night. The Bears will now need to spring an upset to avoid a 5-7 season, but who in Waco has the power to make a decision on Aranda's future if/when that happens?
2. Michigan State: With Wisconsin and Maryland officially bringing back their head coaches for next season, Michigan State has now entered the "So, what are we doing here?" spotlight in the Big Ten. The Spartans were compliant in getting head-coach-less Penn State their first Big Ten win of the season with a 28-10 defeat. Jonathan Smith is now 3-13 in Big Ten play, and there's hardly been a moment since he got to East Lansing where it's felt like things are working.
3. Texas: The Kentucky and Mississippi State wins were stays of execution, not sparks on a magical run. In all honesty, the vibes have been off on this team since the very first snap, when Arch Manning dirted a certain 20-yard completion to open the Ohio State game. It would take a miracle to get in the CFP at 9-3 even if you somehow beat Texas A&M, but here's the larger truth: the Longhorns aren't better than the Aggies, and they're not one of the 12 best teams in America. After four straight seasons of growth, Steve Sarkisian's fifth season was a massive step backward. Structural changes await, and the 35-10 loss in Sanford Stadium means larger questions can no longer be ignored.
4. Louisville: Clemson seemingly did everything it could to give you that game, but Louisville did even more. It's not good when your starting quarterback calls out cultural issues in the post-game press conference. Louisville has lost three games this season by seven points -- combined.
5. TCU: While seemingly everyone else in the state is peaking or bottoming out, TCU is just... existing. After a non-competitive 44-13 loss at BYU, TCU is 6-4 on the year (3-4 Big 12) and 12-13 in conference play since the miracle run of 2022.