After a week with few major changes at the top of our college football rankings, Notre Dame made enough of an impression in its 56-27 win against Wake Forest to move up nearly a handful of spots and crack the top 10 in the CBS Sports 129, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team.
The result was notable not only for its score but for Brian Kelly's decision to start Ian Book at quarterback instead of Brandon Wimbush. Book completed 25-of-34 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns in the win, the most passing yards for a Notre Dame quarterback since DeShone Kizer threw for 471 yards against Syracuse in 2016. Kelly maintains that Wimbush will continue to contribute, but Book energized a passing attack that will be necessary for Notre Dame to make a College Football Playoff run in 2018.
And that brings us to this week, where the Irish have their greatest chance to make an impression on the CFP Selection Committee with Stanford coming to town on Saturday night. It's the first time these rivals have met when they're both top-10 teams and the first top-10 opponent to visit Notre Dame Stadium in the Brian Kelly era.
A win puts Notre Dame on the map, moving the Irish beyond a top-10 team as they'll likely threaten the top five and fight to maintain that status for the rest of the season. A loss won't hurt them too much in the rankings, but removes the best potential win from their playoff profile.
College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top-25 below, and 26-129 on our rankings page.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 4-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 4-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Georgia | 4-0 | 3 |
| 4 | Clemson | 4-0 | 6 |
| 5 | LSU | 4-0 | 5 |
| 6 | Penn State | 4-0 | 7 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 4-0 | 4 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 4-0 | 12 |
| 9 | Stanford | 4-0 | 10 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 3-0 | 14 |
| 11 | Auburn | 3-1 | 8 |
| 12 | Washington | 3-1 | 13 |
| 13 | Michigan | 3-1 | 22 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 4-0 | 38 |
| 15 | UCF | 3-0 | 17 |
| 16 | Wisconsin | 3-1 | 21 |
| 17 | Texas | 3-1 | 36 |
| 18 | Oregon | 3-1 | 25 |
| 19 | BYU | 3-1 | 34 |
| 20 | Mississippi State | 3-1 | 9 |
| 21 | Duke | 4-0 | 24 |
| 22 | Miami | 3-1 | 20 |
| 23 | NC State | 3-0 | 32 |
| 24 | USF | 4-0 | 33 |
| 25 | Syracuse | 4-0 | 37 |
Biggest movers
- Kentucky (+24): One of the biggest stories of the weekend was Kentucky not only beating a very good Mississippi State team, but doing so to improve to 4-0. Few who were predicting the Wildcats win total before the season factored in wins over both Florida and Mississippi State, but this has been a streak-snapping bunch ready to write its own chapter of Kentucky football history.
- Texas (+19): Here come the Longhorns. Back-to-back wins against USC and TCU have Tom Herman's group back in good graces with the CBS Sports 129 electorate, continuing the trend of Texas being one of the most volatile teams in the rankings. Is Texas back in the top 25 for good?
- BYU (+15): Perhaps a week late to the take, BYU finally sees a boost in the CBS Sports 129. Week 4 had the Cougars beating McNeese State, but perhaps it was the major shake up between spots 20-40 that allowed voters to see where BYU -- winners against Wisconsin in Week 3 -- stands among its peers.
- Mississippi State (-11): Hype for Joe Moorhead's ability to make Mississippi State a threat in the SEC West calmed considerably following Saturday's loss at Kentucky. As mentioned above, our experts are much higher on Kentucky after the result but there's also a built-in drop for the Bulldogs.
- Oklahoma State (-21): The Cowboys lost at home to a Texas Tech team that our rankings still only have at No. 38, so it's clear to see why voters put in a big drop after having the Pokes as high as No. 15 last week.
- Virginia Tech (-35): No adjustment was bigger than Virginia Tech's fall from No. 11 to No. 46 after losing to Old Dominion as four-touchdown favorites.
Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 129: Teams ranked 26-129