We enter November with eight undefeated teams, and none of them play in the SEC. That will create a logjam when we come around to parsing at-large teams for the College Football Playoff, but we'll get to that in late November. For now, who do we think can even get to championship weekend unblemished? The Monday Read consulted the fine folks at Sportsline to prognosticate the chances of each remaining FBS undefeated remaining so through the rest of their regular season schedule.
Miami
Chance to remain undefeated: 34% | Remaining schedule: Duke, at Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, at Syracuse
While it's true, every undefeated team needs a splash of luck, the Hurricanes have lacked the ability to be convincing in their path to an unblemished record largely because of their defense. But they have pulled off a come-from-behind win over Cal, a victory over Virginia Tech with a farcical officiating process that delivered the right result, and they outlasted Louisville on the road. The thing that has consistently put them over the top is quarterback Cam Ward's brilliance. He is what takes this Miami offense from merely good to arguably the best in the sport. The trickiest opponents are behind them, but will defensive frailties cause a surprising upset?
Oregon
Chance to remain undefeated: 31% | Remaining schedule: at Michigan, Maryland, at Wisconsin, Washington
Of the undefeated teams, Oregon has by far the best win (Ohio State), and its second-best win (Boise State) is also probably better than anything else another team can bring to the table. The latter came while Oregon was still finding itself in the trenches before settling on a starting five along the offensive line. Josh Conerly, Nishad Strother, Iapani Laloulu, Marcus Harper [who's flipped from left to right guard] and Ajani Cornelius are the hosses up front who have helped stabilize the offense.
There has been no hangover after the Ohio State win. The Ducks have played nearly flawless football in the last two games at Purdue on a short week and against Illinois in a game that was effectively over at halftime. They're undoubtedly playing their best football heading into the regular season's stretch run.
Penn State
Chance to remain undefeated: 25% | Remaining schedule: Ohio State, Washington, at Purdue, at Minnesota, Maryland
Stop me if you've heard this before: the defense isn't the problem for the Nittany Lions. The offense still has question marks despite tight end Tyler Warren's all-world ability and the two-headed monster at running back of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Last year, it was the lack of big plays generated, but this year it's who will be playing quarterback moving forward. Drew Allar went down in the first half of the Wisconsin game, and Beau Pribula finished the game in his place. Pribula typically comes in as a change-of-pace QB with a run-heavy package, and the point coach James Franklin made to reporters after the game says it all about Pribula.
"I'm not going to get into a whole lot of medical stuff right now, especially when I don't have a whole lot of information," Franklin told reporters. "I wouldn't necessarily describe it [as precautionary]. It was, is [Allar] going to be mobile enough to give us a chance to run the offense the way we [want]?
Pribula gives Penn State the ability to use all of its options in the run game, and one could argue it makes the offense more versatile because the run game is more varied. Who will start behind center adds a significant level of intrigue to next week's massive clash against Ohio State. Allar is listed as a game-time decision.
BYU
Chance to remain undefeated: 12% | Remaining schedule: at Utah, Kansas, at Arizona State, Houston
The Cougars escaped a home game against upset-minded Oklahoma State, then rolled into a game against UCF able to truly play the nobody-believes-in-us card as a surprising spread underdog. This team goes as QB Jake Retzlaff does. Defenses must account for his legs; without them, the Cougars aren't much of a running threat. Besides Ward, there may not be a more important QB for an undefeated team than Retzlaff.
Iowa State
Chance to remain undefeated: 9% | Remaining schedule: Texas Tech, at Kansas, Cincinnati, at Utah, Kansas State
If you want a team-first approach, look no further than Ames, where coach Matt Campbell boasts that the Cyclones have played 101 players this season. They have largely been outstanding on defense, too, allowing only one opponent to score more than 21 points on them. Their 13 touchdowns allowed is ninth nationally. Receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins are among the nation's most productive this season, giving the Cyclones legitimate explosive threats in the passing game. They may need it as the Big 12 remains fraught week-in, week-out.
Indiana
Chance to remain undefeated: 7% | Remaining schedule: at Michigan State, Michigan, at Ohio State, Purdue
The Hoosiers are good, you should Google them. How good? They don't just beat lesser teams, they bury them. Indiana hasn't trailed yet this season, and no team has scored more touchdowns. They're one of the best teams in the country by multiple efficiency metrics, including success rate, EPA per play, points per drive, and available yards gained. The next thing we have to see is what happens when they play a truly great opponent. We won't get that chance until they play Ohio State on Nov. 23. Until then -- besides the health of starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke -- there aren't any outstanding questions.
Army
Chance to remain undefeated: 2% | Remaining schedule: Air Force, at North Texas, at Notre Dame, UTSA, Navy
Army is the last remaining undefeated service academy, but no team on the list has a more perilous path to finishing the season undefeated, and it has nothing to do with the top-10 Notre Dame team they face in November. The service academy games are some of the hardest games to win in college football because of the familiarity they have with each other. Just last year, a 3-6 Army team beat then-undefeated Air Force 23-3 as an 18-point underdog.
Pitt
Chance to remain undefeated: 1% | Remaining schedule: at SMU, Virginia, Clemson, at Louisville, at Boston College
The Panthers won't have an opposing quarterback gift them five interceptions again, but their remaining schedule is flat-out hard with games against SMU, Clemson and Louisville remaining. Pitt's already survived three one-score games this season to date, but their chances of staying unblemished are slim to none.
Coaching carousel update of the week
Rice hopped on the carousel by firing Mike Bloomgren on Sunday. The Owls appeared in two bowl games under Bloomgren but started this season 2-6. The one thing the Rice job has going for it is its location: Houston. That certainly doesn't come close to guaranteeing success with strict academic standards and barely any success in modern college football history, but David Bailiff's tenure had two 10-win seasons that shows it's not absolutely impossible to win there.
Second-year athletic director Tommy McClelland has a chance to put his stamp on the program. The search is in its infancy, but the pick here should be as outside the box as possible for a unique FBS job. Some unconventional candidates Rice could consider include:
- Clint Killough, Incarnate Word: He's kept the Cardinals rolling even after GJ Kinne's departure to Texas State (he's 13-4 in two seasons). He'd be the third Incarnate Word coach after Kinne and Eric Morris to land an FBS job.
- Tremaine Jackson, Valdosta State: Another non-FBS name. Jackson will, at the very least, get serious looks at FCS jobs after leading Valdosta State to a 12-2 season last year and a Division II playoffs quarterfinal berth, and the Blazers are off to a 7-0 start this season. Jackson is a Houston native who played and coached at Texas Southern.
- Cortez Hankton, co-offensive coordinator, LSU: Hankton is a Houston college football legend as one of the most prolific receivers in Texas Southern history. Hankton, a former Georgia assistant, has tutored multiple prolific LSU wideouts since taking over the wideout room in Baton Rouge in 2022.
- Slade Nagle, special team coach, LSU: Nagle was the interim coach at Tulane after Willie Fritz left for Houston and worked with McClelland at McNeese State, where the latter was the AD from 2008-2013.
Extracurricular activity of the week (Part I)
The Monday Read does not advocate violence, but there's nothing wrong with a little shoving on the football field. And there's certainly nothing wrong with it when it's a punter attempting to stand his ground, as Washington State's Dean Janikowski does here after a San Diego State player attempted to block his punt.
Extracurricular activity of the week (Part II)
All is fair in love and football, and this is the ultimate "just guys being dudes" moment between Colorado's Travis Hunter and Cincinnati's Xzavier Henderson.
Extra player(s) of the week
What do you get when you take a bad sack without any timeouts left, thus draining the clock, and your special teams operation clearly isn't too well oiled of a machine? Well, dear reader, you get this:
The two long snappers are obviously the funniest part of this, as are the extra wing players hoping they won't be seen. It didn't end up mattering because Auburn won, but certainly the fire drill field goal operation will be practiced on the Plains this week.
Box score fun of the week
Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza has plenty of rushing and passing stats to date, but he may finish his career with one of the weirdest receiving stat lines in college football history: 0 receptions, 15 yards, 1 TD.
That's because this lateral technically counts as a receiving play for Mendoza, who initially threw the pass but is credited with a receiving touchdown. Stump your friends with that one.
Notable quotable
Mike Elko's "This is a real program. It is not fake. It is not a politician running this program, talking fast and BSing everybody," quote is basically his entire football philosophy in a nutshell.
Not flashy. Not sexy. The guy coaches a physical brand of football that clearly wins. The question is who he's referring to with that quote. Perhaps we'll never know, but TMR would be willing to wager approximately $77 million on who it could be.
Heisman performance of the week
Tulsa QB Cooper Legas threw five touchdowns in an unreal 28-point comeback for the Golden Hurricane over UTSA. What's even wilder is that Legas -- a Utah State transfer -- is the backup. He replaced starter Kirk Francis in the second quarter.,
Stat of the week
SMU somehow beat Duke on Saturday night, and TMR is apoplectic as to how it could have occurred. Not because of the failed 2-point conversion at the end or the fact that Duke had a chip shot field goal blocked at the end of regulation, but the fact that SMU turned the ball over six times and lost the final turnover margin 6-0. Even Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee was perplexed.
"Sometimes, you gotta win games ugly, and when you maybe don't deserve to," Lashlee told ESPn after the game. "I don't think we deserved to win, but we're gonna take it."
It should be impossible to win a game like this. According to CBS research, it basically is. Since 2000, teams with a minus-6 turnover margin or worse are 2-115. The other win: Marshall's 23-22 victory over Memphis in 2011.
CFP bracket check-in of the week
- Oregon (auto, Big Ten)
- Georgia (auto, SEC)
- Miami (auto, ACC)
- BYU (auto, Big 12)
- Penn State
- Texas
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Indiana
- Boise State (auto, Mountain West)
First four out: Kansas State, Pitt, Iowa State, SMU
Meal of the week: Bringles Smoking Oasis, Nashville
Go off Broadway to have a taste of the Texas-style barbecue pitmaster Carey Bringle has brought to the music city. It's Bringle's second restaurant in-town, and the pastrami is a unique addition to the normal barbecued meats lineup.
Thing TMR is already excited for next week
Clemson might be back, but it's also true that they have beaten mostly bad football teams up until now. Louisville shows up to finally give the Tigers a challenge. Have they truly turned the page and returned to true championship contention?