The top five teams in the CBS Sports 127, our ranking of every FBS team in college football, remained the same after four of the five were off in Week 15, but shake-ups this week stemmed from lossees for a pair of top 10 teams, facilitating new arrivals at the top of our balloting from CBS Sports and 247Sports experts.
Florida only fell from No. 6 to No. 8 after its loss to LSU on Saturday night, while Miami tumbled from No. 9 all the down to No. 20. That opened up a spot in the top 10 which was taken by Coastal Carolina, reaching its highest-ever ranking in CBS Sports 127 history at No. 9 after its thrilling win at Troy on Saturday.
The Chanticleers had their undefeated season on the ropes in the final tune-up before the Sun Belt Championship Game, but Grayson McCall led the offense down the field for a go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds left to survive with a 42-38 win. It was a tough spot coming after the epic win against BYU and one week before a rematch with Louisiana, but Coastal Carolina avoided the upset to improve to 11-0 and move up to take Miami’s spot at No. 9 in the rankings.
The Chanticleers will host Louisiana, which checks in at No. 16 this week in the CBS Sports 127, next Saturday for the Sun Belt Championship.
Further down in the rankings North Carolina saw a slight bump up to No. 17 after its 62-26 win at Miami, Colorado dropped two spots down to No. 22 after its first loss of the season and San Jose State makes its first arrival in the top 25 this season after improving to 6-0 with a win against Nevada. For more on the notable moves up and down in this week’s balloting, check out the Mover’s Report below.
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 26-127 on our rankings page.
Biggest movers
- No. 46 Arizona State (+35): Our voters can be very particular about waiting for actual wins to jump behind a team, and that’s definitely been the case for the Sun Devils, who were 0-2 prior to Friday night’s blowout win against Arizona. I think if you pinned down every voter individually, they wouldn’t approve of the consensus No. 81 ranking. But with a goose egg in the win column, they are going to lose some of those tiebreakers in the middle of the rankings.
- No. 34 Utah (+18): Kyle Whittingham and the Utes have dealt with massive turnover from 2019 to 2020, and it seems like we’re seeing the classic late season surge from a group that has finally put all the pieces together after a handful of games. In taking down then-undefeated Colorado, Utah was able to back up its claim as one of the elite programs in the Pac-12.
- No. 23 San Jose State (+11): Trailing against Nevada this caravan of a football program found an answer with a comeback win that clinched a spot in the Mountain West Championship Game and kept the Spartans undefeated on the year. This has been a storybook season for Brent Brennan and a team that has had no home, as they continue to make the most out of a tough situation and build on what’s been a high mark in the program’s history.
- No. 17 North Carolina (+4): Putting a 60-burger on the scoreboard at Miami is going to draw some attention, but three losses are going to put a ceiling on how far the Tar Heels move up in the rankings. Still, our voters are confident this is one of the 20 best teams in the country.
- No. 24 Oklahoma State (+4): Great statement win for Oklahoma State to not only win at Baylor but do so decisively against a Bears team that was extremely shorthanded due to COVID-19 protocol. With no Chuba Hubbard and the Big 12 title hopes officially dashed, the Cowboys might have sputtered here at the end of the season, but Saturday’s win was impressive, even if the opponent was not from the top of the league standings.
- No. 20 Miami (-11): The Hurricanes had a performance against North Carolina that can best be described as a “no show,” and it continues the troubling trend of Miami having (at least) one of these losses every single season. North Carolina punched first and Miami never had a response as it blown out of the water at home and potentially lost its shot at a New Year’s Six bowl in an otherwise strong season for Manny Diaz.
- No. 38 Wisconsin (-15): A strange season for Wisconsin has the Badgers limping to the finish line a little bit, falling 28-7 to Iowa in the regular season finale. The Badgers don’t have a winning record and have finally fallen outside the top 30 in our rankings after voters were still holding on to belief that this one of the better teams in the Big Ten.
Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 127: Teams ranked 26-127
