Sports
Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 1, from Georgia to Temple
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
Week 1 is complete, and we’ve finally gotten a look at everyone in FBS. Well, not everyone (sorry you have to wait, Ball State).
After a weekend that gave us only a few upsets but several mighty impressive performances, where does everyone move in this week’s edition of The Athletic 134?
Welcome back to the top spot, Georgia, for its 34-3 domination of Clemson. Welcome to the top 25, Vanderbilt! The Commodores were ranked 95th in the preseason rankings, but after an overtime win against popular ACC darkhorse Virginia Tech, why shouldn’t Vandy move up near the top 25 for now? It was the most shocking result of the season, against a team in my preseason top 25.
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Penn State, Miami and Georgia Tech also moved up, while Florida State, Florida and others have dropped.
A reminder: The rankings will be volatile early. Wins against quality and competent teams are rewarded and skewed. Teams can make big jumps quickly with good wins. Teams that beat up on inferior competition won’t move much or might even “drop,” but that’s simply because someone else jumped with a notable win. Don’t worry. Relax. It will take a few weeks for everything to sort out, once everyone has played at least one game of note. I try to emphasize results, and it takes time for everyone to have one.
Here is the Week 2 edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
I considered moving Notre Dame to No. 2 just for this week. I did. The 23-13 win at Texas A&M was better than anything anyone in the top six did outside of Georgia. But Notre Dame isn’t the second-best team in the country, and everyone else looked fine against low-level competition, so it’s a slight move up for the Irish for now. Don’t expect them to move out of this area for a while with a favorable schedule for the next month. But this Notre Dame win may look better as the season goes on, which would impact the ranking.
Penn State, welcome to the top 10. I was a preseason skeptic. I didn’t believe in Drew Allar, but Saturday’s 34-12 win at West Virginia was a complete physical domination, and we saw an offense willing to throw the ball down the field and one that schemed those receivers open. It felt different than last year’s game. Maybe it’s a Week 1 overreaction, but it made me think this isn’t just a team that could make the College Football Playoff but one that could win a game or two.
Michigan and Oregon nearly dropped out of the top 10 after too-close-for-comfort wins against Fresno State and Idaho, respectively. Both teams were in a one-score game deep into the fourth quarter. But they won, so they get some Week 1 benefit of the doubt, for now. Next up is Texas and Boise State for each, so we’ll learn quickly if they’re for real.
11-25
| Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
|
11 |
1-0 |
10 |
|
|
12 |
1-0 |
11 |
|
|
13 |
1-0 |
14 |
|
|
14 |
1-0 |
15 |
|
|
15 |
1-0 |
33 |
|
|
16 |
0-1 |
13 |
|
|
17 |
1-0 |
18 |
|
|
18 |
1-0 |
19 |
|
|
19 |
1-0 |
20 |
|
|
20 |
1-0 |
21 |
|
|
21 |
1-0 |
22 |
|
|
22 |
1-0 |
25 |
|
|
23 |
0-1 |
16 |
|
|
24 |
1-0 |
62 |
|
|
25 |
1-0 |
95 |
Hello, USC. The overhauled defense looked more than competent, and Miller Moss looked like a proper Lincoln Riley quarterback as the Trojans upset LSU 27-20 and now move up to No. 15, while the Tigers drop to No. 16.
Clemson hangs on in the top 25 for now at No. 23. This is mostly based on my belief Georgia would do that to almost everyone. Boston College’s 28-13 win at Florida State was more dominant than the final score, as the Eagles jump from No. 62 to No. 24, and Vanderbilt’s overtime win at Virginia Tech moves the Commodores to No. 25.
26-50
Georgia Tech rises to No. 26 after a 2-0 start. The Yellow Jackets would’ve been in the top 25 until BC’s dominant win Monday night made the win over FSU in Ireland look less impressive. That’s how things can change week to week.
No. 27 NC State needed to come back in the fourth quarter and hold on against Western Carolina. The same for No. 29 Boise State against Georgia Southern. The Wolfpack and Broncos stay put in their positions for now. North Carolina moves up 10 spots to No. 36 after a win at Minnesota, thanks to a missed Gophers field goal, but the loss of quarterback Max Johnson for the season could be a problem.
Florida State drops from No. 9 to No. 46 after its dreadful 0-2 start, and right behind the Seminoles are the Florida Gators, two programs with fans facing existential crises.
Colorado moves up a few spots and into the top 50 after beating North Dakota State 31-26. The Buffaloes looked a lot like last year’s team, and some questionable clock management by Deion Sanders gave the Bison a shot at the end, but it was still a solid victory against a very successful program with its share of FBS upsets. TCU sits at No. 49 after a 31-24 win at Stanford.
51-75
UNLV just misses out on the top 50 after a dominant 27-7 win at Houston that was nearly a shutout. If you thought last year’s UNLV season was a fluke, the Rebels opened with a statement win, though concerns about the passing game persist after Week 1.
Arizona State’s 48-7 win against Wyoming might’ve been the most shocking margin of victory of the weekend, and ASU moves all the way up from No. 89 to No. 53. A Sun Devils program that finished 124th nationally in scoring last year (17.8 points per game) put it on a Wyoming defense that is usually very solid.
South Carolina drops nine spots and out of the top 50, falling to No. 54 after coming back and barely holding on for a 23-19 win against Old Dominion. The same goes for Texas Tech, which falls to No. 57 after needing a two-point stop in overtime to escape an Abilene Christian team that put up 615 yards of offense.
Coastal Carolina put it on Jacksonville State 55-27 in a surprisingly dominating performance to move up 30 spots to No. 64. The Chanticleers have now won seven of their last nine under head coach Tim Beck.
76-100
Is it already time to believe in Jeff Choate’s Nevada? The Wolf Pack hung with SMU in Week 0 and showed it wasn’t a one-off with a 28-26 win at two-time defending Sun Belt champion Troy. Nevada rockets up more than 50 spots to No. 76, after being lifeless for the past two seasons.
Old Dominion and Georgia Southern move up despite their losses as they put in good performances with fourth-quarter leads. Why lean on a preseason ranking if they both played better than expected in defeat? North Texas’ solid win at South Alabama moves the Mean Green up to No. 93.
Sam Houston was my preseason Conference USA team to watch, and the Bearkats made a statement with a 34-14 win at Rice to move up to No. 99. The Bearkats started last year 0-8 but won three of their last four and now start 2024 at 1-0. Hawaii played sloppy in a Week 0 win against Delaware State but nearly knocked off UCLA in Week 1, losing on a last-second field goal. So the Rainbow Warriors move up a few spots to No. 98. We’ll see which is the real Hawaii. Florida Atlantic moved up one spot into the top 100 after a close (but sloppy) 16-10 loss at Michigan State.
101-134
Arkansas State needed a last-second touchdown to beat Central Arkansas, so the Red Wolves drop to No. 103. New Mexico is 0-2, but buy that Bronco Mendenhall stock while you can. The Lobos had a 17-point fourth-quarter lead against Montana State in Week 0 and trailed Arizona by just three at halftime in Week 1. New Mexico lost both of those games, but the team has more of a pulse than we’ve seen in a while. As a result, the Lobos move up six spots to No. 116. New Mexico State needed a touchdown with less than two minutes left to beat Southeast Missouri State, so the Aggies drop to No. 117.
There is a new No. 134. Kennesaw State played UTSA deep into the fourth quarter, so the Owls move out from the bottom. In comes a different group of Owls. Temple turned the ball over six times in a 51-3 loss to Oklahoma. Things have been rough in Philly for the past few years, and it didn’t look any better Saturday.
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Kirby Smart: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
Sports
Law firm fighting for women’s sports in SCOTUS battle comments on ruling possibly impacting SJSU trans lawsuit
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A law firm leading the charge in the ongoing Supreme Court case over trans athletes in women’s sports has responded after a federal judge suggested the case’s ruling could impact a separate case involving a similar issue.
Colorado District Judge Kato Crews deferred ruling in motions to dismiss former San Jose State volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against the California State University (CSU) system until after a ruling in the B.P.J. v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, which is expected to come in June.
Slusser filed the lawsuit against representatives of her school and the Mountain West Conference in fall 2024 after she allegedly was made to share bedrooms and changing spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming for a whole season without being informed that Fleming is a biological male.
Meanwhile, the B.P.J. case went to the Supreme Court after a trans teen sued West Virginia to block the state’s law that prevents males from competing in girls’ high school sports.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is the primary law firm defending West Virginia in that case at the Supreme Court, and has now responded to news that Slusser’s lawsuit could be affected by the SCOTUS ruling.
“We hope the ruling from the Supreme Court will affirm that Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women, not to let male athletes displace women and girl in competition. It is crucial that sports be separated by sex for not only the equal opportunity of women but for safety and privacy. Title IX should protect women’s right to compete in their own sports. Allowing men to compete in the female category reverses 50 years of advancement for women,” ADF Vice President of Litigation Strategies Jonathan Scruggs said.
Slusser’s attorney, Bill Bock of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, expects a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the legal defense representing West Virginia, thus helping his case.
(Left) Brooke Slusser (10) of the San Jose State Spartans serves the ball during the first set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 19, 2024. (Right) Blaire Fleming #3 of the San Jose State Spartans looks on during the third set against the Air Force Falcons at Falcon Court at East Gym on October 19, 2024 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. ( Andrew Wevers/Getty Images; Andrew Wevers/Getty Images)
“We’re looking forward to the case going forward,” Bock told Fox News Digital.
“I believe that the court is going to find that Title IX operates on the basis of biological sex, without regard to an assumed or professed gender, and so just like the congress and the members of congress that passed Title IX in 1972, allowed this specifically provided for in the regulations that there had to be separate men’s and women’s teams based on biological sex, I think the court is going to see that is the original meaning of the statute and apply it in that way, and I think it’s going to be a big win in women’s sports.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared prepared to rule in favor of West Virginia after oral arguments on Jan. 13.
Slusser spoke on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 13 while oral arguments took place inside, sharing her experience with a divided crowd of opposing protesters.
With Fleming on its roster, SJSU reached the 2024 conference final by virtue of a forfeit by Boise State in the semifinal round. SJSU lost in the final to Colorado State.
Slusser went on to develop an eating disorder due to the anxiety and trauma from the scandal and dropped out of her classes the following semester. The eating disorder became so severe, that Slusser said she lost her menstrual cycle for nine months. Her decision to drop her classes resulted in the loss of her scholarship, and her parents said they had to foot the bill out of pocket for an unfinished final semester of college.
President Donald Trump’s Department of Education determined in January that SJSU violated Title IX in its handling of the situation involving Fleming, and has given the university an ultimatum to agree to a series of resolutions or face a referral to the Department of Justice.
Among the department’s findings, it determined that a female athlete discovered that the trans student allegedly conspired to have a member of an opposing team spike her in the face during a match. ED claims that “SJSU did not investigate the conspiracy, but later subjected the female athlete to a Title IX complaint for ‘misgendering’ the male athlete in online videos and interviews.”
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SJSU trans player Blaire Fleming and teammate Brooke Slusser went to a magic show and had Thanksgiving together in Las Vegas despite an ongoing lawsuit over Fleming being transgender. (Thien-An Truong/San Jose State Athletics)
SJSU Athletic Director Jeff Konya told Fox News Digital in a July interview that he was satisfied with how the university handled the situation involving Fleming.
“I think everybody acted in the best possible way they could, given the circumstances,” Konya said.
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Sports
Myles Garrett cited for speeding a ninth time, an elite pass rusher seemingly always in a rush
Myles Garrett is in a hurry to become the greatest pass rusher in NFL history. The Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive end set the single-season sack record in 2025 and has cracked the top 20 career leaders after only nine seasons.
“I’m going to take that down, and I prefer I take it down in the next five years,” Garrett told Casino Guru News last month.
Off the field, however, his urgency to get from point A to B is a problem. He’s accumulating speeding tickets at an alarming rate.
On Feb. 21, Garrett was handed his ninth speeding ticket since his NFL career began in 2017. He was cited for driving 94 mph in a 70-mph zone on Interstate 71 between Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
The citation from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office says Garrett was driving his green 2024 Porsche at 1:35 a.m., returning home after attending a Miami of Ohio basketball game in Oxford.
Body cam footage shows the officer telling Garrett that she kept the charge under 100 mph so that a court appearance wouldn’t be mandatory. Garrett reportedly still holds a Texas driver’s license — he attended Texas A&M — and told the officer that he did not have an Ohio license.
Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett wears a jacket displaying his girlfriend Chloe Kim before the women’s snowboarding halfpipe finals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy.
(Lindsey Wasson / AP)
The officer wrote that the famously affable Garrett was “kind and cooperative,” and that drugs and alcohol were not a factor.
Garrett’s need for speed flies in the face of his persona. He has written poetry since high school, peppers social media with inspirational sayings and donates time and money to several charities.
His girlfriend is two-time gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim, for whom he wrote a poem he shared on social media: “You enrapture fools to kings, and exist without a peer, put on this Earth for many things, but our love is why you’re here.”
Verse hasn’t slowed his roll. On Aug. 9 he was cited for ticket No. 8, clocked at 100 mph in a 60-mph zone in a Cleveland suburb a day after the Browns returned home from a preseason game at Carolina.
Garrett’s seventh ticket followed a frightening crash in 2022. He flipped his gray 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S off State Road in Sharon Township and he and a female passenger were injured. He was cited for failing to control his vehicle due to unsafe speeds on what had been a slick roadway.
A witness told a responding police officer that Garrett’s vehicle went airborne, took out a fire hydrant and rolled three times. Garrett sustained shoulder and biceps sprains and was sidelined for the Browns’ game that week against the Atlanta Falcons. His companion was not seriously injured.
Cleveland television station WKYC reported that in September 2021 Garrett was stopped twice in a 24-hour period — for driving 120 and 105 mph. The infractions occurred on Interstate 71 in Medina County, where the speed limit is 70 mph, and he paid fines of $267 and $287.
A year earlier, Garrett was cited for driving 100 mph in a 65-mph zone of Interstate 77 — again while driving a Porsche — and paid a $308 fine. He accumulated his first batch of speeding tickets in 2017 and 2018, and the police reports recite similar circumstances: Garrett driving well over the speed limit, cited without incident, paid a nominal fine.
The piddly fines certainly aren’t a deterrent. Garrett, 30, and the Browns agreed to a four-year contract extension in March 2025 that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. The deal pays the seven-time All-Pro more than $40 million a season and includes more than $123 million in guaranteed money.
He set the NFL single-season sack record with 23.0 last season, surpassing the 22.5 accumulated by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan. Garrett has 125.5 career sacks, averaging 14 a season, a pace that would enable him to break Bruce Smith’s career record of 200 in five years.
“That is definitely on my mind to go out there and get,” Garrett said. “That’s a goal I’ve had for years now since college.”
Garrett has declined to discuss his driving habits.
“I’d honestly prefer to talk about football and this team than anything I’m doing off the field other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” he told reporters after ticket No. 8 in August, referring to a charity appearance.
“I try to keep my personal life personal. And I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
Sports
Keith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
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Former ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called late legendary college football coach Lou Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead.
“Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights.
Olbermann received scathing criticism in response to his post on X.
“You’re a scumbag that needs mental help,” one X user wrote to Olbermann.
One user echoed that sentiment, writing to Olbermann, “You’re the real scumbag here. Lou Holtz had more class, integrity, and genuine decency in his pinky finger than you’ll ever show in your lifetime.”
Another user wrote, “You’re a grumpy, lonely, Godless man. All the things Lou Holtz was not.”
Keith Olbermann speaks onstage during the Olbermann panel at the ESPN portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour at the Beverly Hilton Hotel July 24, 2013, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash.
After the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal win, Olbermann heavily criticized the team for accepting an invitation from President Trump to the State of the Union address. Olbermann wrote on X that any members of the men’s team who attended the event were “declaring their indelible stupidity and misogyny,” while praising the women’s team for declining the invitation.
In January, Olbermann attacked former University of Kentucky women’s swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler for celebrating a women’s rights rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments for two cases focused on the legality of biological male trans athletes in women’s sports.
Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz listens before being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in Washington, D.C., Dec, 3, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s still about you trying to find an excuse for a lifetime wasted trying to succeed in sports without talent,” Olbermann wrote in response to Wheeler’s post.
In 2025, Olbermann faced significant backlash after posting (and later deleting) a message on X aimed at CNN contributor Scott Jennings, that said, “You’re next motherf—–,” shortly after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Holtz was a stern supporter of President Donald Trump, even saying in February 2024 that Trump needed to “coach America back to greatness!”
Near the end of Trump’s first term, shortly after former President Joe Biden defeated him in the 2020 election, Trump awarded Holtz with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award of the United States.
After Holtz’s death was announced Wednesday, several top GOP figures paid tribute to the coach on social media.
Those GOP lawmakers included senators Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; representatives Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; David Rouzer, R-N.C.; Erin Houchin, R-Ind.; and Steve Womack, R-Ark.; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Indiana Gov. Mike Braun; U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon; and Rudy Giuliani.
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Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, addresses the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit at the Marriott Marquis July 26, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
At the time of publication, prominent Democrat leaders have appeared silent on Holtz’s passing, including prominent Democrats with a football background.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who worked as an assistant high school football coach; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who was a recruiting target for Holtz in 1986 as a college prospect; Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, who played in the NFL; and Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Ill., who played football for the University of Illinois, have not posted acknowledging Holtz’s death.
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