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Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 1, from Georgia to Temple

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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.

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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

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12

1-0

11

13

1-0

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14

14

1-0

15

15

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1-0

33

16

0-1

13

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17

1-0

18

18

1-0

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19

19

1-0

20

20

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1-0

21

21

1-0

22

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22

1-0

25

23

0-1

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16

24

1-0

62

25

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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WWE Survivor Series: WarGames heads to Houston in November

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WWE Survivor Series: WarGames heads to Houston in November

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WWE will swing for the fences for the second straight year when it hosts one of its major premium live events of the year at a Major League Baseball ballpark.

The company announced on Monday that Survivor Series: WarGames will take place at Daikin Park in Houston – the home of the Astros – on Saturday, Nov. 28. It follows up the success of last year’s Survivor Series: WarGames event, which took place at Petco Park in San Diego – the home of the Padres.

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Roman Reigns lands a Superman Punch on Brock Lesnar during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2025. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)

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“Houston is the perfect host city to celebrate this milestone chapter in Survivor Series’ storied history, and we look forward to partnering with Houston First and the Houston Astros to deliver an unforgettable event,” WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said in a news release.

WarGames is a highly anticipated match, which has taken place yearly among wrestlers on the WWE roster since 2022. The premium live event has also seen some dramatic returns.

Stephanie Vaquer enters the ring during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)

In 2023, CM Punk came back to WWE at the end of the show and shocked the entire sports world. Randy Orton also made his in-ring return during the match. Last year, a mystery attacker interrupted the WarGames match and gave the win to The Vision and company.

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It’s unclear what is in the cards right now for the 40th edition of the event.

“We are proud to be able to help bring one of the world’s premier entertainment brands to Houston for what promises to be an unforgettable holiday weekend,” said Michael Heckman, President and CEO of Houston First, which partnered with WWE to bring the event back to Houston.

Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio celebrate their win during Survivor Series at Petco Park in San Diego, Calif. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)

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“Hosting WWE Survivor Series will bring thousands of passionate fans to our city and generate a significant economic impact for community. Houston has earned a reputation for delivering world-class entertainment events, and we look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our destination.”

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Commentary: Inside the Shohei Ohtani Economy driving a wild auction for his worn cleats

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Commentary: Inside the Shohei Ohtani Economy driving a wild auction for his worn cleats

How much would you pay for a pair of shoes? Someone else’s shoes, I mean.

Would you pay $7,000 for a chair on which Taylor Swift sat in a basketball arena — for an NBA playoff game, not for her wedding? Someone did.

There was one Swift chair up for bid. The Dodgers gave away 52,000 trading cards as part of a promotion for the Japanese animated series “One Piece” this month, and the current asking prices for one of those cards on eBay range from $784 to $15,656. Even at the low end … strike that, there is no apparent low end to the collectibles market these days.

Now add Shohei Ohtani to the mix. A pair of his cleats hit the auction block Monday, hyped by the promoter as “one of the most significant baseball artifacts ever” and “the greatest baseball footwear ever made available” and “the most culturally significant footwear ever worn on Japanese soil.”

In this case, the adjectives are more than breathless. Ohtani is the best player in baseball, the favorite to win his fifth most valuable player award in six years, an international tourist attraction, and a global pitchman making an estimated $125 million in sponsorships and endorsements this year.

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So, the footwear: These are the cleats Ohtani wore when the Dodgers opened the 2025 season in Japan, decorated with art of his world-famous dog Decoy and signed by Ohtani with Asian kanji characters rather than English letters.

The cleats were purchased last year by Take to the Universe (TTU), a Japanese company that distributes beauty and wellness products in Japan and throughout Asia. State records show the company registered a subsidiary in Los Angeles two months ago.

The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ 2025 season opener in Japan are on the auction block.

(The Realist)

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“We thought, hey, we could actually use this to market our company and enter into the U.S. market,” said Ryoji Iguchi, chief executive of the subsidiary. Iguchi declined to say how much TTU paid for the cleats.

For a Japanese company to leverage Ohtani and the Dodgers to introduce itself to an American audience is nothing new — not just for tangible consumer goods, but also for animated characters.

You wouldn’t actually go into a store and ask for a TTU product, though. You eventually might go into a store and ask for a beauty product made by another company. TTU would just get it there.

So how does selling a pair of cleats create brand awareness for a brand consumers would not even know?

“This interview,” Iguchi said.

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The Ohtani Economy strikes again: You don’t know us, but we’re coming to America, we want to help you sell your wares — and we’re selling Ohtani’s cleats!

The sale was arranged by Scott Keeney, founder of the Realest, a Los Angeles-based enterprise specializing in sports and entertainment memorabilia.

The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers' season opener in Japan in 2025 are on the auction block.

The cleats Shohei Ohtani wore during the Dodgers’ season opener in Japan in 2025 are on the auction block.

(The Realist)

Keeney talks about the “museum-grade” and “investment-grade” quality of the cleats. You might find a trading card marketed as one of one, but someone could make another. In this case, no one can make another pair of cleats worn by Ohtani on that particular day.

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“It’s no different than art, where you’re seeing paintings selling for tens, hundreds of millions of dollars,” Keeney said. “The top grails are in a category of their own.

“It’s what the ultra, the top 0.0001% want, and they appreciate faster than anything else in the category.”

So how much might the Ohtani cleats command, given the combination of sport and celebrity?

Kobe Bryant’s sneakers from the game in which he tore his Achilles tendon — and hit two free throws before he left the court — fetched $660,000. Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” shoes sold for $1.4 million. Kanye West wore “Air Yeezys” to the Grammys, and the pair sold for $1.8 million.

The ball Ohtani hit for his 50th home run in his 50-50 season: $4.4 million. And, speaking of holy grails: Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” fetched $32.5 million.

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I cannot afford that, in this lifetime or any other. Perhaps you can. If you cannot, the Realest is offering this free-to-enter contest: Guess the sale price of the Ohtani cleats and, if you come closest to the actual sale price, you win 1% of the price. In the event of a tie, the first submission wins.

The cash would be nice, because this is just a pair of someone else’s worn shoes. But, since everything else Ohtani does seems to be unprecedented, this auction just might be too.

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Stefon Diggs, still seeking new NFL home, insists no team has a better No 2 receiver ‘than me’

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Stefon Diggs, still seeking new NFL home, insists no team has a better No 2 receiver ‘than me’

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Stefon Diggs is still looking for his next NFL team after one season with the New England Patriots, which ended in a Super Bowl LX defeat.

With NFL training camps across the country set to kick off at the end of the month, Diggs, who will be entering his 12th season, made quite the statement during a recent YouTube video on his channel.

Diggs stated that he is the best No. 2 receiver in the league, and he explained why.

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New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs (8) walks to the podium to speak to the media after a minicamp held in the WIN Field House at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on June 10, 2025. (Eric Canha/Imagn Images)

“Everybody got a 1,,” he said. “Opportunities aside, people might say there’s seven real 1s. In my opinion, I can compete with anybody, but take those as your 1s. You can’t name a No. 2 better than me. There’s not a No. 2 on a team. Let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away.’ Name your No. 2 receiver right now. Tell me how much he makes. My last question is: Is he better than me?”

Diggs put up 1,013 yards in his 11th season, his first and only with the Patriots, on 85 receptions (102 targets) with four touchdowns from breakout star quarterback Drake Maye . It marked Diggs’ seventh 1,000-yard season in the NFL, which have come in seven of the last eight seasons.

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The 32-year-old did note being a No. 2 option, which means he could be willing to take a pay cut to join a squad that he could help get back to the playoffs and, as ever player hopes, the Super Bowl. But no team has pulled the trigger just yet.

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Could Diggs’ off-the-field issues be a factor? He faced some serious allegations in December after being charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor assault in a dispute with his private chef.

New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs speaks during his introductory press conference on March 28, 2025. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

However, Diggs was found not guilty by a jury, with the NFL closing its review on the matter, stating there was insufficient evidence to warrant a suspension for violating its personal conduct policy. Diggs’ attorney said that “professional athletes have a target on their back” following the non-guilty verdict.

“We have taken these allegations seriously from Day One and that’s exactly why we were eager for the facts to come to light through the legal process,” Mitch Schuster of Meister, Seelig & Schuster, the firm that represented Diggs, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital in May.

The Patriots released Diggs in March, but he has been staying in shape and looking for the next opportunity since the league cleared him last month.

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New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs plays against the Seattle Seahawks during Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 8, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)

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Teams to watch could be the Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, or even a Buffalo Bills reunion with Josh Allen, who built such a rapport with him to earn four straight Pro Bowls from 2020-23.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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