Sports
Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 5: Alabama is inevitable
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
“You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.”
When Nick Saban retired, many wondered whether Alabama would take a step back. It had to, right? The greatest coach in the history of the sport was gone. Surely the days of the Alabama dynasty had finally ended. Georgia had emerged as the new Alabama.
But like Thanos, Bama may be inevitable. After a 41-34 win against Georgia, the Tide have returned to the No. 1 spot in the Athletic 134 rankings.
It’s Alabama’s first time atop these rankings since the 2022 preseason. That year, Georgia took over one week in after plastering Oregon, and the Tide haven’t been back to No. 1 since then.
But it turns out when you let head coach Kalen DeBoer scheme up some stuff for elite-level talent, he can do a lot. Jalen Milroe looks like the best quarterback in the country. After the wild swings of the Game of the Year, I don’t exactly know how to feel about both teams. Alabama had a 28-0 lead and also blew a 28-0 lead. Georgia overcame that deficit on the road. But in the end, it’s the best win of the season for any team, so Alabama moves up from No. 7 to No. 1.
Georgia falls to No. 3, and not solely because of this result. The Week 1 blowout of Clemson looks better with each week. The Bulldogs’ schedule doesn’t get easier, however, with a trip to No. 2 Texas just a few weeks away.
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If Alabama is No. 1, how far should Georgia fall? Behind the AP Top 25 ballot
Here is the latest edition of The Athletic 134.
1-10
I’m aware the SEC has the top four spots here. I don’t expect that to be the case by the end of the season. But so far, Alabama beat Georgia, Texas beat Michigan, Georgia beat Clemson and Tennessee beat NC State and Oklahoma. So that’s how it is right now. Ohio State’s big games are coming up, and the Buckeyes will move up if they win.
Miami slips to No. 8 after needing an overturned Hail Mary to beat Virginia Tech, and Penn State beat a ranked Illinois team to move up to No. 7. I don’t think the ceiling is very high for Michigan after it held on to beat Minnesota, but the Wolverines’ win against USC last week means they’re going to stay around here until something changes.
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Stewart Mandel’s 12-team Playoff projections after Week 5
11-25
| Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
|
11 |
3-1 |
13 |
|
|
12 |
5-0 |
16 |
|
|
13 |
3-1 |
17 |
|
|
14 |
4-0 |
14 |
|
|
15 |
3-1 |
15 |
|
|
16 |
4-1 |
21 |
|
|
17 |
4-1 |
9 |
|
|
18 |
4-1 |
22 |
|
|
19 |
5-0 |
24 |
|
|
20 |
4-1 |
5 |
|
|
21 |
4-1 |
26 |
|
|
22 |
4-1 |
19 |
|
|
23 |
4-0 |
27 |
|
|
24 |
3-1 |
30 |
|
|
25 |
4-1 |
36 |
BYU jumps up to No. 12 after beating Baylor, but its earlier win against SMU continues to look better after the Mustangs moved to 4-1 with a 42-16 beatdown of Florida State. (Last weekend’s K-State win looks better, too). Clemson is up to No. 13 and still rolling since Week 1 after a 40-14 win against Stanford.
Utah drops from No. 9 to No. 17 after a 23-10 loss to Arizona. It’s really hard to place the Utes because we don’t know when (or if) injured quarterback Cam Rising will come back. Notre Dame inches up to No. 18 after beating Louisville. The loss to Northern Illinois continues to look worse, but the wins against Louisville and Texas A&M help. Indiana continues to roll, up to No. 19 after a 42-28 win against Maryland.
Ole Miss drops from No. 5 to No. 20 after a 20-17 loss to Kentucky. The Rebels just don’t have any good wins to offset the loss and make a case for a higher ranking. They’ve beaten Furman, Middle Tennessee, Wake Forest and Georgia Southern. Oklahoma is back into the top 25 after a comeback win at Auburn. Undefeated UNLV is back in after beating Fresno State 59-14, and Boise State enters the top 25 after beating Washington State 45-24.
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Vannini: Alabama-Georgia didn’t have stakes because of the CFP? Think again
26-50
Texas A&M’s win against Arkansas moves the Aggies up to No. 29. Navy’s 41-18 win at UAB slides the Midshipmen up to No. 31. Rutgers moves up to No. 32 after beating Washington on Friday night, and Arizona is up to No. 33 after the win against Utah. It’s Arizona’s 31-7 loss to Kansas State a few weeks back that keeps the Wildcats from being higher for now.
Oklahoma State tumbles from No. 20 to No. 37 after a 42-20 loss to K-State. The Cowboys are 0-2 in Big 12 play and needed a late comeback to beat Arkansas. Kentucky’s win against Ole Miss moves the Wildcats up to No. 39, but Week 2’s blowout loss to South Carolina keeps the Wildcats behind the Gamecocks for now.
Colorado jumps from No. 67 to No. 44 after a 48-21 win at UCF, easily the most impressive performance of the Deion Sanders era.
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Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Don’t blink! Bama-Georgia just another NIL-era classic
51-75
No. 55 NIU is now 0-2 since its Notre Dame upset, but the Huskies stayed close in a 24-17 loss to NC State, which moves up to No. 54. Virginia Tech actually ticks up two spots to No. 56 after its overturned Hail Mary loss to Miami, given the nature of that finish. Army is 4-0 and up to No. 62 after its third consecutive win against an Owls team (FAU, Rice, Temple).
Sam Houston jumps from No. 91 to No. 68 after a 40-39 win against Texas State to move to 4-1. Since an 0-8 start as an FBS program last year, the Bearkats are 7-2 in their last nine games.
76-100
Kansas drops to No. 80 after falling to 1-4. The Jayhawks entered the weekend with three consecutive one-score losses, but their latest setback was a 38-27 loss to TCU. Florida State tumbles again down to No. 81 after a blowout loss at SMU.
Louisiana moves up to No. 84 after beating Wake Forest, which drops to No. 88. UConn makes a big jump up to No. 86 after a dominant 47-3 win against Buffalo. The Huskies are definitely trending up over the last three weeks. Georgia State drops out of the top 50 to No. 85 after losing to Georgia Southern, dampening the value of the win against Vanderbilt. USF may be beat up after a tough nonconference schedule, dropping to No. 87 after a 45-10 loss to Tulane.
East Carolina beat UTSA 30-20 to move up to No. 92. Purdue and Mississippi State kept it close with Nebraska and Texas, respectively, in the first half, but they remain the lowest-ranked Power 4 teams at No. 98 and No. 99. Purdue fired offensive coordinator Graham Harrell on Sunday.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Alabama rising, Notre Dame back in bracket
101-134
ULM is up to No. 101, now 3-1 after beating Troy. That’s already an improvement on last season’s 2-10 record for first-year coach Bryant Vincent. Bowling Green competed well with Penn State and Texas A&M but drops to No. 105 after losing to previously winless Old Dominion. Wyoming also got its first win of the season, over Air Force, to move up to No. 119, while Air Force drops to No. 120 with Navy coming up next.
San Diego State falls to No. 112 after a last-second field goal loss to Central Michigan. Charlotte beat Rice in a wild finish to move to 2-3 and get up to No. 124.
We’re down to just three winless teams, and they make up the bottom three. They also each have losses to FCS programs, after Kennesaw State lost 24-13 to UT Martin. Kent State remains at No. 134. The Golden Flashes played Eastern Michigan close in the box score, but four turnovers led to a 52-33 loss.
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: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Sports
Dispatch audio reveals what was heard inside Josh Jacobs’ home before alleged domestic violence arrest
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Released dispatch audio has added some context to the alleged domestic violence incident involving Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, one of which came from inside his Wisconsin residence.
The audio, obtained by TMJ 4, reveals a dispatcher speaking with a police officer about the “yelling and screaming” she could hear on an open line within Jacobs’ home.
“Things being thrown, open line,” the dispatcher tells the officer. “…Possibly a male and female.”
Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers jogs off the field after a 26-34 loss to the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Dec. 14, 2025. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
Then, a second call’s audio was added, as a dispatcher describes a neighbor calling about what they can hear from Jacobs’ home.
“The neighbor is calling now, saying that her neighbor was assaulted,” dispatch called out.
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When authorities arrived at Jacobs’ residence, he wasn’t there. He left the scene in his Mercedes G-Wagon, though police tracked his license plate readers. A call went out to stop the vehicle if it was seen on the road.
Jacobs was arrested on Tuesday following an investigation by the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department, and he was booked on five domestic abuse-related charges.
The department said in the statement that Jacobs was booked into Brown County Jail on charges of domestic abuse battery, domestic abuse criminal damage to property, domestic abuse disorderly conduct, strangulation and suffocation, and intimidation of a victim. According to Brown County Jail records, strangulation and suffocation is a felony, while the other four are misdemeanors.
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs runs the ball and stiff arms Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trikweze Bridges during the second half of an NFL game in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
The investigation remains active and ongoing, the statement added.
Jacobs’ attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff and Clarence Duchac, say the 28-year-old denies all charges.
“Josh vehemently denies the allegations, and this matter is in the early stages of investigation with important evidence that has not yet been made public,” the attorneys’ statement read.
“We ask for fairness and restraint while the judicial process takes its course.”
The NFL was made aware of the situation and has contacted the Packers. Green Bay also told The Athletic that it wouldn’t make comment due to the ongoing investigation on the matter.
Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers stands for the National Anthem before an NFL wild card playoff game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 10, 2026. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
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Jacobs finished his second season with the Packers, tallying 929 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 1,234 carries in 2025. In 2024, he racked up 1,329 yards on 301 attempts with 15 touchdowns to lead the way for the Packers’ ground game in his inaugural season up north.
Jacobs, who spent five seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders prior to his time in Green Bay, has led the league in the past with rushing yards. His 2022 campaign saw 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns across a full 17-game slate.
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Sports
Alyssa and Gisele Thompson joined NWSL in high school. Their younger sister might be better
Few players are driven to club soccer practice by a national team player. But then few players have two sisters who play for the U.S. women’s team.
Also Zoe Thompson is just 14, so you can’t expect her to drive herself.
But here’s the thing that truly sets Zoe Thompson apart. Although eldest sister Alyssa, 21, has already played in a World Cup and middle sister Gisele made 38 NWSL appearances and played four times for the national team before her 20th birthday, Zoe may actually be the best of the three.
“She’s better technically,” said her father Mario Thompson, who coached all three.
“I think she’s the combination between Alyssa and Gisele,” said Carlos Marroquin, owner of the pre-professional women’s team that gave Alyssa and Gisele their start.
So maybe there should be a line of coaches, teammates and family members waiting to drive her to practice or to her debut with Marroquin’s team, the Santa Clarita Blue Heat, on Saturday evening at The Master’s University.
The Santa Clarita Blue Heat coach Leonardo Neveleff, center, talks to his team before a practice at Valencia High. Zoe Thompson makes her debut with the team Saturday.
The team, which competes in USL W league, has long been a summer proving ground for elite college players and aspiring pros with alumni that includes Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos, once a finalist for FIFA’s world player of the year award; World Cup veterans Savannah DeMelo and Ashley Sanchez; former Chelsea and Atlético Madrid star Ana Borges of Portugal; and Natalia Kuikka, a five-time Finnish player of the year.
This year’s roster includes more than two dozen Division I college players, meaning Zoe Thompson will be playing with and against women much older than her.
Did we mention she’s still in middle school?
“She’s always having to get out of her comfort zone, no matter what,” said Mario Thompson, whose job as Zoe’s father is to both nurture and protect his daughter’s talent.
Zoe has followed a different path than her sisters. Alyssa and Gisele were born less than 13 months apart and grew up playing together, practicing together and pushing each other. Zoe, born seven years later, grew up watching them, imitating them and wanting to be them.
But she had to do the work alone.
“It’s a unique dynamic where Alyssa and Gisele had each other,” their father said. “It wasn’t just Alyssa by herself. She always had a partner.”
Zoe, however, observed a lot by watching.
“I feel like their mistakes helped me,” she said. “But at the same time, there are some mistakes that I’ve made that they haven’t. I’m learning differently, but I’m more learning from them.”
Zoe Thompson hugs her father Mario Thompson after practice at Valencia High.
Still, this is uncharted territory. No family has ever had a trio of siblings play for the women’s national team, and the pressure of having to match the success her sisters have had will be inescapable, if unfair, for Zoe.
It’s a level of pressure that has the potential to be crushing.
“She kind of has this expectation that’s put upon her already that ‘oh, she’s going to be like her sister,’” Gisele said. “But it’s her own life.”
And Mario Thompson, an elementary school principal who has been intimately involved in all his daughters’ careers, is having to negotiate all this on the fly.
“Everyone sees the glam and the glitz of Alyssa and Giselle, but people don’t really understand it’s a lot of pressure,” he said of the sisters, who will both be heading to Brazil with the national team next week. “They see all the great stuff, but it’s also their job.”
Mario Thompson faced some of the same issues with Alyssa, the second-youngest U.S. woman to play in a World Cup, so he limited her media interviews and tried to let her be a teenager — albeit it an exceptionally talented one. Zoe faces the additional burden of having do all that while following in her sisters’ footsteps.
“I’m very mindful and aware of that,” he said. “She’s already in the spotlight without having to be in the spotlight. It’s that pressure. I want her to love the sport, love this journey. That’s kind of how I raised all three of them.”
Zoe Thompson during a practice session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team.
For her part Zoe, mature well beyond her tender age, dismisses the hype with a shrug.
“There are going to be comparisons,” she said. “But we’re such different people that I think it’s unfair. At the same time, they can have those comparisons, they can have those opinions, but I’m not them. So it’s not going to be any different, how I play.”
Plus, having two accomplished sisters has its advantages. In the spring Zoe trained with the youth teams at Chelsea, where Alyssa now plays, and this summer she says she’ll train with Angel City, Gisele’s team. But the drawback of being a (much) younger sister is Alyssa and Gisele had each other to lean on growing up. Zoe has had to go it alone and that, she said, has made her stronger.
“Mentally, it is harder. But seeing my sisters and where they are, it’s kind of a motivation for me,” said Zoe, who has already been called in three times by the U-14 national team. “They were kind of at the same place I am. And it’s just very motivating to see them where they are. That’s just kind of where I want to be.”
If there’s been one constant in the girls’ soccer careers it’s been their dad, who has been intimately involved in with all three, drilling them in the backyard of their Studio City home or walking them down the street to a park, where they shared the lumpy grass with softball players and unleashed dogs.
They were often, but not always, willing participants since the family didn’t have a TV when the girls were growing up.
Zoe Thompson controls the ball during a training session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team.
And while the hours and hours of practice certainly honed the sisters’ skills, their parents can’t explain where the girls got their immense physical gifts. Mario played football and basketball and ran track at Occidental College with modest success while his wife, Karen, an occupational therapist, played basketball and ran cross-country in high school, hardly the pedigree that could be expected to produce three world-class soccer players.
Perhaps part of the answer lies in their unique DNA, a mix of Mario’s Black and Filipino background and Karen’s Italian and Peruvian roots.
“It was never the plan, ‘Hey, let’s have some soccer players’,” Mario said.
But once the sisters decided that was their plan, the parents had to adjust. The girls had rare talent, Mario Thompson quickly realized, and it had to be developed. So Alyssa and Gisele began playing with an elite boys’ team while they were still in high school and passed up scholarships to Stanford to sign lucrative contracts with Angel City while their were teenagers.
Zoe has chosen another way, playing with Tudela FC, an all-girls team that practices near her home, and with the Blue Heat, where she’ll be facing stronger, more mature players for the first time. Mario Thompson hopes those aren’t the only differences, although he said the road his youngest daughter takes will ultimately be up to her.
“My hope is she goes through college and just goes a different pathway, different journey,” Mario Thompson said. “It’s a roller-coaster ride and so for [Zoe], I think she sees that roller-coaster ride and I don’t know if it’s a rush to let me get to that. She wants to eventually be a pro, but I don’t think it’s ‘I need to get there as soon as possible.’”
“It’s Zoe, what do you want?” he added. “It’s not like you have to be here, you have to do this. It’s none of that. It’s about, ‘Hey, Zoe, this is your journey.’ We want you to enjoy it, have fun with it, be happy with it.”
She appears to be accomplishing all three of those goals. She’s also both confident and comfortable in her abilities and believes she’s already ahead of both her sisters despite the weight of expectation.
Zoe Thompson with head coach Leonardo Neveleff at the conclusion of a training session in preparation for her debut with the Santa Clarita Blue Heat soccer team. Thompson, 14, is the younger sister of U.S. women’s soccer players Gisele and Alyssa Thompson.
But she’s also well aware of the pitfalls ahead, having seen Alyssa and Gisele occasionally stumble into them.
“Yeah, it is a lot of pressure but I feel like we just had different paths,” she said. “They didn’t really know they were going to do soccer. They didn’t know that was their sport. But I feel like that path was set for me.
“It was just like I grew faster. I kind of took the understanding of what they were doing, and then I did it a little faster.”
There are other differences as well. Gisele is a defender and Alyssa a forward, but Zoe plays in the midfield. And while it was sometimes difficult to get anything more than a giggle from Alyssa in an interview even after she turned pro, Zoe already gives complete, thoughtful answers to most questions.
Zoe’s game is also different; while Alyssa and Gisele are both exceptionally fast, Zoe relies more on her skill.
“Zoe’s more technical than her sisters at this stage,” her father said. “She’s better on the ball, she has a better understanding of the game. A lot of their game was because of speed. Hers is more thinking, hers is more of the ball on her feet.
“Technically, she’s better and understands the game at this age.”
Gisele, the sister who chauffeurs Zoe to practice in Santa Clarita, agrees. But, she adds, Zoe’s greatest strength may actually be her desire.
“She just has so many great qualities that me and Alyssa don’t have,” she said. “At her age, she wants it way more than we did. She loves soccer with a passion. Me and Alyssa didn’t love it as much as she does.”
And if that passion translates to performance, Zoe will someday join her sisters on the national team. By then she may even be in the driver’s seat.
Santa Clarita Blue Heat team owner Carlos Marroquin talks to Zoe Thompson after a training session at Valencia High.
Sports
Thunder lose star Jalen Williams for Western Conference Finals Game 7 as hamstring injury lingers
Spurs force Game 7 vs. Thunder, SGA struggles, Will Wemby carry this momentum? | The Herd
Victor Wembanyama scored 28 points and 10 rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ 118-91 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the WCF. Jason McIntyre says that Wemby showed up in the biggest moments, and asks if he can carry this momentum into Game 7. Plus, he discusses Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s struggles and asks if he will cost the Thunder the series.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder will be shorthanded in Saturday’s pivotal Game 7, as one of Oklahoma’s key contributors has been sidelined with an injury.
OKC guard Jalen Williams has been ruled out for Game 7 with a hamstring issue, ESPN reported on Friday. Williams appeared to aggravate his left hamstring during the Thunder’s 122-113 victory in Game 2. He missed the next three games before returning for Game 6, but logged just 10 minutes off the bench in Oklahoma City’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, which forced a winner-take-all Game 7.
“He’s obviously not 100%,” Mark Daigneault, the head coach of the Thunder, said.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams watches during the fourth quarter against the San Antonio Spurs in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 18, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Daigneault applauded Williams for fighting through the injury and doing everything he could to help Oklahoma City.
“He didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what to expect. So, it was a matter of getting him out there in kind of an insulated role and see what he can bring to the team. He’s an All-Star player, he’s an All-NBA player. He hasn’t done a full return to play [protocol] like he would if this was the regular season, and yet, he just wants to do whatever he can to try to contribute whatever he can to the team.”
BLOCKBUSTER GAME 7 SHOWDOWN: FOUR BEST BETS FOR SAN ANTONIO SPURS AT OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
“I give him a lot of credit to get himself out there. He did the best he could. He’s certainly not the reason we lost.”
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams reacts to a shot by forward Luguentz Dort in the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during game one of the Western Conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 18, 2026. (Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)
Williams did not talk to reporters after Thursday’s game in San Antonio.
Williams underwent surgery last offseason to repair a wrist injury but still played a key role in the Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals last season. He appeared in just 33 regular-season games before this year’s playoffs.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jalen Williams drives into the paint during the first quarter of Game Two of the NBA Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on May 20, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
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The winner of Saturday’s Game 7 will advance to the NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks. New York snapped a nearly three-decade Finals drought by sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
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