College football resume rankings: Texas on top as UCLA, Duke, Tulsa stand out early in 2026 season

If you stripped away brand bias, preseason expectations, efficiency and future projections, here's what a truly meritocratic college football ranking would look like

Sep 17, 2026 at 2:41 pm ET • 3 min read

You won't find UCLA, Duke or Tulsa in this week's AP Top 25, in Tom Fornelli's power ratings or Brandon Marcello's power rankings. But entering Week 3 action, they have a home in the top 10 of a resume ranking.

Wins, losses and locations. Period.

That's what a resume score is all about, and that's what we're offering.

Strip away efficiency, victory margin, postgame win expectancy, the eye test, talent level, preseason expectations, future projections, brand bias and a multitude of other factors that play into other ranking systems, and this is what you get.

It's akin to the Wins Above Bubble or "WAB" metric popularized in college basketball over the past two seasons. Every outcome results in a score between -1 and 1 based on game location and where the opponent falls in the CBS Sports 138.

CBS Sports 138: Texas surges to No. 1 spot, Michigan returns to top 25 in college football rankings

Chip Patterson

Scores are assigned based on the expected likelihood that an "average" No. 25-ranked team would win.

With wins over Cal and San Diego State, UCLA is among a small group of teams that have played two top-60 opponents. The Bruins won both games, and therefore have added a couple of nice early gains to their resume score. Duke has a road win over a top-50 Illinois team, while Tulsa knocked off a top-40 Oklahoma State.

At a time when many Power Four programs still don't have a victory against another Power Four team, those results stand out.

You won't see Ohio State here. But the Buckeyes will find their way up the charts in resume score once they enter Big Ten play. Ohio State only received a -0.02 hit for losing on the road to a Texas team now ranked No. 1. The average No. 25-ranked team would only be expected to win on the road against the No. 1-ranked team roughly 2% of the time. So, the Buckeyes are barely penalized at all for losing.

Combine that with the 0.01 gain the Buckeyes received for beating No. 135 Ball State at home in Week 1, and you get a cumulative score of -0.01 for the Buckeyes. It's basically like they are starting from scratch.

Against that backdrop, here are college football's top 15 resume scores through Week 2. At No. 1 with a score of 0.90, Texas has nearly a full win more than the average No. 25-ranked team would be expected to have against its schedule to this point.

Resume rankings

1	Texas
Week 1: W vs. No. 88 Texas State (+0.09) Week 2: W vs. No. 5 Ohio State (+0.81) 
 Resume score: +0.90
2	Michigan
Week 1: W vs. No. 69 Western Michigan (+0.14) *** Considering this a Michigan win until the CFP Selection Committee indicates that it won't Week 2: W vs. No. 26 Oklahoma (+0.41) 
 Resume score: 0.55 
3	Ole Miss
Week 1: W vs. No. 23 Louisville (Neutral) (+0.53) Week 2: W vs. No. 138 Charlotte (+0.01) 
 Resume score: 0.54
4	UCLA
Week 1: W @ No. 47 California (+0.33) Week 2: W vs. No. 54 San Diego State (+0.20) 
 Resume score: 0.53
5	Alabama
Week 1: W vs. No. 90 East Carolina (+0.09) Week 2: W @ No. 37 Kentucky (+0.41) 
 Resume score: 0.50
6	Duke
Week 1: W vs. No. 104 Tulane (+0.05) Week 2: W @ No. 43 Illinois (+0.36) 
 Resume score: 0.41
7	Tulsa
Week 1: W vs. No. 38 Oklahoma State (+0.30) Week 2: W @ No. 126 Sam Houston (+0.05) 
 Resume score: 0.35
8	BYU
Week 1: W vs. Utah Tech (+0.01) Week 2: W vs. No. 33 Arizona (+0.34) 
 Resume score: 0.35
9	Auburn
Week 1: W vs. No. 42 Baylor (Neutral) (+0.32) Week 2: W vs. No. 128 Southern Miss (+0.02) 
 Resume score: 0.34
10	SMU
Week 1: W @ No. 49 Florida State (+0.32) Week 2: W vs. UC Davis (+0.01) 
 Resume score: 0.33
11	Texas A&M
Week 1: W vs. No. 133 Missouri State (+0.01) Week 2: W vs. No. 39 Arizona State (+0.29) 
 Resume score: 0.30
12	LSU
Week 1: W vs. No. 55 Clemson (+0.19) Week 2: W vs. No. 81 Louisiana Tech (+0.11) 
 Resume score: 0.30
13	Miss. State
Week 1: W vs. No. 132 Louisiana-Monroe (+0.01) Week 2: W @ No. 56 Minnesota (+0.28) 
 Resume score: 0.29
14	Tennessee
Week 1: W vs. Furman (FCS) (+0.01) Week 2: W @ No. 57 Georgia Tech (+0.27) 
 Resume score: 0.28
15	Colorado
Week 1: W @ No. 57 Georgia Tech (+0.27) Week 2: W vs. Weber State (FCS) (+0.01) 
 Resume score: 0.28