CBS Sports 138: UCLA soars into top five, Miami sits as unanimous No. 1 in college football rankings

The undefeated Bruins now sit among the very best teams in the country after a 7-0 start to the season

Oct 26, 2026 at 10:10 am ET • 5 min read

The UCLA Bruins continue to build a case as one of the best stories in all of college football, navigating an offseason roster rebuild and midseason injuries to a starting quarterback to a 7-0 record through the first eight weeks of the 2026 season. Bob Chesney's group stepped into the spotlight as a top-10 team on Saturday against Michigan State and overcame a slow start to win handily, prompting yet another move up in the college football rankings. 

In the CBS Sports 138, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team according to experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports, that means a slide up to No. 5. The 7-0 start is UCLA's best since 2005, and since the lifespan of the CBS Sports 138 extends back to 2016-17, we can comfortably say this is the highest the Bruins have been slotted in our rankings this late in the season. 

What's even more striking about UCLA's position in the rankings as we hit the final week of October is the Bruins' company. They carry an average ballot ranking position of 5.6, which has them slightly behind reigning champion Indiana (5.1) and ahead of Notre Dame (5.7). When it comes to our preseason expectations heading into the year, two of those teams are not the other. 

At the very top of the rankings, we finally have a unanimous crowning for Miami at the No. 1 spot, followed by a battle for No. 2 with Ohio State finishing ahead of Georgia. Further down is a fascinating cluster of teams just outside the top 10, seemingly needing one more big statement to break through, as teams Nos. 11-14 all have average ballot rankings between 13.2 and 13.6. In other words, our voters mostly agree that LSU, Ole Miss, Wake Forest and Texas are top-15 quality but do not agree on the order for those teams when it comes to fighting for spots in the top 10. 

As usual, we have identified some of the bigger and more notable week-to-week adjustments in the Mover's Report below the top 25 table. This week includes some praise for Cincinnati's big upset, some tough conversations around a couple of preseason playoff contenders and much more. 

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 26-138 on our rankings page.

Rank	Team	Record	Previous
1	Miami	7-0	1
2	Ohio State	6-1	2
3	Georgia	6-1	4
4	Indiana	7-1	6
5	UCLA	7-0	7
6	Notre Dame	6-1	5
7	Utah	7-0	11
8	BYU	6-1	3
9	Alabama	6-2	12
10	Kentucky	7-1	13
11	LSU	6-2	18
12	Ole Miss	5-2	8
13	Wake Forest	6-1	15
14	Texas	5-2	20
15	Texas Tech	6-1	9
16	Northwestern	6-1	19
17	Tennessee	6-2	10
18	SMU	6-1	21
19	Arizona	6-1	22
20	Florida	5-2	24
21	Houston	6-2	16
22	Missouri	5-2	23
23	Wisconsin	5-2	32
24	Oklahoma State	5-2	26
25	Boise State	6-1	27

Biggest movers 

• No. 32 Cincinnati (+21): The Bearcats had just dropped 13 spots the week prior after taking their second loss in a row, and doing so on the road at West Virginia. Now Scott Satterfield's group has bounced back up and then some after taking down Texas Tech, now knocking on the door of the top 30. 
• No. 30 Minnesota (+12): P.J. Fleck will have an opportunity to contend for the Big Ten title in 2026 thanks in part to Saturday's win against Iowa to claim the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. Minnesota faces Indiana and UCLA in the next two weeks, and thus gets its shot on the field at two of the three teams ahead of them in the Big Ten standings.  
• No. 33 Virginia Tech (+11): Back-to-back losses to Pitt and Cal led to a swift drop in our rankings that has taken a couple of weeks for full recovery. Our voters had Virginia Tech and Clemson both just inside the top 50 last week, so after the Hokies picked up the hard-fought road win, they were a prime candidate to take over some spots in the 30s after other teams lost. 
• No. 23 Wisconsin (+9): Like Minnesota, the Badgers have become a spooky surprise contender here at the end of October. Holding USC to just seven points set up another adjustment in the rankings for a group that's now 5-2 with the only losses coming to teams we have in the top six of the updated CBS Sports 138. 
• No. 26 Iowa (-12): This is a predictable adjustment after a loss that probably does not change Iowa's overall outlook too much, but certainly represents a missed opportunity losing 13-10 to Minnesota. The Hawkeyes will get their chance to bounce back hosting Wisconsin at home on Saturday, and a win there would likely lead to a return to the top 25. 
• No. 44 Oregon (-13): The Ducks' offensive woes have prompted a change in leadership in Eugene, and there's not much to be surprised about when you have a team that has not scored more than 20 points in a game since Sept. 26. Oregon is now 4-3 after the 21-10 loss at Illinois, with a win over Boise State standing out as one of its "best" wins on the resume.  
• No. 31 USC (-14): The inability to score on a big stage Saturday night at Wisconsin has really turned the taste of USC in the eyes of our voters. This team was 6-1 just a couple of weeks ago and seemingly putting together a potential playoff run, but the quality of play in just one game has totally flipped the outlook for what the Trojans can accomplish in 2026. It's just one game, and the team is still technically in the hunt at 6-2, but with games against Ohio State, Indiana and UCLA left, there's not a ton of confidence in Lincoln Riley being able to circle the wagons and crash the CFP. 
• No. 39 Mississippi State (-14): The absence of Kamario Taylor creates a dramatic difference between the way Mississippi State looked in the early weeks of the season and how the team performs, particularly against SEC competition, without the star quarterback in the lineup. Our voters are holding on to those early-season results to keep a high floor for the Bulldogs, but head-to-head wins against Minnesota and Missouri are not carrying as much weight now that the team has hit a three-game losing streak and stands at 4-3 overall. 

Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 138: Teams ranked 26-138