Bill Connelly Oct 4, 2026, 04:50 PM ET Close Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
As a rule, October is pretty good at telling us everything we got wrong about college football in September. It didn't waste any time this season. Florida and its unstoppable offense got stopped repeatedly in a blowout loss to Missouri. September Heisman winner Kamario Taylor and Mississippi State became the latest team to get overwhelmed by Keelon Russell and Alabama. Michigan's seemingly improving offense stopped improving. UMass' perfect September puttered out. It was a reality check weekend, leaving more clarity in some areas and far less in others.
Week 5 clarified the SEC title race a bit by eliminating unbeaten upstarts. No. 8 Florida and No. 16 Mississippi State losing by a combined 61 points dumped their SP+ ratings enough to kill conference title odds. While Georgia is still a solid favorite, the race is murkier because of Alabama. Kalen De Boer's Crimson Tide might have the highest ceiling, scoring at least 45 points in every game. Per SP+, Georgia has a 45.0% chance to win the title, but Bama is at 24.9% and rising. Unbeaten Texas remains in the hunt but has a stagnant offense.
The Heisman race is clearer. Jeremiah Smith likely moves into the lead after catching 11 balls for 206 yards in a 31-14 road win over Iowa.
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing