Weeks five through eight of the college football season have been hectic for the rankings. At the beginning of week five the top ten included Clemson, Oklahoma, USC, Washington, and Michigan who all suffered upsets and fell in the rankings. Major upsets have always been a part of college football and true contenders have to avoid upsets. The true contenders are now being separated from the pack. The current top five are all teams that have avoided losses and all have hopes for the national title.

The top five teams have clearly separated themselves from the pack as the key five undefeated teams. These teams are led by the number one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. The Tide have a bye week coming up and then have a test against an LSU team that struggled early, but has seemed to have found their stride in the last three games coming away with wins against Florida, Auburn, and Ole Miss. The second ranked Penn State team faces off against the highest ranked one loss team in Ohio State. RB Saquon Barkley has virtually already secured the Heisman and a win here would be huge for their resume to go to the College Football playoff. Georgia, TCU, and Wisconson also are undefeated and look to factor into the playoff picture. Miami is also undefeated, but is only ranked number eight. South Florida and Central Florida have also not been defeated and are ranked number seventeen and eighteen respectively.

Many high ranked teams suffered huge losses during these few weeks. Clemson, who was ranked number two, was upset by an unranked Syracuse team. This loss has knocked them back to number seven, but if they are able to win out they should receive a birth in the college football playoff. Oklahoma suffered a loss to an Iowa State team that was unranked, but has broken into the rankings at number twenty-five this week. With the sudden rise of Iowa State, Oklahoma still has a chance at factoring into the playoff picture. USC has taken two losses in this time and is pretty much out of the playoff picture. Washington and Washington State have both taken losses and because of their poor strength of schedule they have very little chance of making a push for the playoffs. Auburn suffered their second loss of the season when they played LSU so it will be hard for them to become a factor, but if they win out, which would include a win against Alabama, they could become a factor, but it is very unlikely.

These most recent weeks have showed how real contenders can collapse under pressure and others can flourish. The coming weeks will show if the teams that suffered ugly losses will be able to bounce back and stay in contention and whether or not the top five teams will continue to be dominant. Alabama looks unstoppable, but will face tests against LSU and Auburn. Penn State and Ohio State will face off in a battle that could determine which one of them gets a playoff birth. Teams with early losses will have to be perfect from now on and do so in a dominant fashion, but it is possible for them to become a factor. The unpredictability of the college football season has been apparent in the previous weeks and will shape how the College Football Playoff ends up.