The College Football Playoff committee put Notre Dame 11th for not beating anybody good, then put Kentucky sixth, Alabama fifth and Tennessee 13th, behind the Alabama team the Vols beat by 16. So I made my own list, The Correct Top 10, and it’s mostly about who you beat.
My No. 1 is Texas, the committee’s No. 7. Two losses, both by three, but the Longhorns beat Ohio State, Ole Miss and Tennessee, three of the committee’s own top 13. Nobody else on my list has more than one win like that. Georgia is second, Ohio State third and Miami, the committee’s No. 1, is fourth.
Tennessee is fifth, one spot ahead of Alabama. Same record, same conference, and we won the game 26-10. Kentucky is ninth, not sixth, because a four-touchdown home loss to Alabama costs more than two close losses.
I left out Notre Dame, UCLA, Indiana and LSU, four teams riding records built on soft schedules. Records can lie in November. Wins don’t.
Read the full column, with every team explained, at Five and a Fade: https://fiveandafade.com/2026/11/03/records-can-lie-in-november-wins-dont/
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