These are the top 10 unbeaten college football teams through Week 5

A quarter of the way through the college football season, you start to get a sense of which teams are for real, and which teams are not.

From the blowout victories to the gritty wins on the road, the best teams always find ways to win. And with four games under most teams’ belts, just 21 unbeaten teams remain.

For non-SEC teams, you pretty much have to go perfect (or close to it) to have any shot at making the College Football Playoff. So here are the 10 best unbeaten teams (who all still have a shot at the Playoff) right now.

The Bulldogs have had just one game against a ranked opponent this season, but boy did they look good. Their 49-3 trashing of Oregon in Week 1 set the tone for their season early. They even made everyone question if Oregon was as good as its No. 11 preseason ranking.

Since then, Oregon has won two impressive games, and only further solidified Georgia’s spot as the best team in college football.

The team already has 13 rushing touchdowns, and TE Brock Bowers has looked like the most versatile weapon in the sport. And despite losing what felt like their entire defense in the 2022 NFL Draft, the team has allowed just eight points a game.

I have Ohio State ahead of Alabama for two reasons. First is their strength of schedule. The Buckeyes had a huge matchup in college football’s opening week against then-fifth ranked Notre Dame. They also played an always tough Wisconsin team, and handled them with ease. Alabama has had just one game against a notable opponent — a road game against a Texas team in which they actually should have lost. And since, Texas has lost again, this time on the road to Texas Tech.

The second reason is the play of quarterback CJ Stroud. While Stroud and Alabama QB Bryce Young are clearly the Heisman favorites right now, Stroud, against tougher competition, has looked sensational. Stroud is 79-of-112 (70.5 percent) for 1,222 yards, 16 touchdowns, against just one interception. He’s the reason Ohio State has the third-ranked scoring offense in the country and the Heisman front-runner.

The Crimson Tide didn’t fall too low in the rankings because of their near loss to Texas. Their offense and defense have been firing on all cylinders in their other three games, and that starts at the top with the play of the Bryce Young.

Young has thrown for over 1,000 yards and rushed for another 150. He has 15 total touchdowns against two interceptions. On the defensive side of the ball, Alabama had been stifling, led by potential No. 1 overall pick Will Anderson Jr. Anderson already has 4.5 sacks on the year, as he leads the second-best defense in the country in terms of yards allowed per game. They’re also tied for first in the country with the fewest touchdowns allowed (two).

Clemson escaped its Week 4 game against Wake Forest, due in large part to the breakout performance by QB DJ Uiageleli. Uiageleli threw for 371 yards and five touchdowns, while his defense, which many thought to be the strong suit of this Clemson team, faltered. But due to their impressive comeback victory against a ranked team on the road, they come in ahead of Michigan, who hasn’t played anyone thus far this season.

Clemson’s defense will definitely have to shore things up, or they could plummet down this list and out of Playoff contention quickly. They have a home matchup with also unbeaten NC State (more on them later), which will be very telling for both teams. But for now, the undefeated Tigers remain in the top four.

The Michigan Wolverines enter Week 5 as the No. 1 scoring offense in the country at 50 points per game. They’ve scored a total of 200 points over their first four games, and have truly been firing on all cylinders. They’re also the least penalized team in the country, with just nine penalties for 84 yards through their first four games.

They haven’t been perfect, though. Their first semi-test came against an undefeated Maryland squad last week, and they barely passed. J.J. McCarthy has looked good at the quarterback position, but he doesn’t compare to the Strouds and Youngs of the world. Michigan will have to rely on its defense and run game again if they want to make it back to the College Football Playoff. But it could all come down to the Wolverines’ Nov. 26 game in Columbus against the Buckeyes.

The eighth-ranked Volunteers come in a little higher on my list because they’ve had some impressive wins to start the season. Against the bad teams (Ball State and Akron), they’ve taken care of business, outscoring them a combined 122-16. Against the good teams (at No. 17 Pittsburgh and home against No. 20 Florida), they’ve found ways to win. And that’s what good teams do.

QB Hendon Hooker has been extremely solid in each of the team’s first four games, throwing for 1,193 yards, eight touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He’s led the Volunteers to the tune of 559.2 yards per game, good for No. 1 in the country. He had an impressive first season in Tennessee last year, and is on pace to have an even better 2022 for one of the best offenses in the country.

The USC Trojans have been a popular pick to make the College Football Playoff among sports bettors. It’s not hard to see why. Led by transfer QB Caleb Williams, the Trojan offense looked unstoppable through the first three weeks of the season. With all of the weapons at Williams’ disposal — Jordan Addison, Mario Williams, Tahj Washington, Brenden Rice, Travis Dye, Austin Jones — it truly looked like their offense could score whenever they want.

Then last week, the Trojans went into Corvallis to play a tough Oregon State team, and their offense went dormant. But it was their defense, who’s tied for first in the country with 14 turnovers, that saved the day. The run defense has looked holey at times, but the bend-but-don’t-break philosophy has seemed to work thus far. And the big-play turnovers have really catapulted this team to relevant status.

It’s still early, but the Trojans have checked all the boxes so far as a true Playoff contender. As they lead the league in forced turnovers, they’re also the only team in the country yet to give one up. Lincoln Riley deserves a lot of credit for changing the culture of that team so quickly.

[Full disclosure: I’m a USC grad.]

This is where the dropoff comes. After the top seven, it’s almost a crapshoot between the final 14 teams. The higher-ranked teams haven’t looked all that impressive, which is why Minnesota slides in here at eight.

Minnesota’s defense has been sensational this year. They’re best in the country in terms of opponent yards per game, allowing just 187.8 a contest. They’ve allowed just three touchdowns all year, and have outscored their opponents a combined 183-24.

They had an impressive win last week at Michigan State, which has catapulted them into the top 10 in this list. If they can get through their Oct. 22 game at Penn State still undefeated, they may have a real chance at making some noise in the Big Ten (they don’t play Michigan or Ohio State in the regular season).

The Washington Huskies are another team who finds themselves behind a good amount of unbeaten teams in the AP Poll. But that doesn’t stop me from putting them in the top 10. Led by transfer QB Michael Penix Jr., the Huskies’ offense has been one of the best in the country. Through four weeks, Penix has thrown for 1,338 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just one interception, and has led the Huskies’ 12th-ranked scoring offense and 5th-ranked offense in terms of yards per game.

Washington had an impressive win against the then-ranked No. 11 Michigan State Spartans, and will have another test Friday night at The Rose Bowl against the also undefeated UCLA Bruins.

This final spot could have gone to a few teams. NC State, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Penn State all made a case. But Kentucky hasn’t looked great outside of a gutsy win at Florida that looks slightly less impressive after their loss to Tennessee. Ole Miss hasn’t played anyone, and struggled last week at home against Tulsa. And Penn State has looked good, but doesn’t have a great win just yet — they play Michigan in two weeks.

So that leaves us with NC State, who has the No. 8 ranked scoring defense, and No. 13 ranked total defense in the country through four games. The Wolfpack struggled in Week 1 against East Carolina, but have settled in nicely over the last three weeks. They’ve outscored those three opponents 123-27, including a win against a Texas Tech team that looks much better now that they’ve upset Texas.

NC State’s biggest test of the season is coming this week at Clemson, so we’ll get a much better sense of how real they are (and Clemson is) after this week.