2026 College Football Rankings: Texas Takes No. 1 After Win Over Ohio State

Joel Klatt said he didn’t want to spend this much time on one game in the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show,” but after Texas and Ohio State played what he called an instant classic in Week 2, he couldn’t help himself. The Longhorns rallied from 20 points down to beat Ohio State by one, and Klatt said that result, not a blowout over an unknown opponent, is exactly what should define the top of his rankings. So, as you’d expect, Texas climbed up to No. 1 in his most recent rankings. But what should we make of Ohio State? Which other teams are threatening Texas for the top spot? Now that we have two weeks of college football in the books, here are Klatt’s 10 best teams in the country. Klatt’s thoughts: I have an apology — I did not include Utah in my preseason top 25. What a miss from your boy. Well, they’re back. Death, taxes, and Utah football — Utah is No. 10 at 2-0. I know Arkansas isn’t a great program, but it’s still the SEC. Utah fell behind 3-0 in that game, then scored the next 43 points. They were up 43-3 before Arkansas got a late touchdown. We know they can run it, but they threw for 300 yards too, leaning on Devon Dampier. Their new coach, Morgan Scalley, has been there for years; he knows the culture, he knows how to win. I love to say there’s death and taxes and Utah football, and I love that it drives BYU fans crazy every time I say it. Klatt’s thoughts: USC is 3-0. It wasn’t their best performance; they beat Louisiana 49-30. I like Mark Bowman; he had a big game: six catches, 83 yards, a couple of touchdowns. Jayden Maiava now has 10 touchdowns and one interception through three games. I wish their defense would’ve played a little better in this one, but that’s still a good team. Would it surprise anybody if they beat Oregon, now that we’ve seen Oregon play terrible two weeks in a row? They’re going to welcome Oregon in a few weeks, and I don’t think anyone should be shocked if USC wins that game. Klatt’s thoughts: Alabama didn’t look great early — in the first half, 16 carries for five yards. I’m like, here we go again, Alabama can’t run the football, they won’t run the football. Then they come out in the second half and run it for 150 yards and just bludgeon Kentucky to death. They found themselves in a battle, outscored Kentucky 32-0 in the second half, ran it for over 150 yards at six per carry. That’s something — sustaining the run game like that is not something Ryan Grubb has historically done, and it’s one of the reasons Seattle had such a problem with it. Klatt’s thoughts: Yeah, I get it, 52-0 against Rice, but come on — this is one of those games where I know nothing about Notre Dame. I’m a little concerned. That’s two straight games under four yards per carry. It was 5.7 last year, fourth-best in college football. I know they lost Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, but they’re at 3.6 yards per carry this season — 117th in the country. I like CJ Carr, but it’s really tough to play quality quarterback football independent of a run game. Notre Dame and Miami — we’re going to know nothing about either of them until they actually play each other. Klatt’s thoughts: Indiana beat Howard 55-0. Nothing we learned there. Charlie Becker, by the way — he’s got six catches on the year, five touchdowns. Klatt’s thoughts: I moved LSU down a little bit. They struggled through the Louisiana Tech game before pulling away in the second half again. They were urgent against Clemson; I think they were complacent last week. No team is ever as good or as bad as we think; that’s an old adage I love. You’re never as good as you think after the game, you’re never as bad as you think after the game. You are what the film says that you are. That’s why the film is so important. Klatt’s thoughts: I really like Miami, and I know nothing about them. I want to like Miami a lot — I know nothing about them. They beat Florida A&M 70-something, 156 yards of total offense, twice as many touchdown passes as incompletions for their quarterback. Malachi Toney is the real deal. Miami and Notre Dame — we’re not going to know anything about them until they play. It’s so frustrating, because their schedules are drastically different in difficulty compared to Texas and Ohio State. Klatt’s thoughts: Georgia beat Western Kentucky by 50. They’re averaging 8.7 yards per carry. They might be great — I just don’t really know it yet. You might whine and cry and say Notre Dame was dominant, Miami was dominant, Georgia was dominant, and Ohio State lost. Yeah, but Ohio State played Texas. The Miami and Notre Dame schedules are night and day compared to what Texas and Ohio State are going to see the rest of the season. These are real schedules, as opposed to what some other teams are playing. Klatt’s thoughts: I’m actually more impressed with what Ohio State did here, even with the flaws, than with teams that “won” against nobody. They had a 20-point lead at Texas and lost it by one — but they’re my No. 2 team in the country. Compare that to fanbases sitting there asking, “Did you see us play?” Yeah, against air. I know nothing about those teams. Nothing. Ohio State’s remaining schedule is brutal: at Iowa, at Indiana, at USC, Oregon at home, Nebraska and Michigan. Not easy. They played Texas, and they’re going to keep getting tested all season. That earns real credit. Klatt’s thoughts: I didn’t want to talk about this game for this long, but it was too good, and I had to. Texas is my No. 1 team in the country. Ohio State led by 20 at Texas on a Saturday night — Texas came back and won by one. I’m giving them full credit for playing that game and winning it. This is why I’m not going to be like the AP: I won’t knock a team down for a loss in a matchup game like this. Texas’ remaining schedule is a gauntlet too — at Tennessee, Oklahoma, Red River. These are real schedules, not cupcakes, and that’s exactly why Texas earns the top spot.