A fourth team has emerged as No. 1in the college football polls this week, and we are just past the midway point in the season.
You know the saying … "if you have four you have none."
OK, that may be true of quarterbacks when a coach cannot decided between two. But you get the idea.
Is there really a No. 1 team in college football this season? And if not, is that all bad?
The answer to both is: "No."
Because if you have chaos at the top during the regular season that should set up an unpredictable, entertaining, highly competitive 12-team playoff.
The current Coaches Poll has five undefeated teams in the top 10, including No. 1 Miami. An argument can be made
that all five are over-ranked.
Especially when you consider those five teams — Miami, BYU (3), Texas Tech (5), Utah (9) and UCLA (10), have combined to play three teams ranked at the time of the game.
The same number that No. 13 Alabama has played. And, yes, Ole Miss has played four but, sorry, the Rebels are not getting credit any longer for beating Louisville on a walk-off field goal.
Each team among the unbeatens can justify its ranking, some stronger than others. Similarly, a case can be made for each being over ranked.
Of course, none of this matters. What matters is the College Football Playoff Committee's final ranking Dec. 6.
And what criteria matters most to the committee this year. Is it eye test? Strength of schedule? The cryptic game control? How about head-to-head? Some combination of those?
We will learn more in two weeks when its first ranking is unveiled.
Or not.
Just ask Notre Dame and Miami how that can change.
But back to this year.
Five teams in the top 25 are unbeaten after Week 7. Exactly one year ago, that number was 12. What does that say? Hard to say but I know this: If I were a gambling man and pressured into taking one of those five or the field …
Give me the field.
In fact, I will argue of those five teams, only Miami is a true national contender with BYU a dark horse. As for Texas Tech, Utah and UCLA … all headed for first-round playoff exits, if they make the playoffs.
One-loss teams such as Ohio State (2), Georgia (4), Indiana (6), Ole Miss (7), Notre Dame (8) and Tennessee (11); and two-loss Alabama (13), would be favored over Texas Tech, Utah and UCLA on any neutral field.
A year ago this week, Miami was No. 2 and Indiana No. 7. The Hurricanes then needed help to make the playoff after being squeezed out of the ACC title game. The Hoosiers got better and better and had the top seed entering the playoffs.
Of course, both were there at the end, playing a dramatic title game won by Indiana.
Miami is No. 1, but are the Hurricanes the best team in the country?
This unpredictable season was captured in one weekend that could have had any one of six teams come out of it ranked No. 1.
All Georgia had to do to hold onto the No. 1 spot was win at home against a nearly three-touchdown underdog. Instead, its loss to unranked Auburn meant the Bulldogs were No. 1 two days longer than Katie Zacharia was the White House press secretary.
That meant Notre Dame was in the prime spot to climb to the top. But the Irish failed their first true test of the season, losing 28-24 at BYU in a game that ended with two legitimate controversies that could have given Notre Dame a chance to win.
But it was Miami rising to the top spot with areferee-aided, double-overtime victory over Florida State, a reeling program that is holding yard sales to raise money to fire its coach.
If Miami did not escape, Ohio State would have returned to No. 1, unless, of course, Nick Marsh's left foot did not land partly out of bounds and Indiana held on to defeat the Buckeyes. Then it would have been the Hoosiers at the top.
All the while, BYU would have stated its case by beating what was then No. 2 Notre Dame.
All to point out, we do not know what we do not know about how this season ends.
Who would you take? Are you certain the national champion is going to come from the top 5 in the current poll? I am not.
Although I still believe the two best teams in the country are Ohio State and Georgia with the winner of the Nov. 7 Miami-Notre Dame emerging as a solid contender.
And do not discount a team or two outside the top 10 finding that spark — as Miami did the final month of the regular season a year ago — and making a run.
It all adds up to wild, unpredictable second half of the college football season in which a favorite may or may not emerge but will ensure an entertaining playoff.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: After chaotic weekend, what do we know about college football 2026?
