College football rankings: Ohio State jumps Georgia as BYU, Navy make big leaps in CBS Sports 134

We are four weeks into the 2024 college football season and the competition for the top spots in the rankings could not be closer. What was potentially viewed as a two- or three-team race for No. 1 has expanded with the preseason favorites putting together resume-boosting wins and new contenders joining the picture with their own impressive starts. 

We have already seen multiple teams hold the No. 1 spot in the CBS Sports 134, and while Texas remains there after Week 4, it’s some of the jockeying for other spots in the top 10 that has our attention. 

Ohio State narrowly beat out Georgia for No. 2 following its third win of the season, a 49-14 thrashing of Marshall, and in doing so, the Buckeyes have returned to their preseason position of being in the debate for No. 1. Ohio State had given up some ground while Georgia squeezed out Clemson in Week 1 and then Texas toppled Michigan in the Big House in Week 2.

But the CBS Sports 134 voters, comprised of experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports, never dropped Ohio State lower than No. 3, and as we head into the meat of conference play, there is no unanimous consensus. In fact, the average ranking of each team (Ohio State at 2.7, Georgia at 2.8) shows that other teams are in the mix for top spots as well. 

That’s where Tennessee, which jumped Alabama for No. 4 after its win at Oklahoma, or even Miami and Ole Miss are starting to build out a profile that’s worth considering for the very best team in the country. The Volunteers are in the lead with more quality wins, but the lopsided nature of some of the victories suggests the top tier in the sport may be much larger than we imagined coming into the season. 

Of course, all of it will shake out in the coming weeks as those top teams will be tested against each other and against conference opponents eyeing upset opportunities. That begins in Week 5 with Georgia’s trip to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama, the first of many games sure to shake up the rankings at the top. 

College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-134 on our rankings page.

Biggest movers 

• No. 35 James Madison (+44): The loss of former coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana along with a hefty transfer portal exodus had preseason expectations a bit lower for the Dukes, but that’s flipped quickly after they went into Chapel Hill and put 70 points on the scoreboard in a win against North Carolina. Now 3-0 on the season, JMU has to be considered yet again one of the teams to beat in the Sun Belt. 
• No. 49 Navy (+29): Don’t look now, but Navy and Army are currently tied for first place in the AAC, each boasting a 2-0 record against league opponents. And for the Midshipmen, any conference title hopes were boosted with a head-to-head win against one of the league favorites in Memphis. That upset win had our voters pulling up anchor to move Navy way up in the rankings. 
• No. 19 BYU (+25): When BYU went into Dallas and beat SMU, there was a line of thinking that the result was more about the Mustangs’ issues than the Cougars strengths. That’s clearly not the case after seeing BYU handle Kansas State on Saturday night to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2012. 
• No. 22 Indiana (+15): It’s been a slow rise up the rankings for the Hoosiers, who continue to absolutely pound each and every opponent on the schedule. Now at 4-0 after a blowout win against Charlotte, Indiana’s combined score on the season is 202-37. 
• No. 25 Pittsburgh (+13): Similar to Indiana, it seems as though’s Pitt’s move up the rankings has been more steady than a direct result of the Week 4 result, which for the Panthers was absolutely blitzing Youngstown State. This is a Pitt team that is now 4-0 with wins against Cincinnati and West Virginia thanks to a new offense that has thrived under the guidance of quarterback Eli Holstein.  
• No. 32 Nebraska (-13): Our voters were a bit higher on the Cornhuskers than the traditional polls coming into Week 4, so some of the adjustment here could be viewed as a course correction following the overtime loss to Illinois. The margins for some of these one-loss teams inside the top 40 are very small, and a home loss as a touchdown favorite will get you knocked in the rankings. 
• No. 30 Kansas State (-17): An absolute implosion on the road, like what Kansas State experienced in Provo, Utah, late Saturday night, is not uncommon in college football. But it’s absolutely going to spark a big adjustment in the rankings when you enter the matchup inside the top 15. 
• No. 46 Cal (-18): Taking down Auburn two weeks ago really gave the Bears some rankings momentum that helped position them for a continued rise if they could have finished the job in Tallahassee against Florida State. Now after a defeat to a three-loss team that our voters had outside the top 70 going into the weekend, we see a drop in the rankings. 
• No. 47 Northern Illinois (-23): Beating Notre Dame will lead to a rise into the ranks that are uncommon for a team like Northern Illinois, and then losing to Buffalo will quickly reverse course and spark a return to those more familiar spots in the middle of the CBS Sports 134. 
• No. 52 Memphis (-27): A preseason pick to win the AAC, our voters were really high on what Memphis could be in 2024, and much of that still can be accomplished. But losing to Navy in the fashion they did is going to garner some swift action from the voters. 

Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 134: Teams ranked 26-134