Parity becoming college football’s new normal
National View
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Unranked Auburn and Florida caused quite a stir when they upset then-No. 1 Georgia and No. 7 Texas, respectively, a couple of weeks ago.
Maybe the word "upset" would have applied to those results during another era of college football, but as it relates to the present day's pay-for-play model, an eyebrow-raising loss by a ranked team to an unranked power conference opponent is just the cost of doing business.
Losers of three straight at the time, Colorado came within a successful Hail Mary of knocking off undefeated and 15-point favorite Utah, which now sports the longest active winning streak in FBS at 13 games.
Last weekend, two more Top-10 teams were toppled by unranked opponents.
UCF posted its first-ever win over an AP Top-5 opponent by stunning then-No. 2 BYU and Cincinnati defeated No. 8 Texas Tech.
Over the last 45 years, Cincinnati has beaten a Top-10 team just four times.
Thanks to various court rulings and NCAA rules changes that created the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing, the college game has been transformed into a professional business that retains a higher education pretense.
To borrow a popular catchphrase, this is the new normal in the sport.
After making the coaching transition from college to pro football, Jimmy Johnson observed that the overall level of talent on each team accounted for the competitive balance in the NFL.
That can now be said about power conference teams that have invested their financial resources wisely in roster construction.
"I misfired on the whole conversation about NIL and transfer portal," Urban Meyer said. "I thought the rich would get richer. What it's done is make parity in college football."
With only three appearances in the final AP ranking since 1992, Wake Forest has become a symbol of the new era in college football.
Led by transfer quarterback Gio Lopez (via North Carolina most recently and South Alabama), who is ranked among the nation's leaders in all the key passing categories, the Demon Deacons are already bowl eligible at 6-1.
As one observer noted, the uniforms and logos of college football's traditional powers might still command respect, but they no longer guarantee domination.
Hooping it up
Basketball isn't the only sport that charts second-chance points.
After a roughing the kicker penalty on BYU kept UCF's opening drive of the second overtime alive, the Knights cashed in two plays later on Grayson Brousseau's 4-yard touchdown reception and a 2-point conversion.
The UCF defense shored up the 39-31 upset and the biggest win in program history by forcing three straight incompletions from their own 4-yard line.
"From what I saw, I don't think that's a personal foul, roughing the kicker, but you know, we still didn't score," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said.
In the catbird seat
Methodically edging past the SEC bluebloods, Kentucky has taken over the top spot in the conference standings with a 5-1 record.
Winners of five straight SEC games for the first time since 1977, Kentucky ran its record to 7-1 overall by topping Vanderbilt 34-17 last Saturday.
The Wildcats entered the Vanderbilt game as the least-penalized team in the SEC and the conference leader in turnover margin.
By limiting the Commodores to 15 net rushing yards, Kentucky's defense has now held three straight SEC opponents under 100 rushing yards for the first time since 1999.
With the Wildcats trailing 3-0 after the first quarter, the team's offense totaled 362 yards and 24 first downs in the final three quarters against Vandy.
Where there's a will...
North Texas surrendered over 500 yards to Navy and held the ball for less than 23 minutes and still won by 10 points, 49-39.
Touchdowns on a 76-yard punt return and 63-yard fumble return provide the explanation for how the Mean Green (5-2) pulled out the win despite running 25 fewer plays.
"It was a three-phase win. We made them have to play from behind and that's not something they like to do," said North Texas head coach Neal Brown.
Navy allowed two non-offensive touchdowns for the first time since Oct. 14, 2000, against Notre Dame.
Notable
– SMU's 18-3 record in ACC play since joining the conference in 2024 represents the most wins by an ACC team during that span.
– The only winless team in FBS is Northern Illinois (0-7) of the Mountain West Conference.
– Will Stein is the first Kentucky head coach since E.R. Sweetland in 1909 to start his tenure at the school at 7-1.
– At 0-4 in Pac-12 play, Washington State, a holdover in the reconstituted conference, is the only member without a Pac-12 win.
– Oregon's loss at Illinois was its first on the road in Big Ten play since joining the conference in 2024. The streak was snapped at 10 games (and included a win over Penn State in 2025).
≥ With a school-record 16 catches against Pitt, Miami's Malachi Toney doubled the total number of receptions posted by Army, Navy and Air Force in each of their respective games last weekend.
– In the longest trip ever logged by an FBS team for a conference game within the United States, Hawaii traveled 4,255 miles from Honolulu to DeKalb, Illinois, to defeat Northern Illinois in a Mountain West encounter, 56-21.
– In rolling past Tulane 42-19, UTSA (7-1) matched school records for takeaways (six) and rushing touchdowns (six).
Quotable
"If you are someone who is defending Lincoln Riley still, I'm just going to assume you're a Notre Dame, Oregon, or UCLA fan."
-- Social media post by a USC follower after the Trojans were beaten by Wisconsin, 24-7
"We don't have the body of work as a team right now to be anything other than who we are. You are your film, right? That's who we are."
-- Oregon head coach Dan Lanning after a 21-10 loss to Illinois dropped the preseason No. 2-ranked Ducks to 4-3 overall
"In life, you can do just enough. That's a lot of people's bad habits. We were doing everything we were supposed to do, but there was more in there. We found it tonight."
-- UCF head coach Scott Frost on his team's upset of No. 2 BYU that followed second-half meltdowns in losses to then-No. 20 Houston by 10 points and No. 18 Oklahoma State by 14
"I'm as frustrated as I've ever been in my 32 years of coaching. I'm really searching for words."
-- Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire after his 8th-ranked squad turned the ball over three times and scored only one offensive touchdown in a 37-24 loss at Cincinnati
"You give up a blocked punt right off the bat and have four turnovers, it's unrealistic to think that you'll win a conference game like that."
-- Kirk Ferentz after the blocked punt on the game's first series led to a Minnesota field goal in then-No. 15 Iowa's 13-10 loss
Jim Caltagirone, a former member of Penn State's sports information department, comments on the national scene for Gameday. He can be reached at jimclion4ever@gmail.com