2024 college football rankings: Joel Klatt’s top 10 teams after Week 10

The first Saturday of November provided us with another exciting weekend of college football.

Of course, the weekend was headlined by a top-five matchup in Happy Valley, where Ohio State took down Penn State. It was a tremendous win for the Buckeyes and their national championship hopes, while the Nittany Lions’ woes against top-ranked opponents continued. 

Both teams are featured in my top 10 after Week 10. 

Who else is up there? Let’s take a complete look at my latest rankings. 

1. Oregon (Last week: 1)
Record: 9-0
Week 10 result: Defeated Michigan, 38-17

Oregon is the most complete team in the country. It’s the team that has answered the most questions stemming from the way it struggled early in the year. I think Oregon beats you in several different ways. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel continues to get better, and he’s going to be a Heisman Trophy finalist with the way he is playing. 

The catches that Oregon’s wide receivers make and the speed the group has is tremendous. Its offensive line continues to improve as it’s getting more players back from injury. So, it wasn’t a surprise to see Oregon win the way it did at Michigan on Saturday. The one question I have with this Ducks team is the injury to wide receiver Tez Johnson. Still, they have great talent at the position. 

2. Ohio State (Last week: 3)
Record: 7-1
Week 10 result: Defeated Penn State, 20-13

Saturday had to have been incredibly encouraging for Ohio State fans. Many of the questions surrounding the team and head coach Ryan Day were hard to argue with. The way Ohio State played in its games against Oregon and Nebraska, along with Day’s record in big games over the last few seasons, left some room for doubt entering Saturday. I had my doubts that this team was a championship-caliber team and that this was Penn State’s best chance to knock down Ohio State since its win over the Buckeyes in 2016. Ohio State’s offensive line was also banged up entering Saturday’s game, with Donovan Jackson and Carson Hinzman making their first starts at left tackle and left guard, respectively. 

Now, I’m bullish on the Buckeyes after the way they played, especially against the Nittany Lions‘ defensive front in that atmosphere. OSU is absolutely national championship caliber based on what it did on the offensive line. It was a messy situation entering that game, and it left Beaver Stadium with a good answer on its offensive front. It was cohesive and ready to go. The Buckeyes rushed for 176 yards on 40 carries, running the ball down PSU’s throat to ice the game in the final five minutes. That’s a championship mindset. We knew Ohio State was talented on the outside, so there were no questions about that. Ohio State’s offensive line wasn’t perfect, but it was able to execute when it mattered the most. 

Additionally, Ohio State didn’t need its quarterback to play great in order to win. That’s a revelation because it has been the opposite the last few years. In fact, Will Howard might have played his worst game of the season, throwing a pick-six on the Buckeyes’ first drive and losing a fumble at the goal line later in the first half. Howard was probably too emotional going into the game, making that comment earlier in the week when he said he was looking forward to playing Penn State after being snubbed by the school as a recruit. I actually think that was a big reason why he played poorly, as he looked to be Superman. 

That was also the sort of performance we expected from Ohio State’s defense. I expected this defense to be dominant entering the year, but there were some questions about the unit after the loss to Oregon. It turned into a dominant defense on Saturday. Safety Caleb Downs might be the best defender in college football, with his impact and style reminding me of Troy Palamalu. 

3. Georgia (Last week: 2)
Record: 7-1
Week 10 result: Defeated Florida, 34-20

What’s going on with Georgia? Carson Beck has got to stop turning the ball over. I had him as the best QB in the country at the start of the year. He’s not even close to that right now. He has thrown 11 interceptions in the past five games. It shows how difficult it is to play the position when you don’t have players like Brock Bowers or Ladd McConkey to throw to. 

This makes Georgia very up and down. We saw the Bulldogs beat Texas, but they did that without great quarterback play. Their defense is still great, and it might be the best in college football, but Georgia’s offense is a bit of a liability right now. If Beck can stop committing turnovers, though, Georgia will be fine. 

4. Texas (Last week: 5)
Record: 7-1
Week 10 result: Idle

I still like Texas. The Longhorns’ last couple of games might not have been their best showings, but they got a chance to regroup and recover with a bye in Week 10. I’m excited to see what they can do in the homestretch of the regular season.  

5. Miami (Fla.) (Last week: 10)
Record: 9-0
Week 10 result: Defeated Duke, 53-31

It’s getting interesting in the ACC. Miami continues to win with its offense and I still love watching Cam Ward. He’s sensational, and I’m not sure how good people realized he was at Washington State. Miami has allowed at least 31 points in four of its past five games, but it didn’t matter because Ward and that offense are so good. Running back Damien Martinez and wide receiver Xavier Restrepo have also been great for the Hurricanes.

Still, with the way Miami has been winning, the question of how it might play against one of the better teams in the sport still lingers. It’s been in a lot of close games this season and I wonder if it might be similar to the 2014 Florida State team that went undefeated before getting smoked by Oregon in the College Football Playoff. 

6. Indiana (Last week: 7)
Record: 9-0
Week 10 result: Defeated Michigan State, 47-10

The Hoosiers are the most underrated team in America, without question. They finally jumped five spots in this week’s AP poll, moving to No. 8. They should be higher than that in the first CFP rankings as they have an argument to be the fifth-best team in the country. 

I know people are going to say, “Indiana hasn’t played anybody.” I hate that argument. You have no control over the schedule you play as a player. Nobody has done what Indiana has done against their respective schedules. Indiana has won every game by at least 14 points. Nobody else can say that. 

Indiana faced some adversity early on against Michigan State, going down 10-0. It responded with 47 straight points. Indiana leads the FBS in point differential, outscoring opponents by 32.9 points per game. Indiana has the No. 2 scoring offense in the country and if it had any other logo on its helmet, it’d be ranked at No. 2 or No. 3 at a minimum. 

7. Tennessee (Last week: 8)
Record: 7-1
Week 10 result: Defeated Kentucky, 28-18

I love Tennessee’s defense. That unit is giving Nico Iamaleava time to grow at quarterback. If he grows and matures to a certain level before the season ends, watch out. They’ll be very dangerous. 

8. Penn State (Last week: 4)
Record: 7-1
Week 10 result: Lost to Ohio State, 20-13

First off, the play selection from Penn State at the goal line on its final drive had me saying, “What are we doing?” We’ve been singing offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s praises all season long between his creativity and the way he gets his stars the ball. Penn State got five snaps inside the 5-yard line in that game. Running back Nicholas Singleton and tight end Tyler Warren didn’t get a touch or target on any of them. That cannot happen. Its best formation from inside the 5-yard line all season long has been snapping the ball to Warren. Penn State will lament that issue.

The big game problem continues, though, for Penn State. Over the last few years, it has been beaten one of two ways: by being outmanned by Ohio State on the outside and in the skill positions or being unable to keep up with Michigan’s bullyball style. Saturday’s game was actually more of Ohio State taking a page out of Michigan’s playbook to beat Penn State, mauling the Nittany Lions with a great run game. 

Penn State doesn’t lose to unranked teams, so it’ll probably end the season 11-1. It’ll probably have a home game in the CFP. Now, the question is, will Penn State fix the issues? We’ve seen a few other great teams this season already fix their respective issues after some stumbles. Penn State is getting beat in the same way, failing to get the ball to its stars and getting beat physically or being outskilled by its opponent. 

Before the season began, my definition of a successful season for Penn State was whether it could take a step forward. We’ve already seen this program finish eighth in the country on multiple occasions. We haven’t seen them beat a team to put them on the top level yet. So, as bad as Saturday’s loss might have felt for PSU fans, there’s still time to make it a successful year. 

9. Alabama (Last week: 9)
Record: 6-2
Week 10 result: Idle

I just can’t quit the Crimson Tide. They’re too explosive on offense. I know there are some questions about their defense. However, when QB Jalen Milroe is right, they can beat anyone in the country. 

10. BYU (Last week: unranked)
Record: 8-0
Week 10 result: Idle

BYU is finally in my top 10. The Cougars were on a bye this week, but they kind of feel like a team of destiny. They remind us of that TCU team that went to the national championship game in 2022. There might be something magical brewing there.

Joel Klatt is FOX Sports’ lead college football game analyst and the host of the podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.” Follow him at @joelklatt and subscribe to the “Joel Klatt Show” on YouTube.

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