We will officially be entering October on the college football calendar, and the College Football Playoff picture is starting to take shape. While some expected teams, such as Texas, Ohio State and Georgia, are looking like title contenders, a crop of unexpected teams has also entered the mix with strong starts to the season.
Chief among those pleasant surprises are Florida and Mississippi State. Jon Sumrall's Gators followed up an impressive win against Auburn with a dominant home victory over No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday. Florida has one of the best rushing attacks in all of football and a great offensive coordinator in Buster Faulkner that makes it very hard to stop.
Later in the night, Mississippi State knocked off Missouri thanks to more late heroics from Kamario Taylor. The Bulldogs are unbeaten heading into a very difficult stretch of schedule, but Jeff Lebby has one of the best quarterbacks in the country to lean on and has his team right in the College Football Playoff mix entering midseason.
Elsewhere around the country, Texas' defense flexed its muscle thanks to five sacks from Colin Simmons against Tennessee. Georgia impressed on both sides of the ball against Oklahoma, LSU rebounded with a blowout win over Texas A&M, and Oregon overcame the loss of Dante Moore to beat USC and put Lincoln Riley firmly on the hot seat.
Who is in the latest College Football Playoff prediction coming out of Week 4? Let's get into the list.
1. Texas (12-1, SEC Champion)
Texas continues to look pretty shaky on offense and Arch Manning continues to play with a frustrating amount of inconsistency, but a road win at Neyland Stadium requires no apology. The Longhorns are 4-0 with the best pair of wins in college football, and the defense is rolling under Will Muschamp. Colin Simmons made a statement on Saturday with five sacks and one memorable celebration.
2. Ohio State (12-1, Big Ten Champion)
Jeremiah Smith continued to dominate with four more touchdowns on Saturday in a blowout win over Illinois. The future top pick is the No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 read for Julian Sayin, and it feels like he catches just about everything that comes his way anyway. Week 5 will present a much tougher test for the Buckeyes on the road against an Iowa team that is now in the top 15 after beating Michigan in The Big House.
3. Georgia (11-1)
Oklahoma's offense was floundering coming into Week 4, and there may not be a less desirable scenario than taking a struggling offense and a quarterback with no confidence between the hedges in Athens to play Georgia. That went as expected, as Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs pounded Oklahoma 41-13 to get on the board in SEC play. Up next for Smart and company is a home game against Vanderbilt and true freshman quarterback Jared Curtis.
4. Notre Dame (11-1)
Notre Dame smoked Purdue, as expected, in Week 4, and it was more of the same for CJ Carr and this elite Notre Dame defense. It's going to be very hard for just about anybody to move the ball up and down the field on this Notre Dame defense, much less an overmatched Purdue roster that is early in its rebuild. Next up for the Irish is a tricky road trip to Chapel Hill to take on Bill Belichick and North Carolina.
5. Miami (FL) (12-1, ACC champion)
Week 4 was another cupcake for the Hurricanes, though their Week 3 road win over Wake Forest is starting to age very well. Now, Mario Cristobal and company get into the stretch of conference play that will test them a bit, starting with a good Clems0on defense on the road in Death Valley in Week 5.
6. BYU (12-1, Big 12 Champion)
BYU had the week off in Week 4, but the Cougars have still looked very good so far in 2026 and have a sneaky impressive win over Arizona already on their CFP resume. Kalani Sitake and company get another telling test on Saturday on the road against a feisty TCU team in Fort Worth.
7. LSU (11-2, SEC Runner-Up)
LSU got back on track with a get-right game against Texas A&M on Saturday, as Lane Kiffin and company rocked the Aggies 35-6 to get back in the win column after a tough loss to Ole Miss. The injuries are starting to pile up for LSU, however, as Sam Leavitt is dealing with a hamstring injury and Whit Weeks is out for a while with a leg fracture. Those injuries pile on top of the injury to tight end Trey'Dez Green, and it leads to come concerning signs for the Tigers.
Next up for LSU is a buy game against McNeese before Kiffin and company dive back into the SEC schedule.
8. Indiana (11-1)
Indiana had its first test of the season on Friday night against Northwestern at home, and it was a rocky one for Curt Cignetti and company. Aidan Chiles and the Northwestern offense, led by Chip Kelly, really got going in the second half and the Indiana offense struggled to find consistent answers in the passing game to match.
Still, thanks to Lee Beebe Jr., the Hoosiers escaped with a 29-23 win to stay undefeated on the season. Next up is a game against Rutgers on the road that should be a little bit more straightforward.
9. Florida (10-2)
Florida's offense looks next to unstoppable with Buster Faulkner calling the shots. The running game, with both Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark running wild, is one of the best in the nation, and the Gators have a lot of winnable games on their schedule. Save for games against Texas and Georgia, the Gators will be favored in the rest of their games this season.
10. Ole Miss (10-2)
In many ways, a mental and emotional letdown was expected for Pete Golding and the Rebels after beating LSU in Lane Kiffin's return. Ole Miss was caught sleeping on the road a little bit, and Jadan Baugh and the Florida running game drove over them easily in The Swamp to give the Rebels their first loss of the season. Ole Miss still has an elite offense, and it will be easier for it to spin this result with Kewan Lacy sidelined. Trinidad Chambliss is still more than good enough to get this team into the CFP.
Article Continues Below11. Oregon (10-3, Big Ten Runner-Up)
Oregon lost Dante Moore on Saturday night to a concussion, but Dylan Raiola came in off the bench and played some of the best football of his career to lead the Ducks to a 41-27 win over USC on the road. Now, the Ducks are right back in the College Football Playoff discussion despite that ugly loss to Oklahoma State back in Week 2. Dan Lanning and company now have a week off before they take on a UCLA team that just made its way into the top 25.
12. Boise State (12-1, Pac-12 Champion)
Boise State cemented itself as the best Group of Five team in the nation with a very impressive 32-7 win on the road against a good Western Michigan team (just ask Michigan). Spencer Danielson and the Broncos have already shown they can play with Oregon on the road, and after this win the rest of their Pac-12 slate should be a breeze for the most part. They are the big favorites to end up in this 12th spot now after cracking the AP Top 25 this week.
Next out: Texas Tech (11-2, Big 12 Runner-Up), Utah (11-1), UCLA (10-2)
First Round Predictions
No. 5 Miami (FL) defeats No. 12 Boise State
No. 11 Oregon defeats No. 6 BYU
No. 10 Ole Miss defeats No. 7 LSU
No. 8 Indiana defeats No. 9 Florida
Quarterfinal Predictions
No. 1 Texas defeats no. 8 Indiana
No. 2 Ohio State defeats No. 10 Ole Miss
No. 3 Georgia defeats No. 11 Oregon
No. 5 Miami (FL) defeats No. 4 Notre Dame
Semifinal Predictions
No. 5 Miami (FL) defeats No. 1 Texas
No. 2 Ohio State defeats No. 3 Georgia
National Championship
No. 5 Miami (FL) defeats No. 2 Ohio State