The UCLA Bruins continue to build a case as one of the best stories in all of college football, navigating an offseason roster rebuild and midseason injuries to a starting quarterback to a 7-0 record through the first eight weeks of the 2026 season. Bob Chesney's group stepped into the spotlight as a top-10 team on Saturday against Michigan State and overcame a slow start to win handily, prompting yet another move up in the college football rankings. In the CBS Sports 138, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team according to experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports, that means a slide up to No. 5.
The 7-0 start is UCLA's best since 2005, and since the lifespan of the CBS Sports 138 extends back to 2016-17, we can comfortably say this is the highest the Bruins have been slotted in our rankings this late in the season. What's even more striking about UCLA's position in the rankings as we hit the final week of October is the Bruins' company. They carry an average ballot ranking position of 5.6, which has them slightly behind reigning champion Indiana (5.1) and ahead of Notre Dame (5.7).
When it comes to our preseason expectations heading into the year, two of those teams are not the other. At the very top of the rankings, we finally have a unanimous crowning for Miami at the No. 1 spot, followed by a battle for No. 2 with Ohio State finishing ahead of Georgia. Further down is a fascinating cluster of teams just outside the top 10, seemingly needing one more big statement to break through, as teams Nos. 11-14 all have average ballot rankings between 13.2 and 13.6.
In other words, our voters mostly agree that LSU, Ole Miss, Wake Forest and Texas are top-15 quality but do not agree on the order for those teams when it comes to fighting for spots in the top 10. As usual, we have identified some of the bigger and more notable week-to-week adjustments in the Mover's Report below the top 25 table. This week includes some praise for Cincinnati's big upset, some tough conversations around a couple of preseason playoff contenders and much more.
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 26-138 on our rankings page. Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 138: Teams ranked 26-138
Extract — continue reading at the source.
