College football rankings: Texas moves to No. 2, Penn State jumps Notre Dame in new CBS Sports 134

The 2024 regular season concluded this weekend and now all that’s left before the announcements of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff and bowl games are next week’s conference championship games. For many teams, the 2024 season is done and their place in the college football rankings is mostly determined. For others, there is still plenty of opportunity left to improve their position before we close the book on 2024 and offer final judgement for every FBS team. 

So while many teams in the CBS Sports 134, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team, have mostly solidified their position in the rankings, the final week of the regular season provided some interesting movement that sets the stage for the postseason ahead. There was, of course, the drops for Ohio State (down five spots to No. 7), Miami (down four spots to No. 13) and Clemson (down five spots to No. 17) after Week 14 losses, but also some shuffling within the top 15 as our voters reacted to the 12th data point of the season. 

So while Texas simply moved up into Ohio State’s No. 2 spot, this week’s rankings have Penn State jumping ahead of Notre Dame for No. 3 after the Nittany Lions blew out Maryland and Notre Dame outlasted USC in a high-scoring shootout in Los Angeles. Our CBS Sports voters also noted Tennessee overcoming a slow start at Vanderbilt for a double-digit win, granting the Vols more support as they jumped Boise State to take over No. 9. 

And at the edge of the top 15 we see the voters break habit when it comes to head-to-head results, as South Carolina jumped ahead of an Ole Miss team that it lost to earlier this season to now occupy No. 14 in the rankings while the Rebels remained steady at No. 15. This represents increased voter support after South Carolina defeated Clemson in Death Valley, marking the sixth straight win for a Gamecocks team that has a case as one of the hottest teams in the country. 

When it comes to bigger moves in the rankings beyond some shuffling inside the top 20, there were additional rankings punishments for teams like Tulane and Texas A&M after Week 14 losses and some notable boosts within the top 50. For more on those adjustments, check out the Mover’s Report below the top 25 table. 

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 Nos. 26-134 on our rankings page.

Biggest movers 

• No. 26 Memphis (+12): A road loss to UTSA in early November was a real weight for Memphis’ rankings outlook as the profile was lacking for high-end wins even if the record was impressive. Now after beating Tulane in New Orleans, voters rewarded Memphis with one of the biggest moves up within the top 40 and now have the Tigers knocking on the door of the top 25. 
• No. 48 Rutgers (+11): This is a bit of course correction not just for our voters but for Rutgers as a team. The Scarlet Knights fell eight spots last week after a loss to Illinois but after crushing Michigan State on the road in the regular season finale the team is back up closer to where they were a couple weeks ago just inside the top 50. 
• No. 44 Boston College (+9): Bill O’Brien had Boston College getting good results when it counted the most as the Eagles won three of their final four games to finish 7-5 overall and 4-4 in ACC play. That stretch of football included wins over bowl teams Syracuse, North Carolina and Pitt and the only defeat came against SMU in Dallas. 
• No. 47 Ohio (+9): When teams are buried in conference play it can sometimes take a while to get voters’ attention for big moves up, but Ohio certainly has done that with its winning streak to close the regular season. The Bobcats won five straight games to clinch a spot in the MAC title game, taking out other contenders like Toledo and Buffalo on the way, and with this move up have now surged 20 spots over the last two weeks in the CBS Sports 134. 
• No. 22 Syracuse (+7): This is an expected bump up for Fran Brown’s team after its upset of Miami on Saturday, which leaves the Orange at 9-3 overall and in a tie for 4th place in the ACC standings thanks to a 5-3 conference record. With wins over not just Miami but UNLV as well, the Orange have a solid rankings profile heading into the postseason. 
• No. 29 Texas A&M (-9): What we see here is an exponential punishment for not just the loss to Texas, one of the best teams in the country, but the back-to-back effect of losing to both the Longhorns and Auburn in the final two weeks of the regular season. At 7-1 the Aggies were looking strong in the rankings, but at 8-4 their place sits firmly outside of the top 20. 
• No. 27 Tulane (-10): While there is tons of disappointment for how the regular season ended and the rankings fall that is paired with losing to a conference foe as a double-digit home favorite, the Green Wave do have an opportunity to finish on a strong note with their matchup against Army in the American Athletic Conference title game on Friday night. 
• No. 55 Arkansas (-12): A win against Tennessee earlier in the year allowed Arkansas to win some tiebreakers when voters were sorting out teams in the 20s or 30s on their ballots. But since that upset win Arkansas finished the season going 2-4 in their final six with the wins coming against Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech. The Tennessee win remains impressive, but now it helps win arguments in the 50s rather than the 20s or 30s. 

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