With Alabama out of the picture after a stunning loss to Vanderbilt, Texas fends off Ohio State and takes over as the new No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Re-Rank 1-134.

That makes three teams at No. 1 in as many weeks. Georgia led the re-rank from the preseason until the loss to the Crimson Tide.

The Longhorns had some competition for the top spot from the Buckeyes, who looked very good in the second half of Saturday’s 35-7 win against Iowa. But Texas has the edge in strength of schedule, mostly due to a win at Michigan in Week 2.

Overall, the top part of the re-rank has been shaken up by Saturday’s run of upsets. Alabama is down to No. 9 after falling to the Commodores. Tennessee is down four spots to No. 8 after losing to Arkansas. Missouri drops to No. 24 after getting blown out by Texas A&M and the Wolverines land at No. 25 after losing at Washington.

HIGHS AND LOWS: Alabama’s upset leads Week 6 winners and loss

TOTAL CHAOS: Day of upsets turns conference races upside down

Some of the big gainers in the Power Four include No. 18 Indiana, No. 20 SMU, No. 28 Nebraska, No. 30 Arizona State and No. 32 Syracuse. Among the Group of Five, this week’s risers begin with No. 16 Boise State, No. 23 Navy, No. 63 Sam Houston State and No. 75 Louisiana-Monroe.

The sobering reality lingers in Alabama that Kalen DeBoer lost to Vanderbilt. Hey, at least rival Tennessee is downcast, too. Misery loves company, right?
Looking for a College Football Playoff sleeper team? Check out Texas A&M.
How does Kalen DeBoer regain fans’ trust after losing to Vanderbilt? By making the playoff.

While the goal posts dry off in Nashville, the sobering reality lingers in Alabama that Kalen DeBoer just lost to Vanderbilt.

If misery loves company, well, then downtrodden Alabama fans can reach out to rival Tennessee, which suffered its own upset defeat at Arkansas.

Playoff projections became little more than guesswork after the wonkiest Saturday of the season. The schedule featured just one Top 25 matchup, but five top-15 teams went down, none more stunning than then-No. 2 Alabama losing 40-35 at Vanderbilt.

Here’s what’s still on my mind after Week 6:

Will Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt define Kalen DeBoer’s tenure?

Alabama fans won’t forget that DeBoer suffered the Tide’s first loss to Vanderbilt in 40 years. They can forgive, though. How to earn forgiveness? Make the playoff this season. Better yet, win a playoff game.

Alabama fans worshipped Nick Saban even though he lost to Louisiana-Monroe in his first season. Of course, Saban delivered six national championships.

It might not take six titles for DeBoer to offset a loss to Vanderbilt, but this humiliating defeat ended his honeymoon. If this loss causes Alabama to miss the playoff, fan angst will follow DeBoer into the offseason.

Losing to Vanderbilt can either be a footnote buried on DeBoer’s resume, like the Louisiana-Monroe loss became for Saban, or it can be the inflection moment of a doomed tenure. That’s still to be decided.

Most concerning is that the Vanderbilt loss didn’t present as a fluke. The football gods didn’t torture Alabama. Vanderbilt did. The Commodores simply outplayed the Tide.

Alabama mounted no pass rush, couldn’t get off the field on third downs and suffered from untimely turnovers and penalties.

Alabama’s offense is in secure hands with DeBoer, but its defense has been a mess for the past five quarters, dating to the win over Georgia. DeBoer might want to walk the mile over to Saban’s office and ask the GOAT for a tutorial on how to defend the option, because Vanderbilt repeatedly befuddled the Tide with option plays.

What’s wrong with Josh Heupel’s Tennessee offense?

Offenses struggle when the line leaks, and Arkansas shredded Tennessee’s line in a 19-14 upset in Fayetteville.

The Vols were playing with house money before this loss. They could’ve managed to make the playoff at 10-2 even if they lost to Alabama and Georgia. Now, the Vols must beat one of those two rivals, while handling their business elsewhere.

Heupel earned his reputation as a smooth developer of quarterbacks, and his up-tempo spread offense gave opponents fits at one coaching stop after another. However, Tennessee’s offense hasn’t packed the same fierce punch it showed in 2022. Quarterback Hendon Hooker perfected Heupel’s system that year and delivered a season unlike anything the Vols had seen. Wide receiver Jalin Hyatt became a superstar, too, as an indefatigable deep threat.

These Vols have no comparable downfield assault to stretch the defense, and first-year starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava doesn’t seem entirely comfortable with either the system or his line.

Heupel served Michelin dining while cooking with predecessor Jeremy Pruitt’s ingredients, but he’s regressed since moving on to the players he recruited. That should concern Tennessee.

Who’s responsible for Michigan’s quarterback mess?

What happens at quarterback in 2025 and beyond will fall squarely on coach Sherrone Moore’s shoulders, but Michigan’s first-year coach is not primarily to blame for the current quarterback mess.

Of course, it’s a coach’s job to develop players, but Jim Harbaugh backed Michigan into a corner by holding his coaching job hostage until leaving for the NFL’s Chargers on Jan. 24. By then, Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy had declared for the NFL draft, and most transfer quarterbacks already had found their destinations. Harbaugh left Michigan with quarterback scraps.

The forward pass seems foreign to all three quarterbacks Moore has played. It’s a wonder Michigan defeated Southern California. Moore didn’t recruit these quarterbacks, and he didn’t have much opportunity to rectify the situation given the date of Harbaugh’s exit.

Consider Washington quarterback Will Rogers, who threw for 271 yards in the 27-17 victory over Michigan. Rogers had left Mississippi State and decided on Washington six weeks before Michigan promoted Moore.

Moore must go all-out to secure one of the top available transfer quarterbacks come winter, and there will be plenty of competition in those sweepstakes.

What did we learn about the College Football Playoff?

Tired: Missouri, Southern California or Michigan making the playoff.

Wired: Texas A&M stealing a playoff bid.

The Aggies blasted Missouri all the way to the Gator Bowl thanks to a 41-10 beatdown at Kyle Field. Elsewhere in the SEC, Tennessee’s playoff prospects are wobbling. The Big Ten faces the increasing prospect of having just three playoff qualifiers.

All that playoff turmoil creates the stage for a sleeper cell to emerge, and something brews in College Station, Texas.

Fresh off missing three games with a shoulder injury, quarterback Conner Weigman returned by delivering the best performance of his career. If Weigman stays healthy (an issue in the past), the Aggies might finally have a multi-dimensional offense necessary for playoff contention. Texas A&M would need to split with LSU and Texas to earn playoff consideration. Both games are at Kyle Field.

Missouri exited Saturday in the pretender column, while the Aggies took their place in the contender aisle.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

Subscribe to read all of his columns.

The Zach Edey era began on Monday with preseason NBA action. The Memphis Grizzlies opened training camp play versus the Dallas Mavericks. And the big question was how the rookie big man would play.

Edey dealt with a nagging ankle injury in summer league play this summer. He premiered on July 8 and had a nice start, scoring 14 points along with 15 rebounds and four blocks. However, he tweaked his ankle and missed time before again playing ten days later on July 18.

He would play nine minutes in that game and net six points and three rebounds before leaving early. Unfortunately, that would be it for his summer league.

Nearly three months later and the anticipation was palpable. Here is how Edey performed in his preseason debut vs. the Dallas Mavericks.

Zach Edey stats tonight vs. Mavericks

Points: 6
FG: 3-for-4
Rebounds: 7
Assists: 0
Steals: 1
Blocks: 1
Turnovers: 3
Fouls: 5
Minutes: 18

ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ is tracking the unquestioned game of the week, and one that is making its debut as a conference rivalry.

For the first time since the Oregon Ducks joined the Big Ten Conference, they will play the Ohio State Buckeyes, one of the blue chip powers in the conference and in college football overall. ‘GameDay’ will be heading to Eugene, Oregon for the first time since 2022 ahead of the matchup between the undefeated, Top 5 teams.

Ohio State (5-0) is currently sitting at No. 2 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, while Oregon (5-0) is No. 3.

Here’s what to know for the seventh ‘College GameDay’ of the season.

Where is ESPN College GameDay this week?

‘College GameDay’ will be held at Memorial Quad at the University of Oregon in Eugene, for the Week 7 game between the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 3 Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium.

Who is the College GameDay celebrity guest picker this week?

ESPN has not yet announced the guest picker for Week 7. Marshawn Lynch, the former NFL and Cal Bears running back, appeared as the guest picker last week.

When is ESPN College GameDay?

‘College GameDay’ will air from 9 a.m. to noon ET on Saturday, Oct. 12. 

How to watch ESPN College GameDay

‘College GameDay’ will air on ESPN and ESPNU. It is also available through ESPN+ streaming. 

ESPN College GameDay crew

Recently retired Alabama coach Nick Saban is a new addition on ‘College GameDay’ for the 2024 season. The crew now includes: 

Rece Davis
Kirk Herbstreit 
Lee Corso
Desmond Howard
Pat McAfee
Nick Saban
‘Stanford’ Steve Coughlin

(This story was updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)

According to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY Sports, a woman who identified herself as Peppers’ girlfriend told police in Braintree, Massachusetts, that Peppers ‘smashed my head against the wall’ and choked her ‘at least six times’ during an argument at his apartment early Saturday morning. She also told police that the 29-year-old safety pushed her down a set of stairs while trying to get her to leave the apartment.

In subsequent statements to police, Peppers denied ‘putting his hands’ on the woman, including pushing her or putting his hands around her neck. He also told police that she fell down the stairs because she was intoxicated, according to the criminal complaint. (USA TODAY Sports does not identify victims of alleged domestic violence without their permission.)

Peppers has been charged with felony counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and strangulation, as well a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a family/household member.

All things Patriots: Latest New England Patriots news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Police also charged him with misdemeanor possession of cocaine after finding a small bag of white powder in his wallet during the arrest. When asked to identify the powder, Peppers told police ‘it is cocaine,’ according to the criminal complaint.

Peppers pleaded not guilty during an appearance in Quincy District Court on Monday morning, where a judge ordered him to have no contact with the woman and set his bail at $2,500. His next court date is Nov. 22.

Though the eighth-year safety did not speak to local reporters while leaving the courthouse, his attorney Marc Brofsky said they have obtained evidence, including video, that ‘completely contradicts the alleged victim’s story.’

‘I expect my client to be fully exonerated,’ Brofsky said, according to video of the exchange posted on social media by The Boston Herald.

Peppers is in his third season with New England after playing three years with the New York Giants and two with the Cleveland Browns. He was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins with a shoulder injury but was officially ruled out Saturday.

‘We are aware of an incident involving Jabrill Peppers over the weekend in which the police are currently investigating. We will have no further comment at this time,’ the Patriots said in a statement.

In a radio interview with WEEI in Boston, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said Peppers called him Saturday morning to inform him about the arrest.

‘I knew what was going on,’ Mayo said. ‘We’ve informed the NFL what was going on, and we’re still gathering information.’

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy wrote in an email that the league is aware of the matter and has been in contact with the Patriots but declined further comment.

Kudos to Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski for falling on the sword and taking the blame for his quarterback, even though he didn’t have to.

Deshaun Watson turned in another disappointing performance Sunday against the Commanders, and anyone who has watched the $230 million guaranteed starter for the Browns knows it’s time for him to be benched.

“We’re not changing quarterbacks,” Stefanski said after the Browns were blown out by the Commanders. “We need to play better, I need to coach better and that’s really what it is.”

Stefanski’s comments kick off USA TODAY Sports’ NFL overreactions in Week 5, because dude, seriously?

The Browns have not scored more than 18 points in any game this season. They average a league-worst 3.9 yards per play and 239.4 yards per game. Watson ranked 32nd in the NFL with a 23.9 QBR and a 31.7 passing success rate.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The most glaring stat: Watson’s -0.30 EPA (expected points added) per dropback is the lowest number for any Browns QB in Weeks 1-5 since at least 2000 – even lower than his -0.20 EPA last season. Essentially, don’t expect points with Watson.

Maybe, it was the right thing for Stefanski to say in the postgame press conference, but hopefully he sees the light by Wednesday and names Jameis Winston the starter for Week 6.

“Right now, Deshaun Watson with his contract, the trade they made with the Houston Texans has totally handcuffed the organization. If it was any other quarterback in football, we would be talking about benching him,” NBC’s NFL analyst Chris Simms said before Sunday Night Football.

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett also offered a considerable solution:

“I think right now, give Jameis Winston a shot. Maybe you get some new energy. Maybe there is a spark in this team. It doesn’t mean this is the decision for the rest of your life. You can make a two-way decision,” Garrett said. “A week from now, maybe you bring him back into it. But they can’t keep going down the road they are going down right now. They have no chance to win.”

To Garrett’s point, Stefanski can’t afford to lose the locker room. It’s bad enough the Browns are losing and must afford Watson’s contract, which continues to reaffirm itself as the worst deal in NFL history – especially after giving up three first-round picks and six overall to land him.

Mike McCarthy is back!

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy looked like he was going to be the first NFL coach fired this season after Dallas dropped two straight home games for a 1-2 record after Week 3.

The Cowboys won ugly in Week 4 (20-15 over the New York Giants) and Week 5 (20-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers), and those are the type of ugly wins Dallas needs to win to make a playoff run this season.

McCarthy’s calls in the Pittsburgh game — for quarterback Dak Prescott to find running back Rico Dowdle and receiver Jalen Tolbert for touchdowns in the fourth quarter — worked out in his favor.

The Cowboys are 3-2 and McCarthy has subdued some of the fire under his hot seat — for now.

But it’s not time for McCarthy to get comfortable again just yet: Dallas hosts the Detroit Lions in Week 6 and visits the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8, games that could determine how deep the Cowboys go this season.

It’s gut check time in Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, Super Bowl competitors from three seasons ago, are both 1-4 after Week 5. But at least the Rams have a good excuse with star receivers Puka Nucua and Cooper Kupp injured.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow has his star receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, together for the third consecutive game, but the Bengals are in a deep hole where the playoffs might not be in sight this season after a dishearteningn 41-38 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Only 5.6% of teams with a 1-4 start in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) have reached the playoffs, according to ESPN. So, it’s not out of the question. But the Bengals can’t afford to both light it up offensively and get lit up defensively (they’ve allowed more than 38 points in two of the last three games).

Plain and simple: It’s gut check time in Cincinnati. Bengals coach Zac Taylor is officially on the hot seat. And depending how the rest of the season goes, Chase and/or Higgins could be hot commodities at the trade deadline if Cincinnati wants to start thinking about the future more than its present.

A federal judge on Monday granted preliminary approval to the slightly revised version of a multi-billion-dollar settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences.

The decision moves the NCAA and the conferences closer to funding a $2.8 billion damages pool for current and former athletes over a span of 10 years and sets the stage for a fundamental change in college sports — Division I schools being allowed to start paying athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness, subject to a per-school cap that would increase over time.

However, the settlement process is not over, and potentially far from it.

The process of officially notifying current and former athletes of the terms and claims procedures is set to begin on Oct. 18. Those who would be covered by the agreement will have the opportunity to object or opt out by Jan. 31, 2025. And a final approval hearing has been scheduled for April 7, 2025.

However, additional legal appeals could occur. One former college football player and his attorney tied up a monetary settlement in a previous college-sports compensation case by pursuing the matter to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That bid ultimately failed, but it ended up delaying final resolution by about two years.

And the path to this point in these cases has not been perfectly smooth.

Lawyers representing three separate groups of athletes filed oppositions to preliminary approval. Then, during a hearing on Sept. 5, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said she would not approve the original version of the proposed settlement — for set of reasons that differed from those expressed in the oppositions.

On Sept. 26, the lawyers who crafted the proposed settlement filed an adjusted version of the agreement. The updated version addressed Wilken’s concerns about how the original version defined the types of entities and individuals whose current NIL agreements with athletes would be subject to special scrutiny under a new regulatory structure that the NCAA and the conferences are insisting that they get in exchange for agreeing to the industry-changing deal.

But even that version of the agreement drew an objection last week from yet another, different group of athletes. That fourth group is represented by lawyers led by Michael Hausfeld, who also led representation of former UCLA men’s basketball player Ed O’Bannon in a landmark antitrust victory over the NCAA.

Wilken’s order on Monday did not include any specific commentary concerning her reasons for granting preliminary approval other fairly standard general language saying that she will ‘likely be able to approve the Settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate … subject to further consideration’ at the final approval hearing.

‘A huge step forward for NCAA athletes,’ Steve Berman, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs said in an email to USA TODAY Sports.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said in statement: ‘We are thrilled by Judge Wilken’s decision to give preliminary approval to the landmark settlement that will help bring stability and sustainability to college athletics while delivering increased benefits to student-athletes for years to come. Today’s progress is a significant step in writing the next chapter for the future of college sports. We look forward to working with all of Division I, and especially student-athlete leadership groups to chart the path forward and drive historic change.’

According to the settlement agreement, schools could begin paying their athletes in the first academic year after final approval and the resolution of any potential appeals. So, in theory, payments to athletes could begin during the 2025-26 school year. And Berman has said current and former athletes could begin receiving checks from the damages pool in fall 2025, if not sooner.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said nearly 400,000 athletes would be eligible for some type of payment for damages reaching as far back as 2016, with football and men’s basketball players set to receive the largest amounts. But the plaintiffs’ lawyers said there is an instance of an athlete in sport other than football, men’s basketball or women’s basketball who is estimated to be eligible for a claim of more than $1.85 million.

All of that would be part of a comprehensive reshaping of college sports that would occur under the settlement.

Among other changes:

NCAA leaders would seek to engineer rules changes eliminating longstanding, sport-by-sport scholarship limits and replacing them with a new set of roster-size limits. In the first academic year after final approval of the settlement the roster limit in football, for example, would be 105.

While athletes would continue to have the ability to make NIL deals with entities other than their schools, the settlement would allow the NCAA to institute rules designed to give the association greater enforcement oversight of those arrangements.

The details of those rules were the primary source of the concerns Wilken expressed during the hearing on Sept. 5.

As it now stands, athletes would have to report payments of more than $600 to a clearinghouse that would be established. And their deals would be subject to review, with the goal being the prevention of pay for play and deals that pay amounts above market value.

This potentially raises questions about the future impact of collectives, school-specific donor groups dedicated to pooling resources earmarked for NIL payments. At present, those payments often are — at best — only loosely based on the value of an athlete’s NIL rights or their promotional work. 

Under the settlement, athletes who have questions about the permissibility of their agreements would be able to seek advisory opinion from an enforcement group. If the enforcement group sought to sanction an athlete because of a deal, the athlete would have the ability to bring the matter to an arbitrator.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Fresh off a playoff appearance and claiming her near-unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year award, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark is taking relaxation in the offseason rather seriously it seems. On Monday, it was announced that Clark will be participating in the LPGA’s upcoming pro-am event, ‘The Annika,’ this November.

‘I love golf, so the opportunity to play in the pro-am for a tournament with a legend like Annika Sorenstam’s name on it is so exciting,’ said Clark. ‘Gainbridge is a leader in supporting women’s sports, and that’s clear through their commitment to me, this event, Billie Jean King, and Parity Week. I’m looking forward to seeing all the LPGA players on the driving range, being part of the Women’s Leadership Summit, and, of course, teeing it up in the pro-am with Annika.’

Clark has expressed immense interest in golf lately. The Fever were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs on September 25, and Clark wasted no time saying she wanted to golf A LOT in the offseason. During the postgame press conference, Clark stated, ‘That’s what I’m gonna do until it gets too cold in Indiana. I’ll become a professional golfer.’ The Annika should give her an opportunity to show the LPGA whether or not she can compete with the pros.

When will Caitlin Clark play golf at The Annika?

The Annika’s pro-am event is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13. The official tournament will start the following day. Clark will also participate in the Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday, November 12 as a panelist.

Has Caitlin Clark participated in pro-am golf events before?

She has.

Clark was involved in the 2023 John Deere Classic pro-am, playing alongside U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson and three other amateurs.

How good is Caitlin Clark at golf? Highlights

Clark and her team finished at -5 for the day. Clark impressed, smashing several strong drives that helped her team finish under par.

What awards did Caitlin Clark win this year?

Clark capped off her historic WNBA rookie season as the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year winner. Clark helped lead the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016, and finished fourth in MVP voting.

Clark can add her Rookie of the Year trophy to her already packed shelves. At the University of Iowa, Clark was a two-time AP Player of the Year, two-time Naismith College Player of the Year, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Year, three-time Nancy Leiberman Award winner, and finished her career as the NCAA’s D1 all-time leading scorer. She also holds the record for most three-pointers in a career and in a single season.