Alabama flashed its dominant gear yet again in a 49-18 win over South Carolina on Saturday, as the Crimson Tide improved to 4-0 (2-0 SEC) with another victory brought glimpses of greatness. Kalen DeBoer’s club has totaled between 45 and 50 points in all four outings this season while demonstrating a penchant for game-changing explosiveness.
That explosiveness came in the form of a 35-3 start against the visiting Gamecocks as quarterback Keelon Russell threw four touchdowns in the first half. The onslaught came a week after the Crimson Tide rallied from a 21-6 deficit to outscore Florida State 44-15 the rest of the way.
Against Kentucky in Week 2, Alabama closed the game with 32 unanswered points. The Crimson Tide are far from perfect; they have put some defensive shortcomings on film the last two weeks, and they struggled to run the football consistently against the Gamecocks. But they force turnovers and have now gone two games without committing any of their own.
The makings of a great team are visible. With a little more defensive consistency and some better run blocking, the Crimson Tide will be rising even higher up the national title odds sheet.
We are handing out grades evaluating every team that started or ended the day with national championship odds of +3000 or better.
2026 national championship odds listed below courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook. Teams listed in order of their AP Top 25 ranking.
No. 1 Texas
Grade: C+
Result: 20-17 win at Tennessee
Title odds: +600
If Texas is going to compete for a national championship, it has myriad issues to address offensively. Most notably, the Longhorns struggled to protect Arch Manning against Tennessee, and Manning couldn’t deal with the pressure after a nearly perfect first quarter. With stars like Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo on the perimeter, generating explosive plays shouldn’t be this hard. But the defense is doing its part and then some. The Longhorns tied a program record with 10 sacks against the Volunteers and have allowed just one offensive touchdown in the last 10 quarters.
No. 2 Georgia
Grade: B-
Result: 41-13 win vs. Oklahoma
Title odds: +550
All Georgia had to do was get out of the way and let Oklahoma lose the game. Of the Sooners’ four turnovers, three came on consecutive possessions in the second quarter, leading directly to 14 easy points as the Bulldogs built a 28-0 halftime lead. It would have been nice to see Georgia’s offense operate under more game pressure, but give credit to the defense (and to Oklahoma) for taking the pressure off. UGA’s offense accomplished what the situation called for (without looking overly impressive) in a matchup against Oklahoma’s stout defense.
No. 3 Notre Dame
Grade: A
Result: 49-10 win at Purdue
Title odds: +600
Notre Dame dominated Purdue from start to finish as the Fighting Irish picked up a third victory against lower-tier Big Ten opposition. Defense again carried the day for the Irish, who racked up nine tackles for loss and six sacks while holding the Boilermakers to a meager 3.2 yards per play. The running game notched season-bests in yards (177) and yards per attempt (5.5), and the offensive line kept star quarterback CJ Carr upright in the pocket.
No. 4 Ole Miss
Grade: D
Result: 52-28 loss at Florida
Title odds: +2500
The Ole Miss defense put up depressingly little fight against Florida, allowing 5.7 yards per rush while letting Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark run wild. Offensively, the strategy of playing hero ball with Trinidad Chambliss finally hit its limit. But this one was on the defense. An easy narrative will be that Ole Miss was emotionally and physically spent after a Week 3 win over LSU and Lane Kiffin. The truth is that Florida might be awesome.
No. 5 Indiana
Grade: C-
Result: 29-23 win vs. Northwestern
Title odds: +1000
Maybe Indiana can grow into the sort of dominant force it was last season. But the Hoosiers aren’t operating at that level — or even close to it — through the season’s first month. The defense wilted in the second half by allowing a one-dimensional Northwestern offense to get the Wildcats back into the game on Friday night. Josh Hoover hasn’t been bad, but the downgrade in quarterback play from Fernando Mendoza to Hoover and the defense’s imperfections are leaving the IU offense with little margin for error.
No. 6 Miami
Grade: A-
Result: 52-3 win vs. Central Michigan
Title odds: +750
Darian Mensah did his thing, completing 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns as the Hurricanes scored touchdowns on six straight possessions at one point. The defense held Central Michigan to 158 yards and buckled down after allowing a field goal on CMU’s opening drive. It was the dominant sort of effort you’d expect from a national title contender hosting a MAC team.
No. 7 Ohio State
Grade: C+
Result: 42-19 win vs. Illinois
Title odds: +470
News flash: Jeremiah Smith is one of the greatest receivers in college football history, which he proved again by tying a school record with four touchdown receptions against Illinois. However, the Buckeyes surrendered 462 yards and allowed 6.5 yards per play. Give Ohio State credit for bending without breaking and forcing field goals or turnovers on downs. But there was an awful lot of bending against the Illini.
No. 8 Alabama
Grade: A-
Result: 49-18 win vs. South Carolina
Title odds: +2200
Alabama jumped out to a 35-3 lead and then pressed the gas late after falling asleep at the wheel. Keelon Russell and Ryan Coleman-Williams continued to demonstrate a strong and potent connection to help Bama overcome a spotty running game. The Crimson Tide’s defense showed some vulnerabilities again, but Bama was never in any real danger as it flashed the same capability for dominance that it showed in spurts against Florida State and Kentucky.
No. 10 LSU
Grade: A
Result: 35-6 win vs. Texas A&M
Title odds: +1600
LSU’s convincing all-around performance conjured flashbacks to its Week 1 beatdown of Clemson, as the Tigers dominated Texas A&M in all facets. Most encouraging were the strides taken by quarterback Sam Leavitt, who had his best game as a passer while dealing with a leg injury that limited his mobility. This was an example of what LSU thought it was getting when it hired Lane Kiffin.
No. 12 USC
Grade: D
Result: 41-27 loss vs. Oregon
Title odds: +6500
Lincoln Riley showed his Achilles heel in a predictable spot, as the Trojans wilted defensively by allowing Oregon to rack up 504 yards. It’s his fifth year with the Trojans and 10th as a head coach, but the issues are always the same. His teams can score, but they often can’t stop quality opponents from scoring even more. In this case, USC couldn’t stop a flawed Oregon team playing with a backup quarterback.
No. 20 Oregon
Grade: A-
Result: 41-27 win at USC
Title odds: +2200
After losing starting quarterback Dante Moore to a scary injury in the first half, Oregon responded with an impressive offensive barrage in a game it couldn’t afford to lose. A high-powered USC offense couldn’t be altogether stopped, but the Ducks did just enough to slow it down. All of Oregon’s problems aren’t solved, but with a bye week ahead, the Ducks can exhale and get back in the lab.
No. 21 Florida
Grade: A-
Result: 52-28 win vs. Ole Miss
Title odds: +1600
The Jon Sumrall era is off and running. Literally. The Gators totaled 302 yards rushing as Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark each totaled more than 125 yards on the ground. Relative to preseason expectations, no one in college football has been more impressive than Florida, which is surging up the odds sheet with a team capable of rivaling any in Gainesville since Urban Meyer’s tenure.