Where NCAAF and the NFL stand in mid-October: Georgia on top, eight unbeaten in college and two in the NFL

College: Georgia on top and eight unbeaten teams left

Georgia are the new No. 1 in the AP Top 25 with 66 of the 70 first-place votes after winning 20–17 at Alabama in the weekend's marquee game. Behind them come Notre Dame (6-0), Miami (5-0), Ohio State (5-1) and Indiana (6-0). [1] [2] [3] [4]

The big move was Texas's fall from 1 to 7 after losing 27–24 to Oklahoma in the Dallas rivalry game on a field goal as time expired. UCLA climbed from 21 to 12 by winning 17–15 at Oregon, who dropped out of the poll along with Florida and Pittsburgh, while LSU slid from 10 to 22 after a 35–34 overtime loss at Kentucky. Kentucky (15), Wake Forest (21) and Northwestern (25) entered. [1] [2] [3] [4]

• Unbeaten through six games: Georgia, Notre Dame and Indiana (6-0). [1] [2]
• Unbeaten through five: Miami, BYU, Texas Tech, Utah and UCLA (5-0). [1] [2]
• In the AFCA coaches poll the top three are the same —Georgia, Notre Dame and Miami— with Indiana fourth and Ohio State fifth. [2]

The Heisman has a clear favourite

Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith came out of the weekend as the Heisman favourite at -220 on DraftKings, well ahead of CJ Carr (+1000), Darian Mensah (+1100) and a trio at +1500: Trinidad Chambliss, Keelon Russell and Gunner Stockton. These are bookmaker prices, not votes, but his season backs them up: 48 catches, 916 yards and 11 touchdowns. [5] [6]

What's coming: the best Saturday of the season

The 17 October slate brings a top-five showdown, two unbeaten teams meeting in Provo and an SEC classic at Neyland Stadium. [7] [8] [9]

• 18:00 · #4 Ohio State – #5 Indiana (FOX): the game of the day, with Indiana's unbeaten record on the line. [7] [8] [9]
• 18:00 · Florida – #7 Texas (ABC): Texas's first response after losing the No. 1 spot. [7] [8] [9]
• 21:30 · #6 Alabama – #14 Tennessee (ABC) and Auburn – #1 Georgia (ESPN). [7] [8] [9]
• 01:00 Sunday · Florida State – #3 Miami (ESPN), the Florida derby. [7] [8] [9]
• 01:30 Sunday · #2 Notre Dame – #8 BYU (ABC): 6-0 against 5-0. [7] [8] [9]

In our regular corner: Navy (2-3) bounced back with a 34–26 win over Tulsa, behind 232 yards and three touchdowns from J. Gutierrez, and on Saturday they visit UTSA at the Alamodome at 02:00 overnight into Sunday Spanish time, on ESPNU. [3] [4] [10]

NFL: two unbeaten teams and three without a win

Five weeks in, only Minnesota and San Francisco are still unbeaten, both at 5-0, with Kansas City alongside them at 4-0 having already had their bye. The Bills, Ravens and Jaguars are 4-1. At the other end, Miami, Tennessee and the Chargers have lost all five of their games. [11] [12]

• AFC leaders: Bills (4-1), Ravens (4-1), Jaguars (4-1) and Chiefs (4-0). [11] [12]
• NFC leaders: Giants (3-1-1), Vikings (5-0), Panthers (2-2) and 49ers (5-0). [11] [12]
• The NFC East already has two ties: the Giants and Commanders drew 27–27 in Week 5. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Week 5 produced the Jaguars' win in Europe —19–17 over the Eagles in London, with 331 yards and two touchdowns from Trevor Lawrence—, a 31–24 Bengals win in Miami behind four Joe Burrow touchdown passes and a 32–29 49ers win in Seattle. Buffalo closed it on Monday with a 37–34 overtime win over the Rams. [13] [14] [15]

Week 6 and how to watch it from Spain

The week opens on Thursday with Seahawks–Broncos (02:15 overnight into Friday) and peaks on Sunday: the NFL returns to London, this time to Wembley, with Texans–Jaguars at 15:30. Then come Chargers–Chiefs and Raiders–Bills (22:25), Packers–Cowboys on Sunday night (02:20 Monday) and 49ers–Commanders on Monday Night (02:15 Tuesday). The Bengals, Lions, Dolphins and Vikings are on a bye. [16] [17] [18] [19]

Free-to-air, Mediaset has announced three games: the Wembley game at 15:30 and Raiders–Bills at 22:25 on Mediaset Infinity, plus Packers–Cowboys at 02:15 overnight into Monday on Cuatro, each with a fifteen-minute pre-game show. Every game of the week is on NFL Game Pass inside DAZN. [20] [21]

And one detail with a Spanish angle: the two Madrid-game teams are going in opposite directions. The Bengals (3-2) are on a bye this week and the Falcons (2-3) host the Bears on Sunday. They meet at the Santiago Bernabéu on 8 November. [11] [12] [16] [17] [18] [22]