Editor's Note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

If there's one lesson to be learned from the first half of this college football season, it's that the gap between the top teams and the mid-tier teams looks narrower than it has in a long time.

It's a new week and we have another new No. 1 in The Athletic 134. Welcome to the top, Oregon.

The reasoning is simple: The Ducks are undefeated and have one of their two best wins of the season after defeating Ohio State 32-31 in a thriller in Eugene. It was the first win over a team ranked in the top two of the AP Poll in Oregon history and the program's first truly big win under coach Dan Lanning, which was much-needed. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel played one of the best games of his career, receiver Evan Stewart looked like the five-star talent he was entering college football, and the defense made enough plays.

The win puts the Ducks in control of a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game and a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff. And given the upsets we've seen so far this season, a bye could be huge.

Oregon had to come back late to beat Boise State and struggled early in the season against FCS program Idaho. Maybe the gap between No. 1 Oregon and No. 16 Boise State isn't that big. Maybe the gap between Alabama and Vanderbilt isn't much. Even Georgia couldn't bury a Mississippi State team that was defeated by Toledo a few weeks ago. Who are the big elite teams? I'm not sure if there is one this season.

Whether that uncertainty is due to zero, transfers, coaching changes or a combination of all of the above, this has been one of the most entertaining and unexpected college football seasons in a long time. We expect many more exciting Saturdays and then perhaps a postseason that will be more open than we originally thought.

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2024 College Football Playoff Predictions: Oregon rises to top after defeating Ohio State

Here is this week's Athletic 134.

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Aside from Oregon's rise to No. 1, the big move here is Alabama falling from No. 3 to No. 7. It gave me a lot of trouble keeping Alabama in the top three after the loss to Vanderbilt. My reasoning was that Alabama and Georgia were still on the same level and their direct result had an impact on the rankings. No longer. After a narrow 27:25 win against South Carolina, Alabama is reeling. The Crimson Tide have now played five straight halves of poor football since halftime against Georgia. This team is going in the wrong direction.

You could swap No. 4 Penn State and No. 3 Georgia as the polls have shown, and I wouldn't disagree with you. Both teams have a win against a team with a winning record. Georgia is No. 9 Clemson, while Penn State is a No. 27 Illinois team that almost lost to Purdue this weekend. Georgia has played two top 10 teams; Penn State did not play any team in my top 25. Both have close wins against .500 teams (Kentucky, USC) and both have struggled a bit against weak competition (Mississippi State, Bowling Green).

Ohio State drops to No. 5 because even though the Oregon game went down to the final seconds, there's nothing on the rest of the Buckeyes' resume that stands out like Georgia's. The gap between these top five teams is incredibly small, and Texas-Georgia and Ohio State-Penn State are coming up in the next few weeks to shake things up.

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Oregon's epic win is a testament to Dan Lanning's elite talents

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Tennessee falls out of the top 10 to No. 12 after needing overtime to beat Florida at home. The Volunteers' only notable win came against a struggling Oklahoma team. It's clear that the Vols' offense is not what we expected at the start of the season. Boise State moves up to No. 16 after a win at Hawaii, thanks largely to Oregon's rise to No. 1 and Washington State's move to No. 24. To follow some transitive ownership tiebreakers here: Arizona State's win over Utah moves the Sun Devils up, but Texas Tech beat Arizona State and Wazzu beat Texas Tech.

Undefeated Pitt moves into the Top 25 at No. 20 after a 17-15 win over Cal. Vanderbilt's 20-13 win at Kentucky moves the Commodores to No. 21.

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AP Top 25: Texas remains No. 1, while Oregon jumps to No. 2

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I really wanted to put Arizona State in the top 25, but the Texas Tech-Washington State situation explained above kept the Sun Devils one spot out. Michigan fell to No. 29 and was overtaken by Iowa on the strength of Washington's last two results (Iowa beat the Huskies 40-16 a week after the Huskies beat Michigan). No. 31 Oklahoma and No. 32 Nebraska also fell out of the top 25.

No. 39 USC continues to fall. A play in any of those three losses could have changed the outcome, but the Trojans are also 5-8 in their last 13 games. Wisconsin moves up to No. 40 after an impressive 42-7 win over Rutgers.

Army moves up to No. 50 and is now No. 23 in the AP poll. I got some criticism last week about where I had the Black Knights. They didn't trail all season, but their six wins came against five teams with one or two wins and one FCS team. Navy, meanwhile, is coming off a 5-1 win over Memphis (plus three one-win teams and one FCS team). That's the difference. The good news is that Army is still 5-1 against North Texas, Notre Dame and Navy on the schedule and is well-positioned to reach the AAC title game. There will be chances for good wins.

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Arizona State's surprising resurgence continues, capped by an all-time postgame interview

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Cincinnati moves up to No. 54 after a 19-13 win at UCF. No. 56 Louisiana-Monroe is now 5-1 after defeating Southern Miss. Liberty needed overtime to beat FIU, sending the Flames down to No. 61, but the path to an undefeated season is still very much open.

Texas State moves up to No. 66 after beating Arkansas State, and Louisiana moves up to No. 67 after beating App State. The two Sun Belt West leaders will play just before Halloween. Oregon State falls to No. 70 after a loss to Nevada, while Northwestern jumps to No. 72 after a 37-10 win over Maryland. North Texas is ranked 75th after coming back to beat FAU.

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Group of 5 Mailbags: Where will the Pac-12 and Mountain West look next?

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No. 77 Buffalo has wins over Northern Illinois and Toledo, but the Bulls' 47-3 loss to UConn two weeks ago helps boost the idle Huskies to No. 76. San Jose State falls to No. 81 after losing to Colorado State.

The three lowest-ranked Power 4 teams all had solid performances this week. UCLA led Minnesota at halftime and lost in the final seconds; Mississippi State stayed away from Georgia with a 41-31 loss; Purdue took Illinois to overtime. They are all moving up and are now right behind Florida State, Kansas and Baylor.

In its wildest comeback of the season, No. 82 Georgia Southern overcame a 23-3 deficit with seven minutes left to beat Marshall 24-23.

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Mandel's final thoughts: Dillon Gabriel's legend grows and more from Week 7

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We had many encounters within this group.

Rice defeated UTSA in the final seconds, sending Rice to No. 117 and UTSA to No. 118. No. 120 Louisiana Tech won 48-21 over No. 127 Middle Tennessee, No. 111 San Diego State defeated No. 122 Wyoming, No. 114 Jacksonville State beat No. 124 New Mexico State, No. 115 New Mexico beat No. 123 Air Force and No. 113 Western Michigan beat No. 131 Akron.

Kent State played Ball State closely, but ultimately remains at the bottom.

The Athletic 134 Series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic retains full editorial independence. Partners do not control or participate in the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)