Brian Kelly Refuses to Pick Undefeated Miami as College Football's No. 1 Team

Pollsters had no issue naming Miami the No. 1 team in the college football rankings after Georgia's loss, but Brian Kelly thinks they made a big mistake.

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There’s a virtual consensus around who is the No. 1 team in the college football rankings coming out of a very chaotic weekend. But not a complete agreement.

Just one week after naming a new best team in the country, pollsters were forced to make another change at the top of the rankings.

That honor went to Miami, which replaced Georgia after its surprising loss at home to unranked Auburn, but one college football watcher isn’t quite as convinced.

Brian Kelly, the former Notre Dame and LSU head coach who now works as an analyst for CBS Sports Network, believes the old No. 1 still has a case.

Brian Kelly on who deserves No. 1

“By default, I’d probably go with Miami because they’re undefeated, and now their best win is still a top 25 win, but I usually go in this part of the year when you don’t have one, I go with the guy that I trust the most,” Kelly said on College Sports Radio on Sirius XM.

Who should be the #1 team in the country?

“The guy that I trust the most to win me a game when I need a game is Kirby Smart.”

Brian Kelly discussed with @RoyPhilpott & @dannykanell. pic.twitter.com/fuVQd0yqnF

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) October 21, 2026

And who would that be? According to Kelly: “The guy that I trust the most to win me a game when I need a game is Kirby Smart. I just trust him.”

Georgia jumped to No. 1 after beating Bama

Smart was certainly trustworthy two weeks ago, when Georgia pulled off arguably the win of the year, taking out No. 6 Alabama on the road.

That was enough to propel the reigning SEC champs to the No. 1 ranking, if only for a week.

Georgia’s coach admitted this past weekend that his team was emotionally and physically spent after beating the Crimson Tide. And that likely played a role in the Bulldogs’ surprise upset against their rivals on Saturday.

Not all pollsters agree with Miami

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This week’s AP ballot gave 40 first-place votes to the Hurricanes after they beat Florida State in double overtime, but notably 20 others went to a different playoff hopeful that had an even better weekend.

BYU placed No. 2 in the updated poll after taking down then-second ranked Notre Dame, instantly burgeoning its position as a team to beat in the Big 12.

ESPN’s algorithmic rankings went in a different direction, naming Ohio State the No. 1 team in the country after it ended Indiana’s 22-game win streak.

But does Georgia’s loss really matter?

“I know they lost the game. They were not the best team that day, but that doesn’t mean they’re not the best team in the country,” Kelly said of Georgia.

He added: “So long story short, I don’t know that there’s one that I would put my hat on. I think there’s a bunch of really good teams, and I think this is going to be a fun year to find out at the end.”