RedState Sports Report: College Football Week Four Preview

Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have informed me that due to intense research regarding the upcoming NHL season, they are unable to contribute to this preview of college football’s week four …

They had at least better be researching how to get fish cracker crumbs out of the couch.

Anyway, here’s the AP Top 25 heading into this weekend:

The big mover is Ole Miss, and understandably so after its never-a-dull-moment 32-24 win over LSU on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Forget for a moment the whole Lane Kiffin returning to Oxford drama and relish the on-field action. It was a sight to see, with Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss reserving a seat at this year’s Heisman Trophy award ceremony courtesy of a spectacular performance. The Rebels jumped out early to a 24-7 halftime lead. The Tigers came back in the second half to tie it up in the fourth before Chambliss, minus his main weapon, running back Kewan Lacy, who had suffered a shoulder injury earlier in the contest, led a drive to retake the lead, which Ole Miss never relinquished. Regardless of whether one had a rooting interest in matters, the game was college football at its best. Elsewhere in the Top 25, Florida and Mississippi State have wedged their way into the rankings at the expense of Oklahoma and Virginia.

Conference play is the word of the day, or the weekend if you prefer, and multiple intriguing matchups are getting ready to git’r done. Unsurprisingly, the SEC ratcheting up conference play in earnest is where most of the interest lies. Among ranked teams, #1 Texas rolls into #14 Tennessee, where the winner is guaranteed to be wearing orange, and it’s equally guaranteed Texas quarterback Arch Manning will be reminded to the point of distraction, “You know this is where your Uncle Peyton played his college ball, right?” For their part, the Volunteers are countering Manning with freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon, whose stats rank him ahead of Manning at this stage of the still-young season. He will need to be on top of his game, as the Tennessee running game will most likely be hampered by the absence of their best running back, DeSean Bishop. Still, Tennessee’s offense is humming, as is Texas’ defense. The Longhorns had trouble on the road last year, and Neyland Stadium figures to be buzzing, so this should be a good one. Adding one more element to the mix? President Donald Trump is expected to attend.

Other matchups between Top 25 teams include another SEC bout with #4 Ole Miss trying to corral their emotions following last weekend’s victory over LSU as they travel to the swamps of Gainesville to take on the #21 Florida Gators. It’s not often you see a team ranked 17 positions higher than its opponent listed as the underdog, but the Rebels are three and a half points on the wrong side of the ledger. Can Chambliss and company sufficiently calm down from last week to avoid a letdown? Ole Miss may have Kewan Lacy back, and Florida may have its top receiver Eric Singleton Jr. returning to action after missing the last two games with an ankle injury. The Gators will have stud running back Jadan Baugh in action; he is presently second in the nation in rushing yards and first in touchdowns, and figures to powerfully test the Rebels' defense. Again, good stuff awaits.

The other Top 25 matchups include #17 Iowa at #18 Michigan (the Big 10 can’t let the SEC have all the fun, can it?), #23 Texas A&M at #10 LSU with both teams looking to bounce back from a loss last week, #20 Oregon visiting #12 USC to see which team is a contender as opposed to a pretender, and #19 Missouri at #24 Mississippi State.

Finally, tonight (Friday, September 25, 2026), my California Golden Bears will be hosting the Clemson Tigers. Clemson has fallen on hard times by its own standards of late, while Cal is trying to rebuild its program into one worthy of entering the national conversation. The Tigers are anemic on both sides of the ball, while Cal, although scaring no one, is a bit better. This is the kind of game Cal needs to start winning if it has any ambitions of returning to the college football radar. I’m realistic; the best I’m hoping for regarding the Golden Bears this year is a minor bowl berth. But you’ve got to start somewhere. Tonight at Memorial Stadium is said somewhere. As to Clemson, one wonders how much longer Dabo Swinney can hold on in a college football landscape giving every indication it has passed him by.

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