What Can We Trust? Bill Connelly + College Football’s Biggest QB Problems

Five weeks into the 2026 college football season, the easy answers are disappearing. We unveil the latest Verballer Top 12, clean up a few things we missed from Saturday night, and then bring in ESPN’s Bill Connelly to help us figure out what we can actually trust as the season moves into October.

How good is Missouri? What does the top of the Big 12 actually look like? Who belongs behind Miami in the ACC? Is there a clear second tier in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Indiana? We also ask Bill about the teams and units outperforming expectations, the ones falling short, the Group of Six picture, and how this season’s early chaos compares with some of college football’s stranger years.

Then we turn to the quarterbacks. In honor of October, every situation gets one of two confidence levels: full-size candy bar or Milk Duds. Tennessee has a decision to sort through. Michigan has to figure out what it has in Bryce Underwood. Penn State’s passing game is under pressure. Oregon suddenly has an interesting Dylan Raiola question while Dante Moore works his way back. And Oklahoma heads into Red River with John Mateer, Ben Arbuckle and a season that could move in a very different direction depending on what happens next.

*Chapters:*

0:00 - Intro
5:38 - Verballer Top 12
12:49 - ESPN's Bill Connelly joins
16:17 - Surprising Performances
19:07 - Admitting Defeat + Declaring Victory
21:32 - Pleasant Surprises
24:05 - ACC/Big 12 powers
29:11 - Duke vs. Pitt
31:04 - G6 Powers
34:56 - Big Ten Openings
37:09 - UCLA a Machine
38:23 - Least Data Teams?
39:57 - Outperforming Projections
41:51 - Underperforming Projections
45:51 - When to Trust Numbers
49:42 - QB Confidence Index

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