Yahoo Top 10: SEC parity is peaking, and it's made for a messy few weeks

On Saturday, Alabama beat Mississippi State, which beat Missouri, which beat Florida, which beat Ole Miss, which beat LSU, which … you get the point.

The parity in all of college football, especially within the SEC, seems to be at its peak — a product of the transfer and athlete compensation changes within the sport. Competitive NIL and free transfer movement has loosened the stranglehold that the historical big brands have on the sport.

But it does make a midseason ranking a difficult task. Florida slips from our poll yet Ole Miss remains (barely). Missouri is unranked and Mississippi State drops out of the poll, too. It paves the way for newbies like Tennessee (hey now, the Vols kept pace with top-ranked Texas last week) and Indiana (we know — they haven't played anybody!).

Things will eventually sort themselves out.

Speaking of sorting, did you catch Friday night's results? Pitt stormed back to beat Virginia Tech to move to 5-0 and coach Pat Narduzzi was demanding the team be ranked . Also, Northwestern opened its stadium with a banger of a beatdown over Penn State (perhaps Matt Campbell's rebuild will take some time ).

Minnesota beat Michigan at home for the first time since the 1970s (it was PJ Fleck's first win over the Wolverines in 10 years with the Gophers), Ohio State drilled Iowa in a Kinnick Stadium beatdown and Purdue got its first Big Ten win in over 1,000 days at Illinois.

As far as the hot seat goes, Mike Norvell helped his case (FSU whipped Virginia) while Shane Beamer (Kentucky beat South Carolina in OT) and Mike Locksley (Maryland blew a lead at Nebraska) hurt theirs.

The Longhorns have two of the best wins in the country (Ohio State and at Tennessee). QB Arch Manning and crew got a much-needed rest this week before the annual battle with the Sooners in Dallas. Plenty of teams have a solid argument for the No. 1 spot, but Steve Sarkisian and Co. keep top honors for another week. Can Texas hold on? Its next five opponents after Oklahoma are all ranked in the current AP Top 25, including top-10 teams Florida and Ole Miss in back-to-back weeks.

At this point, it's getting quite ridiculous with Jeremiah Smith. Has any receiver in college football history had such a start to the season like this one: 617 yards over five games with seven touchdowns and 33 catches. His 11-catch, 206-yard Saturday at Kinnick Stadium broke open a fairly tight first three quarters. The Hawkeyes didn't have near the firepower to keep pace with Ohio State, and their defense finally faltered late. You can't corral Smith for long!

The Hurricanes look big, fast and physical. Could they be better than last year's version that advanced to the national championship game? While QB Darian Mensah and WR Malachi Toney get the attention, Miami's offensive and defensive lines, as well as battering ram back Mark Fletcher, are the real MVPs. And don't forget about another weapon, Cooper Barkate, the former Harvard receiver who transferred to Duke and then Miami with Mensah this offseason.

Bulldogs QB Kamario Taylor stole the pregame spotlight for much of this week. Alabama QB Keelon Russell stole the in-game spotlight. Russell threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns as the Crimson Tide crushed Mississippi State with an impressive, full-team beatdown (the defense had a pick 6). The most impressive stat was Russell's third-down numbers: 6-for-7 passing for 146 yards and two scores. Time to start talking about Russell and the Tide's championship chances.

One of the early storylines this season has been Notre Dame's struggles to run the ball. Well, Jonaz Walton raced for 120 yards on 23 carries in Chapel Hill and QB CJ Carr threw four touchdowns. The Tar Heels moved the ball at times against the Irish — a bit concerning — but this one never felt too much in doubt given Carr's efficiency (21 for 29). If in doubt, he can bail you out with his big arm (39- and 28-yard touchdowns).

Are we sleeping on QB Gunner Stockton? He's not been prolific this season so far (probably because he doesn't have to be), but he's tossed 10 touchdowns and one interception. And he was prolific on Saturday against Vanderbilt, with 295 yards passing while completing 78.1 percent of his passes. Kirby Smart's defense is good again (what else is new!?). The Commodores had a single drive of more than 35 yards. Up next? A trip to Tuscaloosa.

The Vols have some serious problems to attend to, including a quarterback situation that turned south on Saturday. Josh Heupel benched true freshman Faizon Brandon for backup George MacIntyre, who completed 8 of 10 passes in an ugly game where Tennessee trailed 7-3 at the half. The Vols' defense did enough, and so too did RB DeSean Bishop, whose 230 yards, 34 carries and three touchdowns made the difference in this one. Remember, Tennessee hung around with top-ranked Texas, which beat Ohio State. The Vols D is legit.

You may be surprised to see the Utes here in the Top 10 but they beat the brakes off of Arkansas (I know, the Hogs aren't very good) and then whipped Iowa State in Ames. It's not the toughest schedule in the country, no. But QB Devon Dampier and first-year coach Morgan Scalley have done enough to, for now, earn their way into the rankings, especially compared to many other challengers that "haven't played nobody," as they often say.

The Hoosiers' best opponent so far is Northwestern, but they break into our rankings after an impressive pulverizing of the Scarlet Knights. TCU QB Josh Hoover tossed four touchdowns. He's got 15 on the season now and hasn't thrown an interception. We're about to find out real soon how legit Indiana is. IU travels next week to Nebraska for their first opponent with a real pulse.

Last time we saw the Rebels they didn't look much like a top-10 team as they were getting run over and around by the Florida Gators. But don't write off Pete Golding's team yet. Don't forget that they've still got one of the nation's best quarterbacks (perhaps the best QB) in Trinidad Chambliss. But did the Rebs use the off week to shore up that defense? We sure hope so. Two ranked opponents, Missouri and Texas, are next up.