Nine teams hit midway point 6-0, and five of them are surprises

Nine teams reached the halfway point of the season with 6-0 records. That No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Penn State and No. 6 Miami are among them is no surprise.

But No. 9 Iowa State hadn't won six straight to open a season since 1938, No. 16 Indiana since 1967, No. 20 Pittsburgh since 1982, No. 23 Army since 1996 and No. 13 BYU since the 2020 pandemic season.

None of those five were in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, and Iowa State was the only one receiving votes. Liberty and No. 25 Navy, both 5-0, are the other two unbeaten in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The Cyclones were 3-3 at this time a year ago and at the start of a three-game win streak that would be followed by losses in three of the last five. Coach Matt Campbell brought back nine starters on each side of the ball and added transfers to shore up the offensive line. Next up is a home game against UCF.

Indiana was 2-4 through six games last year and in the stretch of seven losses in eight games that ended a 3-9 season and doomed Tom Allen. Curt Cignetti was hired away from James Madison and revamped the roster, adding a bevy of players from his previous stop and landing Mid-American Conference player of the year Kurtis Rourke from Ohio as his quarterback. The Hoosiers have played a light schedule and will get their toughest test to date at home Saturday against Nebraska.

Pitt, 3-9 last season, lost four of its first six games a year ago and then five of its last six under Pat Narduzzi. Half of the Panthers' wins this season have been by a total of seven points — 28-27 at Cincinnati, 38-34 over West Virginia and 17-15 over California. Another close game could be coming Thursday when Syracuse visits.

Army, 6-6 each of the last two years, was 2-4 and on a three-game losing streak at this time in 2023 under Jeff Monken. The Black Knights are 6-0 for the third time in program history and on the nation's longest active win streak, at 10 games. They go into this week's home game against Eastern Carolina ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 2020.

BYU was sitting 4-2 a year ago and was two weeks away from the start of a season-defining five-game losing streak that would leave the Cougars 5-7. The Cougars go into this week's home game with Oklahoma State tied with Iowa State and Texas Tech for first in the Big 12. Kalani Sitake's team already has three conference wins, one more than its 2023 total.

Checking in on five of the Top 25:

The Ducks must tread carefully. Their big win over Ohio State could tempt them to overlook Purdue in a Friday night game in West Lafayette, Indiana. It would be understandable given the Boilermakers are 1-5. But Purdue stormed back from 24 points down in the third quarter to get its game at Illinois to overtime before losing 50-49 Saturday. Also, Purdue is one of only two teams (Michigan is the other) with three regular-season wins over top-five teams the last seven years.

It took until the fourth quarter for Georgia to put away Mississippi State, and it uncharacteristically gave up more than 30 points for the second time in three games in the 41-31 victory. Now comes a trip to top-ranked Texas, which is averaging 43 points and 495 yards per game and has Quinn Ewers back from injury with a game under his belt. Georgia's Carson Beck will see a very different defense than the one that allowed him a career-high 459 yards passing. The Longhorns lead the SEC and are No. 2 nationally in pass defense.

The Tigers have rattled off five straight dominant wins since Georgia soundly beat them in the opener Cade Klubnik is leading an offense that has hit 500 yards in four of the first six games for the first time in 12 years. Their 49-14 win over Wake Forest marked the fourth time this season Clemson had at least 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. Virginia visits this week.

The Wildcats were able to pull out a 31-28 win at Colorado to keep themselves one game off the lead in the Big 12. The combination of QB Avery Johnson, RB DJ Giddens and WR Jayce Brown continue to be a handful for opposing defenses. Johnson overcame an in-game injury to lead the Wildcats on their winning drive, and the defense sacked Shedeur Sanders a season-high six times to run its Big 12-leading total to 18. They're at West Virginia this week.

The Illini appeared to be on their way to an easy win over Purdue until they weren't. They needed a field goal as time ran out in regulation to force overtime after they blew a 24-point third-quarter lead. The 50-49 win wasn't secure until Dylan Rosiek sacked Ryan Browne on the Boilermakers' 2-point try. Illinois hits the meat of its schedule with No. 24 Michigan visiting this week and then a trip to Oregon. “I still think we’re a good team knocking on the door of doing something cool,” coach Bret Bielema said.

Vanderbilt (4-2) has its best start since the 2008 and is one spot out of the Top 25. A win over Ball State this week could give the Commodores their first ranking since 2013. ... The American Athletic Conference has two teams (Army and Navy) in the Top 25 for the first time since last December. ... The Big Ten joined the SEC as the only conferences to ever have three teams in the top four in consecutive weeks. The SEC has done it multiple times since 2009.