Maybe the upsets weren’t plentiful in Week 9 of college football but there were more than enough near upsets and close calls throughout the sport to absolutely shake up the AP Top 25 college football rankings quite a bit.
It wasn’t technically an upset but the manner in which the Texas A&M Aggies were able to not just blow out the LSU Tigers but come back after trailing by double digits at halftime was stunning and a big feather in the cap of Mike Elko’s team. Different feathers of the same magnitude should also be given to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks for their wins over ranked opponents in the AP Top 25 this week as well.
But were do we go from here? We go on to Week 10, of course, which means it’s time again to project what the AP Top 25 college football rankings will look like after all that we saw this week.
25. Illinois Fighting Illini
Yes, I’m aware that Illinois got its doors blown off in Eugene on Saturday. However, going across the entire country to face the No. 1 team in the country is hardly a good spot for the Illini and, all told, it was far from as bad as the scoreboard would have you believe on Saturday. More importantly, though, the thing about the AP Top 25 is that you have to rank 25 teams, and it’s hard to find too many teams with a record and resumé that still stacks up to the Illini’s in this range.
24. Washington State Cougars
Having only one loss on the season and that defeat coming at the hands of Ashton Jeanty and Boise State doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Well, that’s what Jake Dickert and the Washington State Cougars have pulled off and kept intact following a road win over SDSU. It’s not always been pretty as the Wazzu defense can be leaky and John Mateer can be erratic, but this team has made enough plays to now be sitting at 7-1 and, at some point, we have to reward that type of success in the AP Top 25.
23. Colorado Buffaloes
Whether or not you want to admit it or not, Colorado has been playing at a Top 25 level for a month or more at this point and that pushed on as the Buffs toppled Cincinnati on Saturday night in Boulder. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter remained otherworldly with the QB throwing for 323 yards and two scores, both to Hunter who finished with 153 yards and three pass defenses on that side of the ball. But Deion Sanders has this looking like far more of a complete team with an improved run game and much better defense this year.
22. Memphis Tigers
Sure, I’d feel a lot abetter about ranking Memphis in the AP Top 25 projections if the Tigers hadn’t needed a last-minute touchdown to get past Charlotte on Saturday. But the end of the day still has this Memphis team sitting at 7-1 on the season with their only loss coming in a shootout against a good Navy team that was ranked last week. While so much attention has been paid to the service academies and Boise State, the Tigers keep lurking as a threat to take the G5 spot in the Playoff.
21. Army Black Knights
While rival Navy was getting its head kicked in on national TV against Notre Dame, the Army Black Knights were sitting in West Point on an off week with their perfect record remaining intact. They’ve looked the part of one of the best Group of 5 teams in the country but we’ll find out far more about them in about a month on Nov. 23 when they have to make their own date with the Irish. Still, there’s a good chance Army is still unbeaten going into that matchup.
20. Kansas State Wildcats
Look, shoutout to Kansas State for holding on in the Sunflower Showdown to kick a 51-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining in order to get a win over their rivals. Here’s the thing, though: Kansas is not a good football team right now. So we’re really just seeing again that the variance of the Wildcats with Avery Johnson and Co. is vast at this point and that K-State might deserve to be knocked down a peg in the rankings.
19. SMU Mustangs
By the hair on their chinny, chin chin, the SMU Mustangs remained undefeated in ACC play with a narrow overtime victory that saw Rhett Lashlee’s team stave off an upset from Duke twice. First, they blocked a field goal as time expired to force the extra frame, then came up with a two-point conversion stop to secure the win in OT. It was gritty, it was ugly but SMU remains a team that can’t be ruled out in their first year in the new conference.
18. Ole Miss Rebels
It was probably closer than Ole Miss fans were hoping for after a sleepy first-half effort from the Rebels but credit to Lane Kiffin’s team for leaving no doubt in the final 30 minutes and pulling away for a 26-14 win at home over Oklahoma. While the Rebs offense has slowed a bit over the past few weeks, the defense continues to tick up, racking up nine sacks on Saturday and starting to look as if they can carry this team down the stretch.
17. Pittsburgh Panthers
At some point, we’re going to have to put some respect on Pitt’s name and for good reason. On Thursday night, even with Eli Holstein and the Panthers offense looking quite lesser than it has for much of the season, it didn’t remotely matter as the defense picked off Kyle McCord five times, leading to a 41-13 rout. Still undefeated after seven games, next week’s clash at SMU just got a whole lot juicier.
16. Boise State Broncos
We really need to just appreciate the fact that 128 yards and a game-winning touchdown actually could be noted as a bad game at this point for Ashton Jeanty. But that late rushing score was massive for Boise State to propel the Broncos past UNLV on the road and make this team’s College Football Playoff outlook that much brighter, especially with Liberty falling to Kennesaw State mid-week. If Boise can continue to hold serve in the Mountain West, that Group of 5 berth is in their back pocket.
15. LSU Tigers
For the first half in College Station, it looked as if Brian Kelly was going to be able to push his LSU Tigers into the College Football Playoff with a monumental signature win. Unfortunately, he and his staff were caught on their heels defensively with the Texas A&M QB switch and it all snowballed from there with Garrett Nussmeier struggling in the second half on top of the defense’s effort. The CFP might be a longshot now for the Tigers but they still have chances remaining to flip that narrative.
14. Alabama Crimson Tide
On one hand, you have to hand it to Alabama for bouncing back from going 1-2 in their last three games to handle a ranked Missouri team comfortably. On the other hand, let’s consider that Mizzou has looked paltry to begin with and then played this game without Brady Cook for most of it. What the Crimson Tide are capable of against the likes of LSU remaining on their schedule will tell us a lot more about Kalen DeBoer’s team than this game from where I’m sitting.
13. Iowa State Cyclones
It was the week off for the Iowa State Cyclones and now we’re going to see them drop in the AP Top 25 through no real fault of their own. Sure, the narrow last-minute win over a UCF team last week that BYU beat down on Saturday isn’t going to help the cause for Matt Campbell’s team. Having said that, other higher-profile teams put together far more impressive performances than, frankly, anything ISU has done to this point, even if those other teams have losses working against them.
12. Texas A&M Aggies
Shout out to Mike Elko for having the stones to make a truly game-changing head coaching decision against LSU. Had Texas A&M stuck with Conner Weigman for four quarters with how things went in the first half, the Aggies would’ve likely lost and perhaps by double digits. The switch to Marcel Reed, however, changed everything and LSU had no answers over the final 30 minutes to pull away for a 38-23 win and potentially paving a clear road to the College Football Playoff.
11. BYU Cougars
After what we saw against struggling Oklahoma State last week, going on the road to the Bounce House seemed an obvious problem spot for BYU this week, particularly with the Knights seemingly finding some new life. It wasn’t an issue at all for the Cougs, though. Jake Retzlaff played a near-perfect game while the defense had all the answers for Gus Malzahn’s offense, leading to a comfortable 13-point win on the road and nothing but good vibes remaining in Provo.
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Making the College Football Playoff almost looks like a formality at this point for Notre Dame, particularly after the way the Irish dispatched Navy on Saturday at MetLife Stadium. It was a thorough drubbing of the Midshipmen as Marcus Freeman’s team forced six turnovers and consistently made good on them to hang a 50 burger on the board.
With only Army and USC looking daunting on their remaining schedule, Notre Dame just needs to avoid another Northern Illinois situation and they’re in. Perhaps that might be only be a product of a soft schedule for the Irish, which is entirely fair. But as their win over Texas A&M keeps looking better and their service academy matchups gain them caché, that could be all it takes for the berth they’re looking for as an at-large team.
9. Indiana Hoosiers
It feels like if there was ever a week for AP Top 25 voters to push Indiana further up in the rankings, it should be this one. After shellacking a Nebraska team — a team that took Ohio State down to the wire on Saturday, it should be noted — last week, Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers came into this week down starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke and with more attention than they’re surely accustomed to with College GameDay in town.
And yet, here were are with an 8-0 Indiana team and the Hoosiers’ perfection looks anything but fluky at this point. Sure, you could argue that Tayven Jackson’s offense wasn’t as potent and you’d probably be right. Here’s the thing, it didn’t matter because of the ground game and an elite defensive effort against Washington. This is a complete team playing like one of the best in the country and I’d press anyone to find 10 teams with a better body of work to this point than the boys in Bloomington.
8. Clemson Tigers
Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers had the week off but you could argue that could’ve benefitted from just keeping the train rolling the way it has been. Yes, we still have memories of Week 1 when this team didn’t belong on the same field as Georgia in a blowout loss. However, everything that we’ve seen from the Tigers since has said this is a viable CFP contender.
Cade Klubnik has leveled up immensely and seems to have a much surer grasp on Garrett Riley’s offense than he did at any point last season or even against the Bulldogs to start the year. On top of that, we know what Clemson’s defense is capable of. Despite the one loss on the ledger, the Tigers have looked like the ACC’s best this season, particularly of late.
7. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee is certainly riding high after taking in the cigar smoke a week ago with its win over rival Alabama. However, there are plenty of tough tasks still looming for the Vols after the week off they were able to enjoy in Week 9. Perhaps not shockingly given what we know about this team, though, that could start as soon as next week when Kentucky comes to Neyland Stadium.
In the simplest terms, the Tennessee offense has looked unfamiliar to most everything we’ve seen from Josh Heupel’s team since he arrived in Knoxville. The defense might well be elite but with the likes of Georgia still on the schedule, that might not be enough. The Vols’ are very much alive for the College Football Playoff even with a loss to the Dawgs but their overall body of work leaves some big questions about if they can avoid any other slip-ups.
6. Miami Hurricanes
It’s honestly a strange feeling to look at the Miami Hurricanes notching a 36-14 win over rival Florida State on Saturday and then come away from that game being less impressed by the undefeated Canes. And yet, here we are. Yes, they won and did so comfortably, but the simple truth of the matter is that Miami should’ve won by even more over the dying husk of the Seminoles team that they saw on the field.
Cam Ward was good but far from great in a matchup where he seemingly could’ve lit up FSU based on what we’ve seen this year. The defense was also good but still gave up 14 points. Perhaps the best thing we can say for Miami is that they didn’t get involved in a shootout that went down to the wire but it still feels like this team is looking more like a paper tiger with each passing week.
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
Given what we saw the Indiana Hoosiers do to Nebraska last week, the expectation appeared to be that Ryan Day’s team would welcome the Huskers to Columbus and deliver more of the same. That, however, was not remotely how things transpired as Dylan Raiola and Co. had a late possession with a chance to win it. Ohio State ultimately survived but there might be more cause for concern coming out of this game than anything.
Chip Kelly’s offense just looked lifeless against a defense that gave up 56 points to Indiana and had to squeak by to get 21 points on the board. While Jim Knowles’ defense was good, they continue to struggle to get home. Now that the Buckeyes already have one Big Ten loss, the looming date with the aforementioned Hoosiers is starting to look much trickier for Ohio State and is a game that could push OSU out of the Big Ten title bout.
4. Texas Longhorns
Alabama found out earlier this season that you don’t just walk into First Bank Stadium anymore and expect Vanderbilt to not even be able to put up a fight. Texas seemed prepared for that but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t get the best punch from the Commodores either. Diego Pavia continued to work magic for much of this game while Quinn Ewers played far from perfect but, at the end of the day, the Longhorns hung on for the win.
Wearing the scar tissue from last week’s loss to Georgia, it was necessary for the Longhorns to come out of that game and show some fight and grit against a far-better-than-expected Vandy group. That they were able to weather some haymakers, throw some big punches of their own, and then stand up defensively in the biggest moments of the game makes me far more confident in Texas down the stretch, especially with a bye looming next week.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
With how heavily the College Football Playoff hopes and anything adjacent for the Penn State Nittany Lions were tied to the upgrade of quarterback Drew Allar from last season’s substandard performance, if I told you that James Franklin’s team was trailing at halftime and lost Allar to an apparent leg injury on the road at Wisconsin, you’d probably think they were in big, big trouble on Saturday night at Camp Randall.
That’s exactly why I’m coming away from the 28-13 win for Penn State continuing to be high on what the Nittany Lions are capable of. No, Beau Pribula was not all that impressive. However, the offensive arsenal of Andy Kotelnicki while having the Allen-Singleton backfield is dangerous, and so too is this defense that just completely put the clamps on when it mattered most. We’ll wait and see what the status of Allar is with Ohio State on deck but we have to hope he’s good to go because that one could be an instant classic based on where these teams are.
2. Georgia Bulldogs
On the heels of a monster and crucial win over the Texas Longhorns, Kirby Smart’s team had the week off that they annually see on the schedule before making the trip to Jacksonville for their date with rival Florida in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. But it’s not just the Texas win that should have the vibes quite high in Athens — it’s how the Dawgs won that game.
Point blank, Carson Beck did not play all that well in the win over the Longhorns, throwing three picks. Yet, Georgia still found a way to move the rock consistently. More importantly than that, the Dawgs defense looked like the world-beater that we saw a couple of years ago. This was a group that had that potential but needed to come into its own. Now that it seems like it might be doing that, the rest of the college football world has been put on notice.
1. Oregon Ducks
Man, things are absolutely shaping up for this Oregon Ducks team to finish the regular season and head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game with a zero in the loss column. Dan Lanning’s team handled business last week to avoid any letdown after the Ohio State win but it was even more impressive to welcome a very good Illinois team to Eugene and leave absolutely no doubt.
Pick a facet of the game and the No. 1-ranked Ducks decisively did everything you could ask from them. Dillon Gabriel was sharp until a late lackadaisical interception when the game was well in hand but the Oregon defense completely stifled everything the Illini aimed to do in this matchup. Now, with no ranked teams left on the schedule, it seems like the Ducks might pretty handily cruise into the Big Ten title game and likely the College Football Playoff as well.
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