If college football were an action movie, we would have just finished the first act where all characters are introduced and the plot is being fleshed out. Now we get to enjoy the action-packed second act where things heat up, characters reveal their true intentions and plot twists lurk at each turn.
Because the rankings weren’t posted last week, I’ve included the prior rank of each team in the top 25. You can also check it out in table-form here.
If you’re new to these rankings or need a refresher on how they work, you can find the explanation here.
The Rankings
- Clemson (Record:8-0; Non-AP Rank: 1; Score: 100.00; Prior Rank: 3): The Tigers didn’t have a great week, but their win over N.C. State was enough to push them over the two teams they trailed, who were both on byes.
- LSU (7-0; 2; 98.41; 2): The other Tigers have looked great all season, but it may all be for naught of they can’t go into Tuscaloosa and win.
- Ohio State (8-0; 4; 98.32; 1): The Buckeyes dropped two spots this week and it had nothing to do with their quarterback’s off-the-field issues. Their resume just grew worse in comparison to the two teams above them.
- Michigan State (8-0; 3; 96.54; 5): The key for Sparty these next two weeks will be not getting caught looking ahead to Ohio State.
- Alabama (7-1; 6; 94.17; 6): It’s possible that the winner of their showdown with LSU will come out as Vegas’ top pick to be national champion.
- Baylor (7-0; 9; 93.29; 4): The Bears start the post-Seth Russell era at Kansas State, who have lost four straight.
- Iowa (8-0; 5; 92.44; 8): Indiana; Minnesota; Purdue; Nebraska. That’s all that stands between us and a 12-0 Hawkeyes team.
- TCU (8-0; 10; 91.38; 7): Despite a perfect record, TCU has been falling out of favor with the polls. A resounding win at Oklahoma State would go a long way towards rectifying that.
- Florida (7-1; 9; 88.43; 11): Thanks to a pitiful SEC East, the Gators can secure a bid in the SEC Championship with a win Saturday against Vanderbilt.
- Memphis (8-0; 7; 88.14; 10): The Tigers will be able to prove they’re legit over the next three weeks when they face Navy, Houston and Temple.
- Notre Dame (7-1; 11; 87.25; 13): It wasn’t pretty, but the Irish escaped the City of Brotherly Love with a tough win over a solid Temple unit.
- Stanford (7-1; 12; 86.81; 9): It may not be what the state of Oregon wants to hear, but the Cardinal represent the lone chance for the Pac-12 to be in the playoffs as things currently stand.
- Utah (7-1; 15; 84.60; 12): At a plus-99 point differential, the Utes one of two teams (Michigan State) in my top 25 not in triple figures.
- Oklahoma State (8-0; 17; 84.21; 14): Allowing 53 points to Texas Tech isn’t a good omen when you are about to host TCU.
- Oklahoma (7-1; 13; 84.08; 15): After managing just 17 points against Texas, the Sooners have exploded to average 60 over their last three games.
- Houston (8-0; 14; 81.88; 18): It’s Week 10 and Houston will finally face their first team with a winning record.
- Toledo (7-0; 16; 80.37; 16): The Rockets will face arguably their toughest matchup this week as they host a quality Northern Illinois team that is averaging 53 points per game over their last three outings.
- Ole Miss (7-2; 18; 79.76; 21): The Rebels got a little more than they bargained for against Auburn but still control their fate in the SEC West.
- Michigan (6-2; 19; 78.80; 17): I half-expected the Wolverines to come out and blow the doors off the Gophers after their loss to Sparty. Maybe they spent too much of their bye week sulking instead of preparing.
- Florida State (7-1; 20; 77.41; 20): With their own playoff hopes gashed, the Seminoles would love to pass along the favor to rival Clemson.
- North Carolina (7-1; 24; 73.54; 30): With a win this weekend, UNC will have essentially a two-game lead in the ACC Coastal with three games to go.
- Temple (7-1; 22; 73.36; 19): All is not lost for the Owls. If they win their last four and get some luck, they could still find themselves atop the Group of Five when all is said and done.
- Mississippi State (6-2; 21; 73.10; 23): With Alabama looming, Hail State will need to resist the urge to look ahead and forget that traveling to Mizzou is no picnic.
- Appalachian State (7-1; 23; 71.84; 24): Pop quiz: What is Appalachian State’s mascot? The Mountaineers! (As if there was ever another option). With only one of their remaining opponents having a winning record, the Mountaineers could be making headlines come December.
- Wisconsin (7-2; 27; 71.44; 29): There are a lot of two-loss teams that could have filled this spot, but when you consider the Badgers two losses came against teams that have a combined one loss, it makes them an easy pick.
AP Teams Who Missed the Cut
UCLA (28) and Texas A&M (29) both missed my top 25, despite being 22nd and 25th in the AP poll, respectively. Both missed out by the slimmest of margins and will likely find themselves in my list should they each win.
Oregon Update
The Ducks moved to 45th after their high-scoring win over the Sun Devils on the road. That gives the boys from Eugene two-straight road victories over decent opponents, even though they did come by a combined 12 points.
When it comes to the Beavers, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The bad news is Oregon State has now lost five-straight, which dropped them to 106th in my rankings. The good news is that their last two losses came by a combined 19 points, which is 39-point improvement from their previous two games.
Other Notable Teams
USC (30) is the nation’s best three-loss team … Marshall (31) and Western Kentucky (33) continue to duke it out for Conference USA bragging rights … Boise State leads the Mountain West at 35 … Duke’s unfortunate loss to Miami dropped them to 36 … On the bright side, they’re still four spots ahead of Miami (40) … Georgia Southern (41) has a claim as the best team in their state, ranking three spots ahead of Georgia and 32 ahead of Georgia Tech … Kentucky (76) continues to slide down the rankings … South Carolina (83) is still the worst team in the SEC … and our Bottom Five for this week are: New Mexico State (124), Miami (OH), Kansas, North Texas and UCF.
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