At the same time College football The rankings aren’t expected to see a big jump after Week 9, with plenty of changes coming after a week that featured five games between teams ranked in the AP Top 25 poll. Of those five matchups, none were more notable than Texas A&M’s win over LSU, which kept the Aggies atop the SEC rankings and will move them into the top 10 when the rankings are updated Sunday.
The top of the rankings is mostly stable. Oregon is one of the only great teams to win Week 9 without facing any real possibility of an upset. Penn State, Ohio State and Texas all faced varying degrees of adversity in the win, with the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes getting late touchdowns to secure their position, while the Longhorns held off a late charge from Vanderbilt.
Further down the rankings, voters will have to start making some decisions about how long they’re willing to put undefeated power conference teams behind other teams with losses. BYU and Indiana both won by double digits on Saturday to keep their unbeaten starts alive, and on Thursday, Pitt blew out Syracuse to go 7-0. In last week’s poll, six teams were ahead of BYU, seven ahead of Indiana and 12 ahead of Pitt, including two-loss Ole Miss.
After Illinois, Missouri, Navy and Vanderbilt all lost there would be some split decisions regarding the teams in the 20s. Some voters will boot any team that loses in that range, while others are reluctant to keep teams on their ballot if a ranked team loses. All four lost to top-15 teams in Week 9.
Here’s what the new AP Top 25 will look like on Sunday after Week 9.
1. Oregon (Last Week – 1): After the Ducks handled their business in a 38-9 win over Illinois, we don’t expect any changes at the top. Oregon led 35-3 at halftime and got plenty of reps for the backups as they prepare to play at Michigan next week.
2. Georgia (2): The Bulldogs were off in Week 9 and will be back in action next Saturday against Florida.
3. Penn State (3): Foremost on Penn State fans’ minds won’t be where they sit in the standings, but rather the status of starting quarterback Drew Allar, who sat out the second half of Saturday night’s 28-13 win at Wisconsin due to injury. The Nittany Lions rallied with their QB1 out, getting a big six from the defense and getting credit for a strong showing from backup quarterback Beau Prybula to close out the win and keep Penn State undefeated.
4. Ohio State (4): A close call against Nebraska isn’t going to leave voters with any motivation for the Buckeyes to start raising their ballots, but Ohio State’s chances come next week at Penn State.
5. Texas (5): Quinn Ewers was sharp early, not missing a throw until late in the first half and finishing with 288 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 win over Vanderbilt. The Commodores were able to claw their way back into the game in the final 20 minutes — cutting a 24-10 lead to three points with less than a minute remaining — a move that wasn’t going to be a big one, but Texas made its entrance. 7-1 week and still in the thick of the SEC title race.
6. Miami (6): Despite Florida State’s 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter, Miami was rarely threatened with the possibility of defeat as they improved to 8-0 in a 36-14 contest victory.
7. Texas A&M (14): If AP voters are willing to look at other head-to-head results from the early weeks of the season on their ballots, I think we’ll see Notre Dame’s ceiling crumble after the Aggies’ win over LSU. As Texas A&M continued to climb the rankings with each win, the Fighting Irish were always their ceiling, as they were both one-loss teams with somewhat similar profiles. But after Marcel Reed’s heroics in the second half, I think voters can reason that a Texas A&M team heading into Week 10 is a very different one than the one that fell to Notre Dame in Week 1 in a low-scoring grinder.
8. Tennessee (7): The Volunteers are off in Week 9 and will be back in action next Saturday against Kentucky.
9. Clemson (9): The Tigers are off in Week 9 and will be back in action next Saturday against Louisville.
10. Iowa State (10): The Hurricanes are off in Week 9 and will be back in action next Saturday against Texas Tech.
11. BYU (11): The inactivity of the polls will probably prevent that, but the Cougars have a solid argument to move up two spots after a 37-24 win at UCF. Oddsmakers had the game a toss-up and BYU took it to an early 17-0 lead and scored 30-plus points for the sixth straight game.
12. Notre Dame (12): The day began at MetLife Stadium and was one of the most anticipated editions of the Notre Dame-Navy rivalry in recent years. Notre Dame threw the ball over Navy’s defense, and some unusual turnovers by the Midshipmen helped the Fighting Irish build a big lead early and cruise to a 51-14 victory.
13. Indiana (13): The Hoosiers played six quarters without star quarterback Kurtis Rourke and outscored their opponents 59-17 in that span after a 14-point win against Washington. Rourke’s absence was certainly felt against the Huskies, but Indiana’s defense came up with big-time plays and the ground game in the second half to beat Washington and improve to 8-0 on the year.
14. Alabama (15): Offensive struggles for Missouri laid the groundwork for a much-needed 34-0 win over Alabama, improving the team to 6-2 overall as the team heads into the season one week late. After going 2-2 in four consecutive one-score games, the Crimson Tide really let the run game go and had some breathing room Saturday, allowing the defense to record a pair of interceptions.
15. Kansas State (16): We don’t expect AP voters to punish the Wildcats for a closer-than-expected victory in a rivalry game against Kansas. With a 29-26 win, Kansas State should clinch its spot in the rankings.
16. Boise State (17): On a fourth-and-goal in the first quarter of the Mountain West, the logical option was to hand it to Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos star (eventually winning the game. ) touchdown Friday night at UNLV. Boise State helped its ranking profile with the win and is slated to move up after dropping two spots last week on the back of a win over Hawaii.
17. Bit (19): After improving to 7-0 overall with a thunderous 41-13 win over Syracuse, we expect Pitt to make some moves ahead of other teams with losses. The Panthers defense yielded three of the Big Six’s five interceptions and now stares down a November schedule that puts the 2021 ACC champions firmly in the middle of the conference title race once again.
18. LSU (8): Tiger’s downfall is very predictable. The head-to-head advantage of a recent win over Ole Miss gives voters an easy spot to drop a two-loss team they still consider one of the top 20 teams in the country after losing to Texas A&M.
19. Ole Miss (18): After the Rebels failed to score 30 points in a fourth straight game, the days of the Ole Miss offense ripping opponents apart are long gone. Injuries, most notably to star wide receiver Trey Harris, certainly played a role, but Saturday’s 26-14 win over Oklahoma didn’t have a ton as voters looked to tilt the Rebels on their ballot. required
20. Army (23): The Black Knights are off in Week 9 and will be back in action next week against the Air Force in the next chapter of their battle for the 2024 Commander-in-Chief Trophy.
21. SMU (22): Going into overtime against Duke as a double-digit favorite isn’t going to inspire voters’ confidence, but in holding on for a win, the Mustangs are in the top 25.
22. Colorado (NR): With the win over Cincinnati, the Buffs improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play, with the only Big 12 loss coming by three points to top-20 Kansas State. Colorado has been playing its best football of the season in this final four-game stretch, and a #Big12AfterDark win would return to the AP poll for the first time since last year’s early-season win.
23. Illinois (20): The Fighting Illini were eight points shy of Ole Miss in last week’s poll and two decks clear of the cut line, so we predict a 6-2 road loss to Oregon won’t eliminate Bret Bielema’s team. Top 25.
24. Washington State (NR): The Cougars were ranked No. 26 in last week’s poll, and despite that sweat, they managed to improve to 7-1 with a win Saturday night at San Diego State.
25. Vanderbilt (25): Can the Commodores hang on? There weren’t many clear-cut options when looking at last week’s voting, and Vanderbilt forced the former No. 1-ranked team to attempt an onside kick.
It is predicted to be abandoned: No. 21 Missouri, no. 24 Navy
