Four! Four undefeated teams lost on Saturday! And it's not like Clemson and Washington got away with easy wins, either!
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Week 9 once again saw a bunch of ranked teams fall, and we now have to re-order our Top 25 to fit the results accordingly. Who benefits the most, who takes the hardest hit, and holy cow, Auburn is in the Top 10.
1. Alabama — SEC, 8-0
LW: 1 — Result: BYE
Of course, the Tide stay on top of the rankings during their BYE week. They have LSU waiting for them in Baton Rouge, though, so things could get interesting the next time these rankings come around.
2. Michigan — Big Ten, 8-0
LW: 2 — Result: W, 32-23 vs. Michigan State
This game probably ended up a lot closer than a lot of Michigan fans wanted, but nonetheless, the Wolverines walked away with a road win in an important rivalry game. Jabrill Peppers looked awesome on both sides of the ball, and he is really starting to emerge as a Top 3 Heisman candidate.
3. Washington — Pac-12, 8-0
LW: 3 — Result: W, 31-24 vs. Utah
This was a huge win for Washington's credibility. Since Stanford has fallen off, a lot of people have really started to question if a weak schedule was the main cause for their undefeated record. Well, that's not true anymore at least; Utah is a legitimate team, and Washington went on the road and was about to grind away a win against a quality defense.
4. Clemson — ACC, 8-0
LW: 4 — Result: W, 37-34 vs. Florida State
Clemson really has a flair for the dramatic, huh?
This was another close game for the Tigers, and it looked like Florida State and Dalvin Cook actually had them for a minute there. Not so fast, though, as Deshaun Watson was able to march his troops back down the field, and the Clemson defense was able to get a few more hits on FSU's Deondre Francois to seal the victory.
5. Texas A&M — SEC, 7-1
LW: 7 — Result: W, 52-10 vs. NMSU
A blowout of New Mexico State may not rank high on your list of accolades worthy of a trophy, but A&M moves up a couple of spots here with their performance. The Aggies did exactly what they needed to do: right the ship after a loss to Alabama last week, and they did so without major injury. Now, defensive end Myles Garrett did miss this game, but he should be back next week and ready to go against Mississippi State.
6. Ohio State — Big Ten, 7-1
LW: 9 — Result: W, 24-20 vs. Northwestern
You know it's a weird week when Ohio State moves up several spots after barely holding off a mediocre Northwestern team in Columbus. I mean, the performance even start to draw some boo birds out of the Buckeye faithful! However, a win is still valuable at this point in the season, and Ohio State did what they needed to do before they face Nebraska next week.
7. Louisville — ACC, 7-1
LW: 5 — Result: W, 32-25 vs. Virginia
A win is a win, but goodness Louisville, this was awful.
Lamar Jackson eventually rose to the occasion to help the Cardinals take the lead on a beautiful pass in the fourth quarter, but Louisville can't keep going up and down like this if they want to get into the College Football Playoff. In their past three games, they have struggled with Duke and Virginia, and then they demolished N.C. State — who is probably the best of those three.
Keep it together, Louisville!
8. Wisconsin — Big Ten, 6-2
LW: 10 — Result: W, 23-17 vs. Wisconsin
Wisconsin is still very alive in this wackiness that we call college football. They delivered with a huge win in overtime against previously undefeated Nebraska, as the Badgers were able to harass Tommy Armstrong for the whole evening. Considering how close Wisconsin's losses to Michigan and Ohio State were, it is very possible that the Badgers play spoiler at the very least in the Big Ten title game.
9. Auburn — SEC, 6-2
LW: 13 — Result: W, 40-29 vs. Ole Miss
Who would have thought that Auburn would be back this high in the rankings after their 1-2 start to the year? Hell, remember when everyone thought Gus Malzahn would be fired if the Tigers lost to LSU? Good times.
It took a while for Auburn's defense to start clicking in Oxford, but they showed up in the fourth quarter when they really needed. On offense, Kamryn Pettway has quickly emerged as one of the best running backs in the nation; Pettway's 230 yards on Saturday boosted him up to almost 1,000 on the season, and he's averaging over six yards a carry. He's become the beast that Auburn needed on offense.
10. Florida — SEC, 6-1
LW: 12 — Result: W, 24-10 vs. Georgia
There seemed to be a pretty common consensus among Florida and Georgia fans after this game: it was boring.
Well boring or not, Florida got a big win thanks to their defense getting an ungodly amount of pressure on Jacob Eason. Eason may not be killing it in the stat sheet, but you can definitely see some positives with how the freshman is handling the worst offensive line Georgia has had in years.
Florida's defense is great, but at some point they are going to have to show something on offense. Defense will definitely keep you in any game, but they are going to have to show something more on the offensive side of the ball if they want to beat LSU and Florida State later in the year.
11. Western Michigan — MAC, 8-0
LW: 14 — Result: BYE
Someone reading this is probably going to look at these rankings and ask "Does he really think WMU is better than someone like Oklahoma?" and the answer is yes; yes I do. Have you seen Oklahoma's secondary?
Western Michigan is now one of only five undefeated teams remaining in FBS football, and it is time for the Broncos to start getting some props nationally. I get that key wins at Northwestern and at Central Michigan don't give everyone the warm fuzzies, but it's definitely not the worst resume of all time.
12. Nebraska — Big Ten, 7-1
LW: 11 — Result: L, 17-23 vs. Wisconsin
They really didn't look that good heading into the Wisconsin game, which is why I actually still had the Badgers ranked ahead of them last week. Still, I will give them some props for their resiliency, as they could have easily folded when Wisconsin took a 10-point lead in Madison. They may have lost, but this game definitely gave us more perspective on what the Cornhuskers really are.
13. Oklahoma — Big 12, 6-2
LW: 16 — Result: W, 56-3 vs. Kansas
Yes, Kansas is terrible, and Oklahoma did exactly what they needed to do here. They took a big lead early, and then they rested their starters for a good portion of the game. Oklahoma should have another game like this next week against Iowa State, which they will need before they play Baylor, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State in consecutive games.
14. LSU — SEC, 5-2
LW: 18 — Result: BYE
Those losses to Auburn and Wisconsin don't looks so bad now, do they? They get Alabama next week, though, and... good luck with that.
15. West Virginia — Big 12, 6-1
LW: 8 — Result: L, 20-37 vs. Oklahoma State
Oh West Virginia... no.
Oklahoma State is a decent team, so there should be too much shame in losing in Stillwater, but the Cowboys just dominated this game from start to finish. West Virginia was really seeking potentially their first quality win of the season, and instead they walk away with what I'm not even sure we can call a quality loss.
16. Baylor — Big 12, 7-1
LW: 6 — Result: L, 34-35 vs. Texas
That sound you hear is the Big 12's Playoff hopes dying a painful death.
This game was very entertaining, as Texas and Baylor traded shots back and forth in the final quarter of play. Despite how maligned the defense has been at Texas under Charlie Strong, they finally made plays for him on Baylor's final drive of the game, and the fans — and athletic director — chanted "CHAR-LIE!" as the Longhorns left the field.
17. Penn State — Big Ten, 6-2
LW: 23 — Result: W, 62-24 vs. Purdue
This game was actually closer than Penn State was probably comfortable with, as Purdue was actually tied with the Nittany Lions 17-17 at halftime. As you can see from the final score, though, Penn State did more than take care of that in the second half.
18. North Carolina — ACC, 6-2
LW: 22 — Result: BYE
UNC had a BYE this week, which will definitely be useful before they play Georgia Tech and their option offense. Although Georgia Tech did throw for nearly 300 yards on Saturday, so who the hell know what will happen in that game.
19. Florida State — ACC, 6-3
LW: 15 — Result: L, 34-37 vs. Clemson
Even with three losses, you can't drop them too far for a loss to a team like Clemson. Although I feel like dropping them further after what they did to their quarterback yesterday. Can anyone please get Deondre Francois an offensive front? I mean, it's been a while since I've seen a quarterback take that kind of punishment in a game, yet still stand in their in the fourth quarter with the game on the line... only to take two more sacks.
20. Utah — Pac-12, 7-2
LW: 20 — Result: L, 24-31 vs. Washington
This is one of those cases where a team doesn't drop after a loss. I mean, they lost a close game to the No. 3 team in the nation; that about what you should expect out of a team ranked No. 20 in this situation.
21. Virginia Tech — ACC, 6-2
LW: NR — Result: W, 39-36 vs. Pitt
VT essentially takes Pitt's spot on this list, as I had Pitt in last week's rankings. I'm still very unsure about the Hokies, though, as nothing they've done this year has really impressed me. They've lost to Tennessee and Syracuse, and their best win is against North Carolina in a game that probably shouldn't have been played due to the bad weather of Hurricane Matthew. They get a spot in the rankings for now, but I'm still skeptical.
22. Colorado — Pac-12, 6-2
LW: NR — Result: BYE
Colorado had a BYE this week. They get UCLA at home on a Thursday game this upcoming week.
23. Washington State — Pac-12, 6-2
LW: 24 — Result: W, 35-32 vs. Oregon State
Even with all these losses in the Top 25 this week, Washington State doesn't move up because... well, they barely beat Oregon State. Oregon State is terrible, and it was the Beavers that controlled most of this game.
24. Oklahoma State — Big 12, 6-2
LW: NR — Result: W, 37-20 vs. West Virginia
They've come a long way since that loss to Central Michigan. Thanks to a four-game winning streak, the Cowboys now control a very real shot at winning the Big 12 altogether. Sure, it's not the same as "winning the Big 12 and getting into the Playoffs" like they had hoped earlier in the year, but that still has to count for something.
25. South Florida — AAC, 7-2
LW: NR — Result: W, 52-45 vs. Navy
They rebound after a loss to Temple last week. They controlled most of this game against Navy on Friday and the win is nice, but they still need some help in order to get to the AAC championship game.
DROPPED FROM THE RANKINGS: Tennessee (17), Boise State (19), Pitt (25)
