Week 9 of the college football season had plenty of drama, season-defining moments, and a field goal post tossed into a pond. The Oklahoma Sooners dropped their first game of the season to the Kansas Jayhawks. The Oregon State Beavers got caught sleeping and dropped their second game of 2023. And the North Carolina Tar Heels lost their second game in a row to a sub-.500 team. On the other hand, the Oregon Ducks and Louisville Cardinals dominated their ranked opponents, while the Ohio State Buckeyes and Georgia Bulldogs took care of business on the road.
In Week 10, we could see more of the same with four games between AP Top 25 opponents. The Texas Longhorns host the Kansas State Wildcats; the Missouri Tigers look to upset the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on the road; the Washington Huskies prepare to officially put away the USC Trojans; and in the game of the week, the LSU Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to play the Alabama Crimson Tide in what could be a winner-takes-all game for the SEC West.
The 2023 season has been great, and there is still plenty of football left to be played. But before this week's slate of games kicks off, check out our updated College Football Power Rankings!
1. Georgia Bulldogs (8-0) (Last Week: 2)
Against Florida on Saturday, the Bulldogs played probably their best game on both sides of the ball, beating the Gators 43-20.
2. Washington Huskies (8-0) (Last Week: 1)
Since Washington's win over Oregon, the Huskies have struggled to take care of Arizona State and Stanford. And they need to get things in check with USC, Utah and Oregon State on the horizon.
3. Florida State Seminoles (8-0) (Last Week: 3)
The longer the season goes on, the more the Florida State Seminoles look like legitimate national title contenders.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0) (Last Week: 4)
The Buckeyes' offense still looks average at best, but luckily it has a player such as wide receiver Marvin Harrison to lean on — along with one of their best defenses in years — to take care of business.
5. Michigan Wolverines (8-0) (Last Week: 5)
The bye week for Michigan was less than ideal, as more information was released regarding sign-stealing allegations against the program — and, honestly, it does not look good for the Wolverines.
6. Oregon Ducks (7-1) (Last Week: 8)
The Ducks dominated the Utah Utes on both offense and defense, and they are keeping their conference title and playoff hopes alive.
7. Texas Longhorns (7-1) (Last Week: 7)
Maalik Murphy stepped in as the starter for the Longhorns against BYU and showed why Texas has the best quarterback room in all of college football.
8. Penn State Nittany Lions (7-1) (Last Week: 9)
The Penn State defense had its worst game of the season, but the offense finally built some momentum late in the fourth quarter as the Nittany Lions avoided the upset loss.
9. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1) (Last Week: 10)
Alabama is going up against a really bad LSU defense this week but will need Jalen Milroe to step up and match what LSU's offense can put up.
10. Oklahoma Sooners (7-1) (Last Week: 6)
The Sooners' Big 12 title and playoff hopes took a big shot on Saturday, as Oklahoma could not escape Kansas with a win and dropped its first game of 2023.
11. Ole Miss (7-1) (Last Week: 12)
Ole Miss fans will be LSU fans on Saturday, but the Rebels will also need to avoid a potential trap game against Texas A&M, with the Georgia Bulldogs on deck.
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) (Last Week: 14)
Notre Dame's 58-7 victory over Pitt was a huge step in the right direction; and building off their win over USC two weeks ago, they should finish with a 10-win season.
13. LSU Tigers (6-2) (Last Week: 15)
The Heisman Trophy race is getting tighter, but LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels could put himself in the driver's seat for the prestigious award with a big game and a win over Alabama on Saturday.
14. Missouri Tigers (7-1) (Last Week: 17)
The Tigers have a chance to shake up the college football world and take control of their own destiny as they go on the road to take on top-ranked Georgia this Saturday.
15. Oregon State Beavers (6-2) (Last Week: 11)
The Beavers' loss to Arizona hurt their chances at a Pac-12 title; but Oregon State will have plenty of chances to get back into contention, with Washington and Oregon in the final two weeks of the season.
16. Air Force (8-0) (Last Week: 18)
Air Force's strength of schedule is not that great, so an undefeated season will not result in a College Football Playoff appearance for the Falcons.
17. Louisville (7-1) (Last Week: NR)
Louisville used its bye week to recover from its loss to Pitt two weeks ago and came away with a 23-point shutout, as the Cardinals currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
18. Tennessee Volunteers (6-2) (Last Week: NR)
The Vols' 2023 season is nothing like 2022, but they are winning games they would usually lose and are showing that this program has made a turn for the better.
19. Kansas Jayhawks (6-2) (Last Week: NR)
Kansas will need some help to get into the Big 12 title game, but its upset win over the Oklahoma Sooners was a huge one not only for this season but for the program going forward.
20. Tulane Green Wave (7-1) (Last Week: NR)
The best Group of Five team from a year ago is climbing the rankings and has one of the best offenses in all of college football — and could find itself in another New Year's Six bowl game for the second straight year.
