Week 9 almost gave us an upset over the #1 team in the country, but instead we received USC knocking off Ohio State, the Big 12 getting back on top, and three new teams making my rankings. With Miami at Notre Dame and BYU at Utah this week, we have two top five matchups judging by my poll!

Miami and North Carolina went down to the wire! The Hurricanes were in a lookahead spot with a road trip to Notre Dame on deck, but came out on top 38-35 after some onside kick drama in the final minute. Miami’s big three of Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney, and Mark Flecther produced all five Hurricanes touchdowns. Miami is listed as a 4.5-point underdog at Notre Dame this weekend, and if Miami is to lose a game in the regular season, this would be it. I’ll be rooting for Miami and gripping my Mensah Heisman ticket for dear life.

Georgia wasted no time going after Florida’s Aaron Philo and forcing the Gators to switch quarterbacks. The Bulldogs grabbed two early interceptions and built a 24-0 lead that could have been a lot worse. Georgia forced four turnovers, four sacks, 11 TFL, and held the Gators to 252 yards. The Bulldogs go to Ole Miss next, and the Rebels have a 16-game home winning streak. Georgia at Ole Miss likely shapes the SEC Championship and gives the winner an inside track to a top four seed to the playoff.

Another week, another blowout. Utah demolished the Bearcats in Cincinnati, 49-25. The Utes led 42-6 at the half. Devon Dampier threw three touchdowns, plus the Utes ran for 268 yards and two scores. The defense had three sacks, six TFLs, and a pick-six as one of their two turnovers. Next up, Utah welcomes BYU to town to keep sole possession of first place in the Big 12.

BYU bounced back with a win over Arizona State, but it wasn’t pretty. The Cougars looked great in the first half. They led 17-7 entering the break, but were outscored 14-0 in the third quarter to make the game interesting. It was a look-ahead spot at Utah while coming off a loss to UCF. Bear Bachmeier had 15 rushing yards on 16 carries against Arizona State, and BYU as a team had 47 rushing yards on 30 carries (1.6 ypc). BYU’s offense could get a boost next week as rumor has it LJ Martin is close to returning.

Well, Navy had them in the first half, then the Irish woke up. Navy took a 13-7 lead, and Notre Dame marched down the field for the go-ahead touchdown on a two-minute drive before halftime and never looked back. Notre Dame finished the game on 28-0 run and recorded 426 yards of offense. Notre Dame hosts #1 Miami next, and the Irish are -4.5 point home favorites. Does another #1 go down swinging?

The Indiana Hoosiers must have hands of titanium because they’ve been playing with fire for months. Indiana went in OT for a second straight week and escaped with a win. This time it was hosting Minnesota. Josh Hoover was taken out after a big hit, and seventh-year quarterback Grant Wilson came in relief. Wilson delivered two touchdown passes on 9-of-17 for 156 yards. Indiana enters a bye week and can evaluate Hoover and Wilson then. When they come out of the bye week, Curt Cignetti’s crew has USC, Washington, and Purdue to end the regular season. A 3-0 stretch, and they are in the Big Ten Championship.

Texas’ defense held Mississippi State to 187 yards of offense, 1.7 yards per carry, forced three fumbles, grabbed seven sacks, and 10 TFL. Rasheem Biles had three sacks himself, and Arch Manning threw for three touchdowns and 220 yards on 16-of-20 passing. The Longhorns couldn’t run the ball, which was a red flag. Texas ran 32 times for 60 yards (1.9 ypc) as Manning was sacked five times and the Bulldogs grabbed eight TFLs. Texas goes to Missouri this weekend for a chance to knock the Tigers out of the pool of playoff longshots.

Ole Miss was held scoreless in the first quarter to Auburn, but never trailed as they built a 7-0 lead. The Rebels went on a 31-6 second-half run to blow the Tigers out 45-15. Ole Miss posted 487 yards of offense without Kewan Lacy, but as long as Trinidad Chambliss can throw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, things usually go right in Oxford. The Rebels bounced back and now put their 16-game winning streak at home on the line with Georgia coming to town.

Yikes. Luke Fahey wasn’t ready for the big lights. Ohio State went to USC and laid an egg. The Buckeyes scored 18 points, 12 of that from field goals. Fahey went 21-of-38 for 260 yards and a touchdown. Jeremiah Smith posted 10 catches for 83 yards and scored the lone Buckeyes touchdown from two yards out. We can start getting the nails ready for Smith’s Heisman coffin if Miami beat Notre Dame this weekend. Ohio State has to bounce back to stay atop the Big Ten, and luckily, they have two consecutive home games versus Oregon and Northwestern.

Kentucky comes out of the bye week looking to stay perfect on the road. Kentucky beat #9 Texas A&M (31-21), South Carolina (35-34 OT), and Oklahoma (21-13) away from Lexington this season, and one could say that’s when they’ve played their best. Kentucky has the 10th-toughest remaining strength of schedule starting with a trip to Tennessee. Kentucky at Tennessee has the makings of a defensive battle, and the Cats’ defense was in full force versus Vanderbilt with 15 rushing yards allowed on 17 attempts last week, plus three sacks and eight TFL.

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LSU went into the bye week on fire. The Tigers beat Mississippi State 31-0 and Auburn 38-7 following the 35-34 OT loss at Kentucky. Sam Leavitt combined for eight touchdowns (7 pass, 1 rush) and 742 yards in the two wins. The LSU defense has balled out with 2.3 yards per carry and 10 sacks over the last two games. LSU looks to keep that momentum with them when Alabama comes to Death Valley. The loser of the Alabama-LSU game won’t be able to afford another loss unless it’s in the SEC Championship.

UCLA had no hiccups versus Nevada. The Bruins posted their first shutout of the season and held Nevada to 176 total yards of offense. UCLA grabbed four interceptions and held Nevada to 8-of-24 passing (33.3%) and 1.9 yards per carry. It was a dominant performance in a perfectly planned tune-up game. UCLA goes to Minnesota for the Bruins’ first East Coast trip since beating Maryland 54-3 on September 26.

Thomas Castellanos got a surprise start, and boy was it fun! Texas Tech put up 34 points and 472 yards of offense in the home win over #22 Arizona. Castleannos finished with 144 passing yards, 117 rushing yards, and three total touchdowns. Just like that, it appears Will Hammond is out of the job. The Red Raiders were down 17-7 at one point and went on a 27-9 run. With Castellanos playing like that at quarterback, Texas Tech might be the most dangerous team in the Big 12; unless you’re a Utah believer (I am).

After losing back-to-back games to #2 Georgia (20-17) and #14 Tennessee (26-10), Alabama beat Texas A&M (31-20) to break their slowing skid. Keelon Russell had 311 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the win compared to 332 passing yards, two total touchdowns, and two interceptions in the two losses. Alabama goes as Russell goes, and they will go to LSU this weekend for a make-it-or-break-it game. Alabama has won three straight against LSU and five of the past six.

South Carolina is on a heater with three-straight wins over #16 Florida (38-19), #11 Tennessee (27-24), and Oklahoma (42-25). LaNorris Sellers was unreal, dropping dimes all over the field en route to 397 total yards and five touchdowns. Sellers threw 79 and 84-yard touchdowns, plus had a rush of 30 yards. The Gamecocks offense was explosiven and the defense wasn’t too shabby with 5.7 yards per pass allowed and 3.7 yards per carry. South Carolina hosts Texas A&M this weekend and only has one ranked opponent (Vs Georgia) remaining on the schedule.

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USC loses at Wisconsin one week and beats Ohio State the next. The Trojans offense was night and day in the 30-18 win over #2 Ohio State. Jayden Maiava threw a touchdown pass and 222 yards on 15-of-22, while King Miller (86 total yards), Waymond Jordan (65 total yards), and Trent Mosley (101 yards) all scored. The Trokan defense did give up 464 total yards, including 204 on the ground for 4.7 yards per carry. For being on the field for almost 40 minutes, USC’s defense held their own and will have to do it again at Indiana following the bye week.

Wake Forest had maybe its most impressive win of the season at home versus Virginia. The Demon Deacons blew the doors off the Cavaliers in a 51-7 butt-whooping. Gio Lopez only threw the ball 21 times and posted 229 yards and a touchdown, plus he added 64 rushing yards on 13 carries. Ty Clark III had a career day with three touchdowns as Wake Forest ran for 309 yards, five touchdowns, and 6.1 yards per carry. Wake Forest hosts Merrimack this weekend, an FCS school, for a tune-up before making a run at the ACC Championship. SMU, Georgia Tech, and Duke await Wake Forest — all winnable games.

The best game of the week ended up going past midnight Eastern time and a lot of people missed Texas State pushing Boise State to the limits. Texas State scored 42 of their 45 points in the second half, including 20 in a fourth quarter where both teams combined for 38 points! Texas State took the lead twice in the fourth quarter and Boise State needed a touchdown with 2:40 to go and one final stop to seal the deal. The Broncos go to Colorado State (3-5) this week, then end the regular season at home versus Oregon State (5-3) and San Diego State (4-5). Four more wins and Boise State is in the playoffs.

Houston’s Big 12 Championship hopes took a major hit when the Cougars lost at Utah. The bye week presents Houston a chance to regroup with the 65th-toughest remaining strength of schedule. Houston could win out, but it may not mean anything if Utah, BYU, and Texas Tech all have one or two losses. The Cougars are undefeated at home and host Cincinnati this upcoming weekend.

After three straight wins, Tennessee fumbled away a fourth when they lost to South Carolina 27-24 in their previous game. The Vols’ defense has been outstanding, holding six out of eight opponents to 20 or fewer points, and running back DeSean Bishop has carried the offense over the past month. Bishop has run for 637 yards and seven touchdowns across 117 carries in the past four games (5.4 ypc). It’s hard to picture Tennessee getting into the playoffs at 9-3 or 10-2, but it’s still possible with Kentucky, Texas A&M, and LSU over the next three games.

Ahmad Hardy made his return after suffering a gunshot wound in the offseason, and despite not making a big impact, Missouri ran all over Arkansas. Hardy ran three times for 42 yards, including a 37-yarder in the second half. Jamal Roberts stayed hot and the bellcow with 23 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown. Missouri has three consecutive ranked opponents on deck: Texas, Georgia, and Kentucky, so the hope was Hardy would be 100-percent before this stretch. Texas’ defense allowed 1.7 yards per carry to Mississippi State, so whether he is or not, it’s going to be a challenge to move the ball on the Longhorns’ front seven.

Florida’s offense was a mess against Georgia. It felt like starting Aaron Philo set the Gators up for disaster, and that’s just what his short start was. Philo went 5-of-7 for 26 yards and two interceptions before getting pulled for Trammell Jones Jr., who didn’t fare much better (172 passing yards, 1 INT, 8 points). Florida stood to gain the most of any team with a win this week, but a loss makes sweeping Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Florida State necessary to make the playoffs. Florida has two top-seven wins, and two of their three losses are against top-25 opponents.

Iowa obliterated Wisconsin 30-0 and held the Badgers to 235 yards of offense and forced three turnovers. Hank Brown went 20-of-24 for 222 yards and two touchdowns as he sliced through Wisconsin’s defense. Iowa goes to Northwestern next, and if they win that, then there’s a good chance they finish the regular season 10-2.

With Tommy Carr under center, Michigan is 2-1 and almost upset Indiana to be 3-0. Michigan should have beaten Rutgers by more than seven points over the weekend, but the Wolverines outgained the Scarlet Knights 427-249 in yards, had the ball over 39 minutes, and Carr had his best game with two rushing touchdowns, and 227 passing yards, plus another score. It’s Michigan versus Michigan State week next, so we could see another improved outing from the freshman quarterback.

Louisville has rattled off three-straight wins over Florida State (44-20), Syracuse (34-26), and Stanford (52-24) after losing to Wake Forest (30-27) and NC State (31-28). The Cardinals get a bump into my rankings because frankly picking the 25th team is crapshoot and Louisville has a lot of upside offensively with Logan Kienholz, plus Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown.

Out of the Top 25

SMU allowed a touchdown with 17 seconds left to Syracuse, and that was the biggest upset in the ACC since North Carolina couldn’t get it done versus Miami. SMU goes to Virginia Tech on Friday night, then has Notre Dame and Wake Forest after. Getting to 10-2 or 9-3 will be difficult.

Oklahoma got molly-whopped by South Carolina. The Sooners’ defense allowed 521 yards and 11.4 yards per pass to the Gamecocks in the 42-25 loss. Oklahoma’s defense grabbed three turnovers, including a pick-six, but those were the only points off turnovers for the Sooners. Oklahoma falls to .500 for the fourth time this season as they’ve failed to record a winning streak or losing streak. Oklahoma goes to The Swamp to face Florida next, and based on their current seasonal trend, Oklahoma is getting an upset win.

Drew Mestemaker made it look easy at times against Iowa State as he continues to improve his stock to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Mestemaker finished with 323 passing yards and five touchdowns on 27-of-42. Unfortunately, Oklahoma State’s defense gave up 581 yards of offense and 51 points. It was a fun game to watch, but the loss ended any hope Oklahoma State had of making the Big 12 Championship.

New to the Top 25

Louisville’s remaining ACC games come at Georgia Tech and North Carolina, then the Cardinals host Pitt. It’s very possible Louisville finishes 7-2 in conference play and has a shot at the ACC Championship Game, but they would need Wake Forest to lose twice since Louisville lost 30-27 to the Demon Deacons/

Michigan sits at 5-3 and finishes the season with Michigan State and UCLA at home, plus road games at Oregon and Ohio State. It’s a rough road ahead for Tommy Carr and the Wolverines, but they are in a better spot with Carr than where they’d with Bryce Underwood.

Iowa will alternate home and road games over the next four weeks. The Hawkeyes go to Northwestern and Illinois, plus host Purdue and Nebraska. With the loss to Ohio State, Iowa would need a lot of help to make the Big Ten Championship.

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