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This past weekend delivered another wild slate of college football, with playoff contenders tested and a few dark horses making serious statements. Several top teams survived close calls, while others saw their championship hopes take major hits.
Explosive offenses, clutch defensive stands, and a few shocking upsets reminded fans why October football always shakes up the rankings. With that, it’s time to take a fresh look at where things stand heading into the stretch run— here are my top 10 teams entering Week 10.
Nothing new to report from the idle week for the Buckeyes. What was thought to be a de facto Big Ten title elimination game against Penn State has turned into an Ohio State -21.5 spread. The preseason lookahead line was around 4-to-4.5. Ohio State has Purdue, UCLA and Rutgers before taking an 11-0 mark into the helmet game in Ann Arbor.
The game vs UCLA was over in one series in. The Hoosiers decimated the Bruins 56-6. Three of their final four games are away from home, but those three are at Maryland, Penn State and Purdue— although that game in State College COULD be somewhat intriguing depending on what happens in Columbus this week.
After 15 years of unrealized hype, the Aggies have arrived under Mike Elko. I wanted to move A&M to two after getting Brian Kelly fired and nearly hanging a 50-burger on LSU at Tiger Stadium, but I couldn’t drop a team off a 50-point win to three. So just like how it’s possible in the AP Poll, we’ve got a tie for second. A&m Still haS two tricky road games at Missouri (with a backup QB) and Texas. The offense has been held under 31 once and looks unstoppable right now. People are now widely (and correctly) realizing that the Aggies are a legit title contender.
For the second straight week, an unlikely pick-six turned the Tide. Despite that, Bama still found itself down eight late, but South Carolina didn’t go for two to make the lead nine. Why? I have no idea. Regardless, Kalen DeBoer’s squad made the big plays it needed, which it has every week outside of the one-off at Florida State— and got some help from South Carolina. They have a much deserved idle week prior to the visit from the shell of an LSU team. The Iron Bowl at Jordan-Hare is likely the toughest remaining game on the schedule.
For the second straight year, the Ducks sleep-walked through a win over Wisconsin. It’s understandable, considering the Badgers offense is a non-factor. Oregon is off this week before what could be a tricky game at Kinnick vs the Hawkeyes.
The Bulldogs enjoyed an off week to come down from the huge comeback win over Ole Miss. Kirby Smart’s team has to be on alert this week against a Gator squad eligible for the interim coach bounce, and don’t think the Georgia staff isn’t aware of this. Florida’s defense will be a good test for Gunner Stockton and the UGA offensive line.
The Rebels earned a massive win at Oklahoma. Lane Kiffin did a great job helping his defense with the play calling, going +11 minutes in time of possession and running 87 plays to the Sooners’ 60. Ole Miss gets a deflated South Carolina team this week and are looking very likely to make their first CFP appearance.
The Canes had a slow start but strong finish vs Stanford. I would still like to see, as many Miami fans would, a little more tempo to get Carson Beck in a groove and some stretch runs in the offense to mix things up. But hey, these are first-world problems, right? Miami will leave the state for the first tine this season and get an SMU team off a loss which has forced a national-best 20 turnovers this season.
The Irish get one of the worst Power 4 teams in the country this week in Boston College, and that should allow for the offense to again put up huge numbers. Just be careful about that game at Pitt on November 15th. It’s far from a given considering how good the Panthers offense has looked lately.
Hearing Behren Morton will be back this week made me comfortable enough to put the Red Raiders at ten. Tech did what you should do against a bad team and now have a tough two game stretch at resurgent K-State and home vs an 8-0 BYU team. Win those and its Big 12 title game bound.
Chris “The Bear” Fallica has covered sports for nearly three decades. While college football has been his focus, he also enjoys the NFL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MLB, NHL and Horse Racing, with an “occasional” wager on such events. Chris recently won the inaugural Circa Football Invitational and finished in the Top 10 of the Golden Nugget Football Contest. He’s a multiple-time qualifier for the NHC Handicapping Championship. Remember, “The less you bet, the more you lose when you win!” Follow him on Twitter @chrisfallica.
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