College Football Top 11: Week 9

Erik Buchinger -
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1. LSU

LSU looks like the best team in the country, and with the win over Auburn, they have the best resume in college football, which is mostly what these rankings are all about. The battle of Tigers wound up as a three-point game, but LSU outplayed Auburn way more than a 23-20 victory should be. Joe Burrow kept his pants on for the full game and should remain the Heisman favorite heading into his bye week. After that, LSU has Alabama on the road.

2. Ohio State

So Wisconsin has a great defense, ehh? Not so if you wear an Ohio State uniform because holy hell the Buckeyes put a beat down on the Badgers in the second half. Chase Young was the star in this one just dominating the Wisconsin offensive line. What a performance by Ohio State. This might be the best team in the country. They have a bye week before Maryland and Rutgers, which means the Buckeyes essentially have three bye weeks before Penn State and Michigan.

3. Penn State

As you read earlier Michigan State is dead as a football program, so this wasn’t much of a surprise. The Spartans could do nothing against Penn State. The Nittany Lions did not play their greatest game offensively, but it was more than enough for a three-score victory. Penn State has a bye week before heading on the road to play Minnesota, who went into Saturday as the worst 7-0 team in the history of sports. That Penn State-Ohio State matchup on Nov. 23 should be a matchup between 11-0 teams.

4. Alabama

Tua who? I’m actually asking because I’m not 100% sure how to spell/pronounce his last name at this point. Mac Jones played phenomenal with Tagovailoa (see, I do it) out with an injury. Tua’s brother Taulia got in the game as well, so that’s fun. Arkansas isn’t very good, but the older Tua will likely be needed against LSU in a couple weeks after the bye.

5. Clemson

Clemson played an ACC team, and they won by a lot. Crazy, right? The latest victim was Boston College, which completed six passes in the game. It would take an incredible effort by the opposition and a complete implosion for the Tigers to get a loss before the College Football Playoff. Next up is Wofford. FCS games in October should be banned, but that’s a discussion for another day.

6. Florida

Bye week for Florida. The Gators are getting ready for the World’s Largest Cocktail Party against Georgia next Saturday. Biggest game of the weekend. Cannot wait.

7. Georgia

Georgia also had a bye week. That Notre Dame win looks a little worse, but the Bulldogs’ Playoff hopes are definitely on the line next Saturday against the Gators.

8. Oregon

I did not pay full attention for much of this game, but I took roughly 16 naps during this one because it ended at 1:15 a.m. I am a warrior and do not sleep until the college football weekend is over, and what a finish with a pair of lead changes in the final minute. The Ducks have to still be kicking themselves for giving it away against Auburn week 1. They’d be undefeated and find themselves in the top 5. Instead, they are here and will play USC on the road next weekend.

9. Utah

As it turns out, third string quarterbacks aren’t all that great in college football. That’s what Utah went up against on Saturday night against Cal. An absolute dominant performance. This is an awesome Utes team that I might have to cheer for from here on out as my Wisconsin boys sealed their fate as a non-College Football Playoff team. I said before the season Utah will go 11-1 and have a chance to play for a Playoff spot in the conference title game. Let’s make it happen.

10. Oklahoma

First it was Georgia, then Wisconsin and now Oklahoma is the latest top 10 team to go down against an unranked squad. The Sooners were getting smoked by Kansas State on Saturday before a crazy rally nearly coming all the way back. I thought it was crazy listening to college football media discussing the College Football Playoff picture looking so obvious by the end of the season. That’s not how this thing works, folks. We’re more than a month away from Selection Sunday, and we’re bound to have more weird shit happen. Oklahoma is by no means out of this.

11. Auburn

Our first two-loss team of the season comes in with the Auburn Tigers. Yes, there are some unbeatens remaining in the Power 5 conferences with Minnesota and Baylor. They’ll have my respect when they beat a team that wouldn’t struggle against a high school JV team. Auburn now has losses at Florida and LSU, two really difficult games, but the Tigers beat Oregon at a neutral site to open the season to get them in this spot.

Photo courtesy of KStateSports.com

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