AP College Football Poll 2014: Complete Week 9 Rankings Released

Another week, another set of brilliant matchups, thrilling finishes and newly minted debates forged in college football. The destination in college football this season might be the new four-team playoff, but boy, oh boy, has the journey been fun.         

With several top teams facing off, this week's Associated Press rankings were sure to look a whole lot different than they did coming in to the weekend. Let's take a look at how the AP voters view the college football landscape now. Also, make sure to check out Bleacher Report's official Top 25 and review the week that was.     

Rankings

Rank	Team	Record	B/R Poll
1	Mississippi State	6-0	Mississippi State
2	Florida State	7-0	Florida State
3	Ole Miss	7-0	Ole Miss
4	Alabama	6-1	Alabama
5	Auburn	5-1	Auburn
6	Oregon	6-1	Notre Dame
7	Notre Dame	6-1	Michigan State
8	Michigan State	6-1	Oregon
9	Georgia	6-1	Georgia
10	TCU	5-1	TCU
11	Kansas State	5-1	Kansas State
12	Baylor	6-1	Ohio State
13	Ohio State	5-1	Baylor
14	Arizona State	5-1	Arizona State
15	Arizona	5-1	Arizona
16	Nebraska	6-1	East Carolina
17	Oklahoma	5-2	Nebraska
18	East Carolina	5-1	Oklahoma
19	Utah	5-1	USC
20	USC	5-2	Utah
21	Clemson	5-2	Marshall
22	West Virginia	5-2	Clemson
23	Marshall	7-0	West Virginia
24	LSU	6-2	UCLA
25	UCLA	5-2	Duke

Analysis

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Last week, Mississippi State and Ole Miss made their case for why they deserved consideration as the top team in the nation. On Saturday, Florida State followed suit.

In a thrilling, nail-biting 31-27 win over Notre Dame, the defending champs served notice that they shouldn't be so easily disregarded in the national championship conversation. Despite being outplayed in the first half and needing an offensive pass interference penalty at the end of the game to help preserve the victory, the Seminoles once again found a way to prevail.

Afterward, head coach Jimbo Fisher talked about his team's ability to win the close ones, via Paul Myerberg of USA Today:

"

You can say whatever you want. This team is dominant. Is it this, is it not as spectacular? I'll tell you what, I wouldn't trade it for any team in America.

I'll grow with this team. I'm proud of them, proud to be coaching them. The team has tremendous what I call 'adversity tolerance.' It doesn't flinch. It can deal with anything. It can deal with pressure moments, pressure situations. And that's what we did tonight.

"

Florida State's road to the playoff seems to be without any major detours at this point. Louisville is perhaps the team's biggest regular-season threat looming—Miami and Florida simply aren't the Miami and Florida of years past this season—while at the moment it appears as though Duke will await the Seminoles in the ACC title game.

In other words, if Jameis Winston and Co. somehow fail to reach the playoff, it will be because they couldn't overcome their biggest remaining adversary: themselves. 

As for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish still can play themselves into the College Football Playoff. It's hard to see the playoff committee dinging them too much for losing on the road to last year's champions. Wins over Arizona State, Louisville and USC should complete a resume that leaves them as one of the more appealing one-loss teams in the nation by the time the regular season draws to a close.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

While Notre Dame is a one-loss team with plenty of room for optimism, Baylor's season took a turn for the worse Saturday after losing to West Virginia. It was not a timely loss, as the Bears still have to face Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Kansas State this season.

Of course, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, per this tidbit from ESPN Stats & Info:

The SEC West possesses four playoff contenders in Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Alabama and Auburn. And let's not sleep on one-loss Georgia, which could head into the SEC title game as a one-loss team and play its way into the playoff with a victory.

With Florida State looking like a lock for the playoff, Notre Dame potentially having a very impressive one-loss resume and schools like Oregon, Michigan State and Ohio State still clawing their way back to favor with the voters and committee alike, Baylor's chances of reaching the playoff took a major blow Saturday. 

All the Bears can do now is win out. And even that might not be enough.  

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

The Big 12 saw a lot of moving and shaking amongst the ranks Saturday. TCU's vital win over Oklahoma State and Kansas State's victory over Oklahoma leave those two teams in the running with Baylor as the most likely Big 12 squads to reach the playoff. Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports thinks TCU will be able to make a strong case:

With the voters not terribly high on the Big 12 contenders, however, it seems a long shot that the conference will have a playoff participant this season. But there's a lot of football left to be played.

Every team in the nation is acutely aware of that fact. The postseason may have doubled by two teams, but that has only served to double the intrigue of this season.