B/R Experts Week 9 College Football Rankings 2024

Oregon looked the part in defending its No. 1 ranking in a blowout victory over Illinois, while fellow playoff contenders Texas and Ohio State survived close scares against Vanderbilt and Nebraska.

In fact, the biggest story of the day was teams avoiding potential letdowns, with BYU winning on the road against UCF, Indiana holding off Washington with quarterback Kurtis Rourke on the sidelines and Kansas State narrowly escaping upset-minded Kansas with a go-ahead field goal with 1:42 remaining to pull out a 29-27 win.

The most impactful game of the day as far as shuffling the Top 25 rankings was a head-to-head battle between the final two undefeated teams in SEC play, with Texas A&M coming out on top in a 38-23 victory over LSU.

With four teams in the No. 20-25 range of the latest AP poll all suffering losses on Saturday, there was plenty of room for shuffling at the bottom of this week's Top 25, and that meant another busy night for B'/R's college football crew.

This week's panel included Adam Kramer, Morgan Moriarty, Joel Reuter and Brad Shepard. A first-place vote was worth 25 points, a second-place vote worth 24 points and so on.

Top 25

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Miami quarterback Cam Ward

B/R Top 25

1. Oregon
2. Georgia
3. Texas
4. Miami
5. Penn State
6. Ohio State
7. Clemson
8. BYU
9. Texas A&M
10. Iowa State
11. Tennessee
12. Indiana
13. Notre Dame
14. Kansas State
15. Alabama
16. LSU
17. Ole Miss
18. Boise State
19. Pitt
20. SMU
21. Army
22. Washington State
23. Colorado
24. Missouri
25. Memphis

Who's Hot: Texas A&M Sitting Alone Atop the SEC Standings

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Marcel Reed

Following Georgia's win over then No. 1 Texas last weekend, Texas A&M and LSU entered Week 9 as the only SEC teams that had yet to suffer a loss during conference play.

They just so happened to be playing each other on Saturday.

The Aggies fell behind 10-0 and trailed 17-7 at halftime, and following back-to-back punts to begin the second half, starting quarterback Conner Weigman (6/18, 64 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT) was benched in favor of dual-threat freshman Marcel Reed.

Reed found the end zone on his first snap, scrambling eight yards for the score following an interception by the Aggies defense, and that was the beginning of a brilliant second half that should leave no question as to who belongs under center in College Station.

• Weigman: 8 drives, 7 points, 156 total yards by the offense
• Reed: 6 drives, 31 points,  195 total yards by the offense

Reed attempted just two passes during his time on the field, completing both of them for 70 yards, but the real damage came with his legs as he rushed for 62 yards on nine carries while finding the end zone three times.

The Aggies are now the SEC's last remaining undefeated team, and the road ahead is manageable:

• Week 10: @ South Carolina
• Week 11: BYE
• Week 12: vs. New Mexico State
• Week 13: @ Auburn
• Week 14: vs. Texas

If they can take care of business in their next three games, the regular-season finale against the Longhorns could be for a spot in the SEC championship game.

The Aggies have been somewhat lost in the shuffle of a crowded SEC landscape, but with Reed back under center and a seven-game winning streak since their opening loss to Notre Dame, they are on track to crash the playoff party.

Who's Not: Teams Ranked in the 20s

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 26: Jaylen Sneed #3 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish recovers a fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Navy Midshipmen at Met Life Stadium on October 26, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Edward Diller/Getty Images)

It was a bad week to be a team residing on the fringe of the AP poll.

One of the most lopsided games of the day was a 38-9 victory by No. 1 Oregon over No. 20 Illinois, as the Fighting Illini were out gained in total yardage 527-293 by the Ducks en route to their second loss of the season.

Somehow, things went even worse for No. 21 Missouri in its trip to Tuscaloosa to take on No. 15 Alabama, as the Tigers were shutout in a 34-0 loss that will make it extremely difficult for them to claw their way into the playoff field. Starting quarterback Brady Cook spent most of the game sidelined with a hand injury, and backup Drew Pyne completed 6-of-12 for 42 yards with three interceptions.

It took overtime for No. 22 SMU to come away with a 28-27 victory over a good Duke team in a game where the Mustangs turned the ball over six times.

One of the best storylines of the first half of the season has been No. 23 Army and No. 24 Navy both getting off to undefeated starts to claim spots in the Top 25, and while Army was on a bye in Week 9, Navy was blown out in a 51-14 loss to Notre Dame that saw the Midshipmen commit five turnovers.

Arguably the best performance of the bunch came from No. 25 Vanderbilt in a 27-24 loss to No. 5 Texas where they came back from down 21-7 to make things interesting behind a pair of second half touchdown passes from Diego Pavia.

Expect a new-look bottom of the rankings when the new AP poll is released on Sunday, with Memphis and Tulane among the Group of Five teams that could leapfrog some of the aforementioned major conference teams that suffered a loss on Saturday.

What's Next

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Penn State quarterback Drew Allar

The Big Ten and ACC will be in the spotlight during Week 10 of the college football season with several matchups that will have a major impact on the playoff picture.

The biggest game of the day will be No. 4 Ohio State traveling to Beaver Stadium to take on No. 3 Penn State, and the Nittany Lions do not play No. 1 Oregon, so this will be their biggest remaining hurdle on the path to an undefeated regular season.

Speaking of the Ducks, they have a tough road game against Michigan as the Wolverines look to play spoiler in what has been a disappointing follow-up to last year's national championship.

Meanwhile, the ACC features the day's other matchup of teams that were ranked heading into Week 9 with No. 19 Pitt on the road against No. 22 SMU.

Those two teams are both chasing No. 6 Miami (vs. Duke) and No. 9 Clemson (vs. Louisville) for conference supremacy, and those two playoff contenders are set to face tough opponents on their home turf.

Before all those games kick off on Saturday, there is a major Mountain West clash between San Diego State and No. 17 Boise State as the Broncos look to hold onto their status as the favorite from the Group of Five contingent to earn a spot in the playoff field.

See you all next Saturday!