NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 9 Standings and Analysis for Latest Polls

It may seem like the national picture changes every single week in college football, but we enter Week 9 with four SEC teams and the defending champions in the Top Five.

Sure, there may be some new SEC faces from years past, but the conference is still dominating the national discussion for the time being. Florida State was an offensive pass interference call away from losing its first game since 2012 against Notre Dame, but the Seminoles remain smack in the middle of the College Football Playoff discussion after another win.

Elsewhere, Oregon and Michigan State are still part of the national picture after dominant wins, while Baylor took a tumble after an upset loss to West Virginia. Here is a look at the polls heading into Week 9 (the Bleacher Report poll can be found here) before we delve into some expert analysis on the new rankings.

Rank	Associated Press	Amway	Bleacher Report
1	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Mississippi State Bulldogs
2	Florida State Seminoles	Florida State Seminoles	Florida State Seminoles
3	Ole Miss Rebels	Ole Miss Rebels	Ole Miss Rebels
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	Alabama Crimson Tide	Alabama Crimson Tide
5	Auburn Tigers	Michigan State Spartans	Auburn Tigers
6	Oregon Ducks	Auburn Tigers	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
7	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Oregon Ducks	Michigan State Spartans
8	Michigan State Spartans	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Oregon Ducks
9	Georgia Bulldogs	Georgia Bulldogs	Georgia Bulldogs
10	TCU Horned Frogs	TCU Horned Frogs	TCU Horned Frogs
11	Kansas State Wildcats	Kansas State Wildcats	Kansas State Wildcats
12	Baylor Bears	Ohio State Buckeyes	Ohio State Buckeyes
13	Ohio State Buckeyes	Baylor Bears	Baylor Bears
14	Arizona State Sun Devils	Arizona State Sun Devils	Arizona State Sun Devils
15	Arizona Wildcats	Arizona Wildcats	Arizona Wildcats
16	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Nebraska Cornhuskers	East Carolina Pirates
17	Oklahoma Sooners	East Carolina Pirates	Nebraska Cornhuskers
18	East Carolina Pirates	Oklahoma Sooners	Oklahoma Sooners
19	Utah Utes	Utah Utes	USC Trojans
20	USC Trojans	Clemson Tigers	Utah Utes
21	Clemson Tigers	USC Trojans	Marshall Thundering Herd
22	West Virginia Mountaineers	Marshall Thundering Herd	Clemson Tigers
23	Marshall Thundering Herd	LSU Tigers	West Virginia Mountaineers
24	LSU Tigers	Minnesota Golden Gophers	UCLA Bruins
25	UCLA Bruins	West Virginia Mountaineers	Duke Blue Devils

As we mentioned, the SEC is dominating the polls. In fact, it is only the SEC West that has really made its presence felt on the top of the polls, as the SEC East is not exactly anything to write home about outside of Georgia.

Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press put the SEC’s accomplishment into perspective, while Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports praised some earlier victories from the SEC representatives in light of the Week 8 results:

One person who did not have a completely SEC-dominant top four was ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who gave the Oregon Ducks some love after their blowout win over archrival Washington:

Speaking of Oregon, the Week 9 coaches poll brought a bit of controversy because Michigan State was ranked higher than the Ducks yet again. Remember, Oregon beat Michigan State by multiple scores earlier in the season, but that apparently doesn’t matter much in the eyes of the coaches. 

Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports, Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports and Adam Rittenberg of ESPN certainly didn’t seem to agree with the decision to put Oregon behind the Spartans:

"

I really like Michigan State. Doesn’t mean I know how somebody justifies putting them ahead of Oregon, Auburn and Notre Dame.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 19, 2014"

While much of the focus was on the placement of Michigan State in relation to Oregon, Mandel took the time to note that the Spartans may not deserve to be higher than TCU either:

While the SEC has a stranglehold on the top of the polls and the difference between Michigan State and Oregon was the cause of some angst, the headline of Week 8’s slate of games was the showdown between Notre Dame and Florida State.

SportsCenter gave fans a chance to relive the excitement and also noted that losing to highly ranked teams has become an old habit for the Fighting Irish:

While Notre Dame proved that it belonged among the national discussion by almost pulling off the upset on the road at Florida State, much of the focus in the aftermath was on the offensive pass interference call that took what would have been Notre Dame’s game-winning touchdown off the board. However, Mike Lupica had a rather insightful quote regarding that whistle, via ESPN Radio:

"

"If the refs don't make that call last night against Notre Dame, then there is no reason for them being there" - Lupica

— ESPN Radio (@espnradio) October 19, 2014"

Elsewhere in the polls, Baylor took a tumble after losing at West Virginia. ESPN Stats & Info shared what that meant in terms of the College Football Playoff picture, while John McClain of the Houston Chronicle seemed appreciative of how far the Bears have come:

Another team that came a long way over the past few years but lost on Saturday was Stanford. While the Cardinal may be headed in the wrong direction, Feldman shared an impressive tidbit:

Stanford and Baylor will need some more formidable years to be considered national powerhouses, but two traditional bluebloods did impress on Saturday. College GameDay, Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News and Eleven Warriors shared the fallout from Alabama’s and Ohio State’s perspective:

We aren’t even to November yet, and there are a large number of teams that have legitimate cases for the postseason.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Chaos has been the name of the game in college football for years with the BCS, and that is not likely to change just because four teams get into a playoff instead of two. In fact, we are guaranteed to have a playoff that features at least one team with a loss, and that is likely to be more because an undefeated Marshall probably will not have the resume to make the field.

That means the season isn’t over for teams with a loss like Michigan State, Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, Baylor, Auburn, TCU, Georgia and Notre Dame. If nothing else, we are well on our way to some interesting arguments down the stretch of the season. 

Best of luck to the committee.

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