NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Full List of Week 9 College Standings and Polls
Are you ready for another week of chaos in the college football world?
We could be in store for that in Week 9 with only two games featuring a clash between ranked teams in The Associated Press poll. The underdogs have a chance to play spoiler to College Football Playoff hopes, just like West Virginia did against Baylor and Kansas State did to Oklahoma in Week 8.
Here is a look at the latest polls heading into Week 9 (the Bleacher Report poll can be found here) before we look at an under-the-radar game that college football fans should keep an eye on before they take in showdowns between Ole Miss and LSU, Utah and USC and Ohio State and Penn State.
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| 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 |
Under-the-Radar Game to Watch: Oregon Ducks at California Golden Bears
Oregon is back in the national championship picture, but the 2014 season has not exactly been smooth sailing for the Ducks.
After an impressive win against Michigan State in the nonconference slate, Oregon nearly lost to Washington State (and got a little help from a missed pass interference call in the final minutes) and then did lose to Arizona. The offensive line allowed a combined 12 sacks in those two games, which is particularly concerning when you consider how important the health of Marcus Mariota is for the season.
Oregon center Hroniss Grasu discussed the need for the team and line to get tougher, via Kevin Gemmell of ESPN.com: “We have to be nastier. We have to come off the ball and finish the plays. Our playmakers, our running backs, our skill guys are going to make the defenders miss and extend the plays, so we have to keep on working on finishing.”
While it is worth watching the Oregon offensive line problems, this game is on here as a matchup to watch because California’s offense could give Oregon’s defense some fits. Plus, it is in California on a Friday night, and we have seen plenty of strange things happen in college football during weeknight games.
The Golden Bears are third in the nation with 372.1 passing yards a game, and sophomore quarterback Jared Goff has developed into something of a star even though his team is only 4-3. He has 2,482 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and only four interceptions for a quarterback rating of 167.3.
As for Oregon’s defense, it couldn’t make the critical stop when it needed to against Arizona, struggled against Washington State and had issues in the first three quarters against Michigan State. It is beatable if Goff comes out firing.
Still, Goff’s counterpart is arguably the best player in college football.
Mariota is on his way to a potential Heisman Trophy and NFL contract and has 1,957 passing yards, 289 rushing yards, 24 total touchdowns and, most amazingly, zero interceptions. That’s right, he hasn’t thrown a single pick yet even though his offensive line has failed to provide adequate protection for much of the year.
John Canzano of The Oregonian noted that it’s just business as usual for No. 8:
All of those incredible statistics mean he is the front-runner for the Heisman in a lot of people’s eyes, including Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports and CBS Sports in general:
Ultimately, the Golden Bears may put up some points and keep this one interesting, but we are talking about Mariota and an explosive Oregon offense going up against an abysmal defense. The Ducks are sixth nationally in points per game with 43.6, 15th in passing yards per game with 309.7 and 32nd in rushing yards per game with 217.3.
As for California’s defense, you ask?
It ranks a lowly 120th in opposing scoring this year and is giving up 38.4 points a game. It allowed 60 points to Washington State, 56 to Colorado, 49 to Arizona and 36 to UCLA and has struggled all season.
It is perfectly all right to shudder at the thought of Mariota shredding the California secondary deep into the night on Friday.
Prediction: Oregon 51, California 28
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