NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 10 Standings for College's Top 25 Teams
College football really is the gift that keeps on giving, and fans were not disappointed during the evening slate of games in Week 9.
LSU provided our only real stunning result of the day with an upset of No. 3 Ole Miss (try explaining that sentence to someone who last watched college football in 2010), but Utah pulled out a thrilling win in the final seconds against USC, Arizona State ran back a game-clinching pick-six against Washington and Ohio State persevered in front of 107,000 rabid Penn State fans in double overtime.
As if that wasn’t enough, Auburn outlasted South Carolina 42-35 in an entertaining shootout that featured five fourth-down conversions and a surprise onside kick that almost turned the game South Carolina’s way.
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If nothing else, it gave remote controls across the country quite the workout.
Here is a look at how the Top 25 teams in the Associated Press poll all fared in Week 9.
| 1 | Mississippi State | Beat Kentucky, 45-31 |
| 2 | Florida State | Bye Week |
| 3 | Ole Miss | Lost to LSU, 10-7 |
| 4 | Alabama | Beat Tennessee, 34-20 |
| 5 | Auburn | Beat South Carolina, 42-35 |
| 6 | Oregon | Beat California, 59-41 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | Bye Week |
| 8 | Michigan State | Beat Michigan, 35-11 |
| 9 | Georgia | Bye Week |
| 10 | TCU | Beat Texas Tech, 82-27 |
| 11 | Kansas State | Beat Texas, 23-0 |
| 12 | Baylor | Bye Week |
| 13 | Ohio State | Beat Penn State, 31-24 (2OT) |
| 14 | Arizona State | Beat Washington, 24-10 |
| 15 | Arizona | Beat Washington State, 59-37 |
| 16 | Nebraska | Beat Rutgers, 42-24 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | Bye Week |
| 18 | East Carolina | Beat Connecticut, 31-21 |
| 19 | Utah | Beat USC, 24-21 |
| 20 | USC | Lost to Utah, 24-21 |
| 21 | Clemson | Beat Syracuse, 16-6 |
| 22 | West Virginia | Beat Oklahoma State, 34-10 |
| 23 | Marshall | Beat Florida Atlantic, 35-16 |
| 24 | LSU | Beat Ole Miss, 10-7 |
| 25 | UCLA | Beat Colorado, 40-37 (2OT) |
Breakdown
As mentioned, the most important result of the night was LSU’s win over Ole Miss in Death Valley.
The Tigers won 10-7 in a hard-hitting slugfest by making a game-winning interception in the final seconds. Instead of kicking a potential game-tying field goal and forcing overtime, the Rebels elected to heave the ball deep, which ultimately cost them the game and their undefeated record.
Head coach Hugh Freeze discussed Bo Wallace’s decision on the pass, via ESPN.com: "I thought we were plenty clear we were either going to take the flat throw or throw it out of bounds, and then try the field goal. He must have felt like he had a shot at the touchdown play there. ... I wish I could do that over, for sure."
Ole Miss’ first loss certainly threw a bit of a curveball into an SEC West race that features one-loss Alabama (who easily handled Tennessee), one-loss Auburn (who outlasted South Carolina in a shootout) and undefeated Mississippi State. Things weren’t exactly easy for the Bulldogs either in a 45-31 win at Kentucky, but this is the time of year when wins are what matters most, especially in this conference.
As of now, it feels like at least one team is making the playoffs from the SEC West, if not more.
Outside of the SEC, the Pac-12 provided the usual slate of thrilling contests.
Oregon kicked it off with a 59-41 win over California on Friday night that certainly looked good for Marcus Mariota and the offense, but not so much for the defense. UCLA survived Colorado in double overtime, both Arizona schools won and Utah put together an incredible 73-yard drive in the final two minutes to beat USC, 24-21.
The Ducks and (to a lesser extent) the Arizona schools and Utah are still alive in the College Football Playoff race with only one loss apiece. With showdowns between Arizona and Arizona State, Utah and Arizona, Arizona State and Notre Dame, Arizona State and Utah and Utah and Oregon still on the schedule, the Pac-12 will undoubtedly have a say in the race for the postseason.
Jon Solomon of CBS passed along a head-turning stat from out west:
If the race to the playoffs is a beauty pageant, nobody looked better than TCU in Week 9. The Horned Frogs dropped an astounding 82 points on Texas Tech and let the nation know that they will still be heard from down the stretch even after a heartbreaking loss to Baylor.
Finally, there were two results of note in the Big Ten.
Michigan State absolutely annihilated rival Michigan 35-11 in a game that wasn’t even as close as the scoreboard indicated. At least the Wolverines did whatever this is, via Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports:
Elsewhere, the Buckeyes survived a stiff test in Happy Valley in double overtime behind an excellent day from defensive lineman Joey Bosa. Quarterback J.T. Barrett was clearly banged up late in the game but picked up two critical touchdown drives in the extra periods to overcome what was a lackluster game.
Todd Porter of The Repository noted that the outcome was never in doubt for Ohio State when considering recent history:
Mandel also had an interesting opinion when all was said and done:
The College Football Playoff selection committee will put out its first official poll before Week 10 kicks off.
While there are bound to be countless changes between those initial rankings and the actual playoff, fans and commentators alike will likely dive into debates and hypothetical situations right away.
Questions including how many SEC teams belong in the field of four, whether Oregon should be penalized for giving up 41 points to California, whether the Big Ten teams still have a shot at a playoff spot and where Notre Dame fits in the national picture will all be thrown around.
While those are all worthwhile discussions that will only pick up steam as the season continues, don’t let them take away from the product on the field.
College football truly is a playoff every single week.
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