College Football Rankings 2014: Final NCAA Overview of Week 10 Standings
It's almost hard to believe we're heading into the tail end of the 2014 college football season. However, when looking back at the preseason Top 25 rankings, it's easy to see how drastically things have changed through nine weeks.
Week 10 officially kicked off with No. 2 Florida State surviving a good Louisville team. The win will assure the Seminoles maintain their second-ranked standing for at least another week. Based on the roller-coaster season we've already experienced and looking ahead to some very intriguing Saturday matchups, we can assume the rankings will shift once again when the dust settles.
As we await the return of the nation's best squads to the gridiron, let's take a look at the current standings, followed by a preview and prediction for the week's marquee matchup.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Mississippi State |
| 2 | Florida State | Florida State | Florida State |
| 3 | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama |
| 4 | Auburn | Notre Dame | Auburn |
| 5 | Oregon | Auburn | Michigan State |
| 6 | Notre Dame | Oregon | Oregon |
| 7 | Ole Miss | Michigan State | Notre Dame |
| 8 | Michigan State | Ole Miss | Georgia |
| 9 | Georgia | Georgia | Ole Miss |
| 10 | TCU | TCU | TCU |
| 11 | Kansas State | Kansas State | Kansas State |
| 12 | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor |
| 13 | Ohio State | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| 14 | Arizona | Arizona State | Arizona State |
| 15 | Arizona State | Arizona | Arizona |
| 16 | LSU | Nebraska | Nebraska |
| 17 | Nebraska | LSU | LSU |
| 18 | Utah | Utah | Utah |
| 19 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | East Carolina |
| 20 | West Virginia | East Carolina | Oklahoma |
| 21 | East Carolina | West Virginia | Clemson |
| 22 | Clemson | Clemson | West Virginia |
| 23 | Marshall | Marshall | Marshall |
| 24 | Duke | Duke | Duke |
| 25 | UCLA | USC | UCLA |
Marquee Matchup
Auburn (4) at Ole Miss (7)
This matchup has huge College Football Playoff implications, as the loser of this game will record its second loss of the season and have little chance of finding its way back into the nation's Top Four.
After all, the year's first College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday, and both of these teams earned a spot, according to SportsCenter:
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn stressed the importance of focusing and playing well on the road to come away with an enormous win on Saturday during a press conference, via ESPN.com: "We've got to go there and we've got to play well to win. That's the only thing on our mind. We aren't looking ahead to this and that. We are going to Ole Miss and we are trying to win the game."
The Tigers' potent offense has been running like a well-oiled machine for the most part this season. Coming into Week 10, Auburn is ranked as the nation's 10th-best rushing offense after a huge performance against South Carolina in Week 9 helped boost that number.
Quarterback Nick Marshall hasn't been overly prolific through the air this season, but he's been efficient for the most part. He has done a nice job of managing games as a passer while the Tigers' running game eats up chunks of yardage.
Marshall completed 12 of his 14 passing attempts for 139 yards and one touchdown against the Gamecocks, while the running game racked up an impressive 395 yards and five touchdowns on 47 carries. Marshall is a great dual-threat quarterback, and he's complemented nicely by workhorse Cameron Artis-Payne.
College GameDay tweeted the team's gaudy numbers since Malzahn came aboard:
One thing Auburn must be concerned about heading into this matchup is its defense. Dylan Thompson and the Gamecocks offense racked up a total of 535 yards against the Tigers, giving the team a bit of a scare until late in the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, continues to compete in games due to its stellar defense. The Rebels boast the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 10.5 points per game. This unit certainly has the talent to slow down the Auburn attack. However, this game will rest on the efficiency of quarterback Bo Wallace.
Wallace has had an up-and-down season. He's looked fantastic at times, but he's grossly floundered at others. Against a good LSU defense in Week 9, Ole Miss suffered it first loss of the season, due in part to some very poor throws by the quarterback. He finished the game having only completed 14 of his 33 passing attempts for 176 yards, one touchdown and the interception that sealed the game.
Dane Brugler of CBS Sports tweeted his take on the final plays of the team's loss to LSU:
Ole Miss will need to establish its running game against the Tigers in an effort to take some of the burden off Wallace's arm and keep the prolific Auburn offense off the field.
While the Rebels do have home-field advantage, which should play a huge factor in this one, Wallace's struggles and Hugh Freeze's questionable decisions are too concerning to back Ole Miss in this one.
Prediction: Auburn 24, Ole Miss 17
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
