NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 11 Standings for College's Top 25 Teams
If we've learned anything to this point in the 2014 college football season, it's that no team is safe on any given week. Plenty of the nation's previously top-ranked teams suffered losses—or, at the very least, major scares—to unranked opponents, and we saw more of the same in Week 10.
No. 1 Mississippi State was pushed to the brink by Arkansas, No. 11 Georgia was pummeled by Florida, fans of No. 10 Notre Dame were given heart attacks by Navy, and No. 3 Auburn emerged victorious in an epic clash against No. 4 Ole Miss. Now, that's quality entertainment.
Almost every Top 25 team was involved in some Saturday madness in one way, shape or form. The College Football Playoff picture has been shaken up after practically every week this season. There's no reason to think that won't happen once again as we head into Week 11.
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With the dust settled across the nation, here's a glimpse at how each of college's top teams fared in Week 10.
| 1 | Mississippi State | Beat Arkansas, 17-10 |
| 2 | Florida State | Beat Louisville, 42-31 |
| 3 | Auburn | Beat Ole Miss, 35-31 |
| 4 | Ole Miss | Lost to Auburn, 35-31 |
| 5 | Oregon | Beat Stanford, 45-16 |
| 6 | Alabama | Bye week |
| 7 | TCU | Beat West Virginia, 31-30 |
| 8 | Michigan State | Bye week |
| 9 | Kansas State | Beat Oklahoma State, 48-14 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | Beat Navy, 49-39 |
| 11 | Georgia | Lost to Florida, 38-20 |
| 12 | Arizona | Lost to UCLA, 17-7 |
| 13 | Baylor | Beat Kansas, 60-14 |
| 14 | Arizona State | Beat Utah, 19-16 |
| 15 | Nebraska | Beat Purdue, 35-14 |
| 16 | Ohio State | Beat Illinois, 55-14 |
| 17 | Utah | Lost to Arizona State. 19-16 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | Beat Iowa State, 59-14 |
| 19 | LSU | Bye week |
| 20 | West Virginia | Lost to TCU, 31-30 |
| 21 | Clemson | Bye week |
| 22 | UCLA | Beat Arizona, 17-7 |
| 23 | East Carolina | Lost to Temple, 20-10 |
| 24 | Duke | Beat Pittsburgh, 51-48 |
| 25 | Louisville | Lost to Florida State, 42-31 |
College Football Playoff rankings can be viewed at CollegeFootballPlayoff.com.
The complete AP Poll rankings can be viewed at CollegeFootball.AP.org.
Breakdown
The week began with Florida State surviving Louisville to remain undefeated. Perhaps the Seminoles' struggles against the Cardinals proved to be the writing on the wall for the remainder of a crazy week.
Mississippi State suddenly doesn't resemble the juggernaut it once was. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 331 yards, but the team simply couldn't get its ground game going, averaging just 3.7 yards per carry. A minus-two turnover differential against an unranked opponent is also concerning going forward.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports doesn't appear to believe in the Bulldogs:
Auburn performed as expected, utilizing its ground game to defeat Ole Miss in a shootout. The Tigers racked up 502 yards of offense and scored 35 points against what has supposed to be a very stout Ole Miss defense. Bo Wallace and Co. played well, but the team didn't have enough firepower to compete in the end.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Auburn has become very good at emerging victorious in shootouts:
Oregon put on the most impressive performance of the week. The Ducks torched a very good Stanford defense for 45 points due to another Heisman-worthy performance by quarterback Marcus Mariota. The game snapped the Cardinal's 31-game streak of holding opponents to fewer than 30 points.
The win was a big one for Mariota's college career, via SportsCenter:
TCU escaped West Virginia, as a 37-yard field goal as time expired earned the Horned Frogs a victory. The Mountaineers will be thinking about their five turnovers all week long.
Notre Dame allowed Navy to remain in the mix deep into the fourth quarter, but the Fighting Irish prevailed in the end. Duke had a tough time against Pittsburgh, winning in double overtime on a Thomas Sirk five-yard touchdown run.
Not every contest was a close one on Saturday, as some teams fared extremely well in Week 10. Kansas State, Baylor, Nebraska, Ohio State and Oklahoma all went ahead early and didn't look back, winning by huge margins.
Even the late games on Saturday were chock-full of surprises. Arizona was upset by UCLA after allowing quarterback Brett Hundley to run rampant throughout the contest. Arizona State was pushed to the brink by Utah, but overcame the visiting team with a field goal in overtime.
A couple of teams suffered terrible losses on Saturday. East Carolina was upended by Temple due to a whopping five fumbles lost. Here's a look at the game's odd final numbers, via ESPN Stats & Info:
Georgia's defense looked terrible, allowing the Florida Gators to rack up 418 rushing yards and five touchdowns en route to a lopsided win for the underdog.
The season just continues to get more interesting by the week. At this point in the season, every contending team must treat each contest like a playoff game. Small mishaps must be avoided at all costs, as they continue to be devastating—and potentially season-ending.
A new slate of season-altering games will soon be upon us, as Week 11 looms on the horizon. With potential berths in the College Football Playoff or other prestigious bowl games on the line, every contending team must be at its best. College football in November isn't for the meek.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
