College Football Rankings 2015: NCAA Week 9 Polls and Standings Projections

Half of the Associated Press Top 10 is on a Week 9 hiatus, but if last Saturday proved anything, it's that no one should look away.

Week 8 featured just one matchup of Top 25 teams, but there was no shortage of drama. Unbeaten Florida State and Utah were each humbled by unranked foes on the road, while No. 7 Alabama narrowly survived a fourth-quarter scare from Tennessee. Oh, and there were also a pair of four-overtime games. 

Week 9 again features just one Top 25 matchup—No. 9 Notre Dame at No. 21 Temple—and Ohio State, Baylor, LSU, Alabama and Michigan State are all at home Saturday. But by no means does that mean there will be a falloff of spectacle.

With just one week until the first rankings from the College Football Playoff committee, here is a look at the AP Top 25 and a few notable teams in the hunt for the final four:

Notable Teams

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No. 3 Clemson Tigers

Clemson steamrolled Miami 58-0 in what wound up being Al Golden's final game as Hurricanes head coach.

The Tigers appear to have the clearest path to the playoff, with a Week 10 hosting of Florida State being the only true threat remaining. As ESPN Stats & Info indicated, Clemson has the best shot to lock up the ACC sacrificing few, if any, blemishes:

This year's Tigers are toppling opponents with dominant defense. Only three teams rank higher in total defense among the FBS, and it just so happens one of those is Clemson's Week 9 opponent: the North Carolina State Wolfpack, ranked third in the category.

The Tigers will extend a rude awakening to the unranked Wolfpack, though. NC State hasn't seen any quarterback the likes of Deshaun Watson, who's carved up defenses to the tune of 1,553 yards with an ACC-high 15 touchdowns and 69.3 completion percentage. 

Aligning with Clemson's upward trend is Watson's stock for the Heisman Trophy; he recently ranked fourth among candidates by Zac Ellis of Sports Illustrated for college football's most prestigious award:

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He won't put up the numbers that, say, Trevone Boykin will at TCU. ... Plus, few teams in college football look more dangerous than Clemson right now. That's why winning the Heisman may not require Watson to record insane statistics. He might simply need to maintain the status quo.

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Clemson has been climbing all season, starting at No. 12 and now firmly in the playoff mold. It has outscored opponents 269-100, and there's no indication its torrid pace will slow. One could argue, such as Tyler Duke of Fox Sports, that Clemson is the most complete team in college football.

Will Clemson make the playoff? Yes

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No. 8 Stanford Cardinal

With Utah's loss to Southern California, Stanford emerged as the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the Week 9 AP poll. The Cardinal may have been the better team all along. 

Stanford is averaging 37.4 points per game to Utah's 34.7 and has outproduced the Utes, 454.7 yards to 390.1 in total offense. The Cardinal are coming off a 31-14 drubbing of Washington, which entered the game as the Pac-12 leader in total and scoring defense.

Stanford's surprise has been all-purpose sensation Christian McCaffrey, who's racked up at least 300 total yards in consecutive games and emerged as a dark horse for the Heisman, per college football analyst Phil Steele:

Stanford plays Washington State this weekend before contests against downward-trending Oregon and Cal to finish its Pac-12 slate. A looming season finale against No. 9 Notre Dame will present a revealing clash between playoff hopefuls. 

If the Cardinal run the table, they'll have a conference title and another respectable win on their resume, which could catapult them to the final four. The Top 10 is crowded with seven unbeatens, but many still play each other—No. 4 LSU at No. 7 Alabama on Nov. 7, No. 1 Ohio State at No. 6 Michigan State on Nov. 21 and No. 2 Baylor at No. 5 TCU on Nov. 27.

With the potential to keep climbing, Stanford is still very much a playoff contender. 

Will Stanford make the playoff? No

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No. 11 Florida Gators

Florida marches to into its neutral-site rivalry tilt with Georgia coming off a bye and respectable 35-28 loss to LSU in hostile Death Valley. The Gators sit atop the SEC East and could put a serious blow to the rest of the division's hopes with a win over the beleaguered Bulldogs, losers of two of their last three.

Despite playing under new head coach Jim McElwain and a suspension to starting quarterback Will Grier, the Gators head into the final week of October with all their goals intact. 

Backup quarterback Treon Harris threw for a respectable 271 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions against LSU but was marred by three scoreless drives to end the game. Edward Aschoff of ESPN.com noted there is still much work to be done for Harris to lead the Gators to their first SEC title game since 2009 but that Harris is capable:

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If you checked out any Florida-inspired message boards or social media, you'd have thought Harris drug Florida's offense back into the abyss it called home for the past five years. Harris' final acts weren't great on Saturday, but his overall performance should give Florida's staff, players and fans hope for a run to the SEC championship.

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Harris helped lead Florida to an upset 38-20 win over then-No. 9 Georgia last year, throwing three passes for 27 yards while rushing for another 31. 

After Week 9, Florida only has Vanderbilt and South Carolina on its division schedule. A loss to Georgia would shift the Bulldogs back atop the SEC East, but that seems unlikely given Florida's offensive superiority. The Gators are also winners of nine in 14 attempts against Georgia head coach Mark Richt.

If Florida can reach the SEC title game, it'll likely face the Alabama-LSU winner in what seems like an incredibly daunting foe. But there's still plenty of time for Harris and the Gators to steadily improve on what's already been a remarkable and sooner-than-expected performance this year. 

Will Florida make the playoff? No