NCAA Football Rankings 2016: Predicting Week 10 Movers Based on Latest Results
It was a weekend of wild finishes in college football, but, in the end, very few upsets shook up the Top 25.
The Clemson Tigers, Washington Huskies and Ohio State Buckeyes were among the teams to squeak out victories, keeping their playoff hopes alive for at least another week.
The rankings below are a projection of how the AP Top 25 poll will look when it is released on Sunday afternoon. There will likely only be some minor reshuffling due to a handful of losses within last week's group.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
This week's rankings could be the most anticipated of the season, as they may serve as a preview for the first College Football Playoff rankings which are released on Tuesday night.
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 8-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Michigan Wolverines | 8-0 | 2 |
| 3 | Clemson Tigers | 8-0 | 3 |
| 4 | Washington Huskies | 8-0 | 4 |
| 5 | Louisville Cardinals | 7-1 | 5 |
| 6 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 7-1 | 6 |
| 7 | Texas A&M Aggies | 7-1 | 9 |
| 8 | Wisconsin Badgers | 6-2 | 11 |
| 9 | Florida Gators | 6-1 | 14 |
| 10 | Auburn Tigers | 6-2 | 15 |
| 11 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 7-1 | 7 |
| 12 | Oklahoma Sooners | 6-2 | 16 |
| 13 | Baylor Bears | 6-1 | 8 |
| 14 | LSU Tigers | 5-2 | 19 |
| 15 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 6-1 | 10 |
| 16 | Florida State Seminoles | 5-3 | 12 |
| 17 | Utah Utes | 7-2 | 17 |
| 18 | Western Michigan Broncos | 8-0 | 20 |
| 19 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 6-2 | 21 |
| 20 | Colorado Buffaloes | 6-2 | 23 |
| 21 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 6-2 | 24 |
| 22 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 6-2 | 25 |
| 23 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 6-2 | -- |
| 24 | Boise State Broncos | 7-1 | 13 |
| 25 | Washington State Cougars | 6-2 | -- |
Notable Teams
Auburn Tigers
What a remarkable turnaround the Auburn Tigers have orchestrated this season.
After Auburn and LSU each got off to slow starts, it was assumed the loser of their early-season matchup would be looking for a new job. Auburn won, presumably saving Gus Malzahn's job, and apparently saving their own season as well.
That victory over LSU—which, as expected, led to LSU head coach Les Miles losing his job—started Auburn on five-game win streak, including Saturday's convincing 40-29 victory over Ole Miss.
Malzahn has gone from nearly getting fired to coaching a team that could crack the Top 10 in this week's poll.
Auburn is also in excellent position to make a serious run at the SEC title.
The Tigers have just two SEC games remaining (Vanderbilt and Georgia) before a showdown with Alabama which could decide the SEC East and allow Auburn to play for the conference crown and a spot in the playoff.
Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Nebraska Cornhuskers suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday—an overtime thriller on the road at Wisconsin.
Prior to the game, Nebraska's resume was severely lacking due to a disappointing non-conference schedule. So while the loss certainly hurts Nebraska, playing a tight game against a highly regarded Wisconsin squad could also help boost the collective opinion of Nebraska in the eyes of voters.
Normally a team without a quality win would plummet in the rankings after suffering its first defeat. But the overtime loss on the road to Wisconsin might allow Nebraska to maintain a strong position in the polls.
Of course, within the program, the ranking doesn't matter much to the Cornhuskers players and coaches. The team is undoubtedly already thinking ahead to a tough showdown at Ohio State on Saturday.
Utah Utes
The Utah Utes are another team who may have won over some doubters in a loss on Saturday.
The Utes hosted the heavily-favored Washington Huskies and hung around until the end in one of the most entertaining matchups of the weekend. Washington eventually claimed a 31-24 victory.
Like Nebraska, Utah is still lacking a resume-building win but proved it could keep pace with a legitimate playoff contender.
With the loss, Utah is now 7-2 but could remain a playoff candidate if it runs the table.
If Utah wins out, including a win in a rematch with Washington in the Pac-12 title game, perhaps the playoff committee would look at Utah more favorably due to the fact that one of its losses was this close call against the Huskies.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
