NCAA Football Rankings 2017: Predicting Week 10 Movers Based on Latest Results
The chaos has begun.
Just days away from the release of the season's first College Football Playoff pool, and potential CFP contenders are dropping like flies, particularly this weekend's slate of games in Week 9, as many of the nation's top dogs went down in upsets.
While the Crimson Tide are sitting pretty at No. 1 and will be coming off a bye week in Week 10, the rest of the college football landscape has been turned upside. Penn State's loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes will have deep ramifications come CFP time, particularly when the season comes down to the wire in head-to-head matchups.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Sure, the Nittany Lions only lost by one point to the Buckeyes (39-38), but a loss is a loss. And it will hurt Penn State's resume down the road.
Penn State isn't the only school moving down the rankings, however, as the nation's Top 25 received a facelift in Week 9. Let's make some predictions while we wait for the official CFP poll to come out, shall we?
Predicted Top 25 After Week 9
1. Alabama (1)
2. Georgia (3)
3. Wisconsin (5)
4. Ohio State (6)
5. Penn State (2)
6. Miami (8)
7. Notre Dame (9)
8. Clemson (7)
9. Oklahoma (10)
10. TCU (4)
11. Oklahoma State (11)
12. Washington (12)
13. Virginia Tech (13)
14. Iowa State (25)
15. UCF (18)
16. Auburn (19)
17. Stanford (20)
18. USC (21)
19. LSU (23)
20. Mississippi State (--)
21. Arizona (--)
22. Memphis (24)
23. NC State (15)
24. Washington State (14)
25. Michigan (--)
Note: Parenthesis () indicates team's ranking last week.
Most significant moves in Week 10
UCF
UCF? What are they doing that's so special down in South Florida that makes them worthy of a Top 15 ranking?
Well, being 7-0 on the season and beating Austin Peay 73-33 sure does make a statement. Led by sophomore quarterback McKenzie Milton, who has the potential to be one of the nation's most skilled passers in a couple years, the Knights are marching through their opposition this season and don't look like stopping anytime soon.
UCF was flying relatively under the radar for the most part of this season, but scoring 73 points in a single game will garner some press, as will fellow American East school South Florida's loss this week to the Houston Cougars.
With South Florida at 7-1 coming off a Week 9 loss, the ball is in UCF's hands to make a New Year's Bowl this season by staying the course. Is a Top 10 ranking possible? Absolutely, as long as they continue to play lights out on offense.
TCU
The Horned Frogs always seem to be knocking on the door of the CFP, but something usually goes wrong.
This season, however, TCU went down because of self-inflicted damage.
To be fair, TCU's 14-7 loss to Iowa State in Week 9 may not be the end of the world, but there will certainly be some questions raised about how the Horned Frogs would cope against a truly elite side, such as Alabama or OSU, during a playoff matchup.
Falling to the No. 10 spot in Week 10, a full six places down from Week 9, TCU should consider itself lucky that they didn't get shut out against Cyclones. Standing at 7-1, TCU will face an uphill climb to stay relevant in the CFP hunt.
Ohio State
Without a doubt in this writer's mind, the biggest winner of Week 9 was the Ohio State Buckeyes.
After losing to the Oklahoma Sooners earlier this season at home, the Buckeyes season was, essentially, over.
But because Clemson lost to Syracuse, Oklahoma lost to Iowa State and every other team in the Top 10 is afraid to seize their opportunity by balling out, Ohio State came into yesterday's game against Penn State with a lot on the line.
Scraping by with the narrow victory over the Nittany Lions pushes Ohio State right back to the front of the CFP debate, even with one loss on its resume.
A victory over the nation's No. 2 team goes a long way in erasing the memories of a tough loss to the Sooners, so don't be surprised to see OSU back in the Top 4 spots.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
