NCAA Football Rankings 2018: Early Predictions for College Polls After Week 9
Alabama will be the king of college football for at least another week.
The Crimson Tide remained on top of both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll following their dominant Week 8 win over Tennessee.
Alabama has Week 9 off to prepare for LSU in what could end up as the game of the season in Week 10 at Tiger Stadium.
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While the Crimson Tide and Tigers sit at home, a few programs are in line to surge up the polls with wins during the final weekend of October.
With three matchups between ranked foes taking place in Week 9, including one between a pair of Top 10 teams, the middle part of the polls should experience the biggest shakeup after Saturday's games.
Week 9 Polls
AP
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (7-0)
3. Notre Dame (7-0)
4. LSU (7-1)
5. Michigan (7-1)
6. Texas (6-1)
7. Georgia (6-1)
8. Oklahoma (6-1)
9. Florida (6-1)
10. UCF (7-0)
11. Ohio State (7-1)
12. Kentucky (6-1)
13. West Virginia (5-1)
14. Washington State (6-1)
15. Washington (6-2)
16. Texas A&M (5-2)
17. Penn State (5-2)
18. Iowa (6-1)
19. Oregon (5-2)
20. Wisconsin (5-2)
21. South Florida (7-0)
22. NC State (5-1)
23. Utah (5-2)
24. Stanford (5-2)
25. Appalachian State (5-1)
Amway Coaches
1. Alabama (8-0)
2. Clemson (7-0)
3. Notre Dame (7-0)
4. LSU (7-1)
5. Michigan (7-1)
6. Georgia (6-1)
7. Texas (6-1)
8. Oklahoma (6-1)
9. Ohio State (7-1)
10. UCF (7-0)
11. Florida (6-1)
12. West Virginia (5-1)
13. Washington (6-2)
14. Kentucky (6-1)
15. Washington State (6-1)
16. Penn State (5-2)
17. Texas A&M (5-2)
18. Iowa (6-1)
19. Wisconsin (5-2)
20. South Florida (7-0)
21. Oregon (5-2)
22. NC State (5-1)
23. Stanford (5-2)
24. Utah (5-2)
25. Miami (5-2)
Week 9 Predictions
Washington State Makes Run At Top 10
The Pac-12's experienced more downs than ups in 2018, and because of the parity across the conference, Washington State is the only one-loss team remaining.
The Cougars head into their Week 9 clash with Stanford on the verge of entering the Top 10, but they'll have to avoid the same fate Stanford, Oregon and Washington experienced while in and around the upper echelon of the polls.
Mike Leach's team will benefit from the momentum gained from the win over Oregon and a banged up Bryce Love to come away with a crucial road win in the Pac-12 North race.
Scoring points might not be as easy as it usually is for the Cougars, as they're facing a Cardinal defense that's given up 87 points in conference action, but they'll find a way to get the job done in the second half.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew needs to continue to spread the ball around to different receivers, like he did against Oregon, when he hit four different players with touchdown passes.
If the Cougars keep the Stanford defense off balance and silence Cardinal quarterback K.J. Costello in the same fashion they quieted Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert in the first half in Week 8, they'll earn a move up the rankings.
Washington State will benefit from a loss by either Georgia or Florida, as well as an unexpected result that topples a Top 10 team to surge into a coveted spot in the upper part of the Top 25.
If the Cougars bank off their Week 9 win over Stanford and win out, there might even be some playoff talk surrounding them, but given the way things have gone for the Pac-12 recently, it's too early to believe that'll happen.
UCF Falls During Bye Week
The College Football Playoff appears set to exclude UCF for the second straight season based off the voting patterns in both polls over the last two weeks.
While teams have flown in and out of the Top 10, the Knights have stayed at No. 10, giving us the impression that no one is ready to take them for real.
After their bye week, the Knights will not only fail to gain ground, but they'll slip a spot or two because of wins by power-conference teams, including Washington State.
At this point in the season, there's not much the Knights can do other than win out and secure a spot in one of the New Year's Six bowls.
It's unfortunate that UCF hasn't received a fair shake, but it's being penalized for not playing a tough schedule and residing in a weaker league than any of the power conferences.
To make matters worse for UCF's schedule, Cincinnati fell out of the Top 25 with a Week 8 loss to Temple, which means the only opportunity left for the Knights to earn a victory over a ranked foe comes November 23 against South Florida.
However, that's not even guaranteed because one loss by the Bulls would bounce them from the rankings.
Simply put, UCF will continue to get no respect from the voters, and even if they produce commanding wins in November, it has no shot of leaping further up the polls.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.
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