College Football Rankings 2018: Reviewing NCAA Polls Before Final Week 9 Games

The last weekend in October represents the start of the homestretch of the college football season.

The top teams have established themselves, and it's no surprise to see Alabama (8-0), Clemson (7-0), Notre Dame (7-0), LSU (7-1) and Michigan (7-1) in the top five spots in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.

AP Top 25

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Notre Dame
4. LSU
5. Michigan
6. Texas
7. Georgia
8. Oklahoma
9. Florida
10. UCF
11. Ohio State
12. Kentucky
13. West Virginia
14. Washington State
15. Washington
16. Texas A&M
17. Penn State
18. Iowa
19. Oregon
20. Wisconsin
21. South Florida
22. NC State
23. Utah
24. Stanford
25. Appalachian State

October's final weekend and the month of November are all about getting into the top four positions and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.

In many ways, the season is just getting started. Many teams will show off their strength through the first two months of the campaign, only to get exposed in the most crucial games.

Alabama looks like the strongest team in the nation by a fairly wide margin. The Crimson Tide have been solid on defense, and and they have also moved the ball on the ground. But Tua Tagovailoa's passing has separated Alabama from the rest of the college football world.

It seems that Nick Saban has his team playing for the national title every year, and this may be the strongest Alabama team of his tenure. The Crimson Tide is off in Week 9, but it does not mean Saban and his players are simply relaxing. Alabama has a titanic confrontation with LSU coming up next.

That Nov. 3 game at Baton Rouge will come under the lights and will be the most anticipated game of the regular season. While the Crimson Tide have been dominant, there may be no tougher place to play in the nation than Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night.

LSU is also off Saturday, and that should make it an even tougher game for the Crimson Tide. Quarterback Joe Burrow has keyed the Tigers' rise this season, and he has thrown for 1,544 yards and six touchdowns.

While Alabama prepares for that game, the Clemson Tigers go on the road to face the Florida State Seminoles (4-3). There is little doubt Clemson is the better team and that Florida State has not been the kind of team it has been in the past, but going on the road in front of a fired-up crowd that wants to spur the home team to an upset makes this a challenging assignment for Dabo Swinney's outfit.

Clemson depends on running back Travis Etienne (800 yards, 14 TDs), while the Seminoles need quarterback Deondre Francois (1,859 passing yards and 13 touchdowns) and wideout Nyqwan Murray (487 yards, 3 TDs) to have productive performances. Clemson is favored by 17 points, per OddsShark.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish usually get a challenge from the Navy Midshipmen (2-5), but that does not appear likely Saturday, as the service academy has struggled to play with consistency.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly is not likely to let his team take any opponent lightly, so look for a concerted effort from the Irish to put this game away in the first half. Quarterback Ian Book has thrown for 1,151 yards and 11 touchdowns, while wideout Miles Boykin has 512 yards and four TDs. The Fighting Irish are 24-point favorites.

Georgia (6-1) was in the top three for much of the season prior to its loss at LSU earlier in October, and the seventh-ranked Bulldogs have a huge confrontation with the archrival Florida Gators (6-1) in Jacksonville. The Bulldogs are seven-point favorites, but the game could come down to the final possession.

Jake Fromm has thrown for 1,409 yards and 13 touchdowns and Elijah Holyfield has rushed for 488 yards and four touchdowns, giving the Bulldogs a solid one-two punch. Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks has thrown for 1,406 yards and 15 touchdowns and is the key to the Gators attack.

No. 6 Texas (6-1) needs to be on upset alert as the Longhorns go to Oklahoma State (4-3) Saturday night. The Cowboys have not been as dangerous as they have been in previous seasons, but they have a dominant quarterback-running back combination in Taylor Cornelius (2,014 yards, 16 touchdowns) and Justice Hill (112 carries for 684 yards and 7 TDs).

The Longhorns are 3.5-point road favorites.

Eighth-ranked Oklahoma (6-1) is not likely to have much trouble with Kansas State in Norman, and this game could see quarterback Kyler Murray add significantly to his 1,977 passing yards and 25 TDs.

The other key games involving Top 25 matchups are in the Big Ten and Pac-12. The No. 18 Iowa Hawkeyes go on the road to face No. 17 Penn State at Beaver Stadium, while 14th-ranked Washington State goes to Northern California to play 24th-ranked Stanford.