NCAA Football Rankings 2018: Predicting Week 10 Movers Based on Latest Results
There will be at least two new teams in the Top 10 of the AP Top 25 entering Week 10.
After losses by No. 6 Texas and No. 9 Florida, a few victorious sides from Week 9 will continue their respective climbs up the rankings.
Plenty of movement is expected further down the Top 25 as well, as nine of the programs ranked between No. 15 and No. 25 lost in Week 9.
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While some of the focus will be on the new teams coming into the Top 25 Sunday afternoon, the programs making the most noise will be the ones moving closest to the elite teams.
Biggest Movers in Week 10 Polls
Kentucky
Kentucky survived one of the least aesthetically pleasing games of the regular season Saturday to stay alive in the SEC East.
As Georgia was putting away Florida, the Wildcats struggled to do anything against Missouri for most of the second half.
A 67-yard punt return for a touchdown from Lynn Bowden with 5:17 left in the game woke up the Wildcats, and quarterback Terry Wilson engineered a game-winning drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Conrad.
The Wildcats' performance was far from perfect, but they emerged with a victory to set up a Top 10 clash with Georgia for the SEC East title at home in Week 10.
Kentucky could jump as high as No. 8 in the polls because of a combination of losses, bye weeks and a lack of respect for UCF.
For Kentucky to even be in position to secure a spot in the SEC Championship Game is remarkable, but in order to knock off Georgia, the Wildcats need to improve on the 29 combined points they scored against Vanderbilt and Missouri in their past two games.
Washington State
Washington State remains the Pac-12's lone playoff hope.
The Cougars knocked off Stanford 41-38 on a 42-yard field goal by Blake Mazza in the final seconds to move to 7-1.
With Texas and Florida falling from the Top 10, the Cougars will move up two spots from No. 14 at the bare minimum in Sunday's polls.
Winning on the road against a ranked foe should boost Washington State's stock, as Ohio State was off in Week 9 and West Virginia blew out a struggling Baylor team.
In the best-case scenario, Mike Leach's team ends up at No. 10 ahead of its Week 10 clash with California.
In addition to surging up the standings while in control of the Pac-12 North, Washington State possesses a serious Heisman Trophy candidate in Gardner Minshew, who eclipsed 3,000 passing yards with his fifth 400-yard passing performance of the season in the victory over Stanford.
Penn State
Penn State could leap as many as four or five spots. Or it could be caught in the middle of a congested pack of two-loss teams.
The Nittany Lions earned their first victory over a Top 25 team Saturday in a back-and-forth home affair with Iowa.
Penn State's status in the polls will depend on how far the voters drop Texas and Florida, who are both also 6-2.
Since Ohio State experienced a nine-spot drop and Oregon fell seven spots after Week 8 losses, there's a good chance Penn State sneaks ahead of the Longhorns and Gators as it moves into the Top 15.
If they receive a boost of two or three positions, which is likely after losses by Washington and Texas A&M, the Nittany Lions would be part of three clashes between Top 15 teams in Week 10.
As James Franklin's team prepares to face Michigan, it will do so with an outside chance to claim the Big Ten East title, but it must beat the Wolverines and then hope for a combination of results to go in its favor over the final three weeks of the regular season.
A win over Michigan wouldn't boost the Nittany Lions back into the playoff conversation, but it would secure their spot in one of the Big Ten's New Year's Day bowl slots.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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