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It was another wild weekend for college football. “Wild” however wouldn't be the term for I use for the No. 8 ranked team in the College Football Playoff Rankings, the Oklahoma Sooners. They are utterly lost. The Sooners fell 27-14 to No. 13 Baylor yesterday. The Sooners even played musical chairs with their starting quarterbacks. Freshman quarterback Caleb Williams was pulled for former Heisman Trophy candidate Spencer Rattler. But even a big name couldn’t get the offense going and salvage the season. I can name several one-loss teams that have a better resume than the Sooners, so it will be interesting to see how the rankings treat them on Tuesday.
This game wasn't the only upset over the weekend in the top 25. The Mississippi State Bulldogs took it to Auburn and a lower-ranked Ole Miss team beat the Texas A&M Aggies. And in the weeks where style points matter, Ohio State ran up the scoreboard 59-31 in win against Purdue. The Buckeyes might had a lower-than-projected seeding in the College Football Playoff Rankings a week ago, with the committee favoring Oregon ahead of the Buckeyes. But they put on a show yesterday. Across the rest of the country, No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama cruised to easy and blowout wins. With little shakeup happening outside the shocker in Waco, Texas, let’s see what happened in the rankings this week.
College Football Playoff Rankings
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3. Oregon Ducks
4. Ohio State Buckeyes
11. Texas A&M Aggies
13. Baylor Bears
14. BYU Cougars
15. Ole Miss Rebels
17. Auburn Tigers
20. Iowa Hawkeyes
22. San Diego State Aztecs
23. USTA Roadrunners
24. Utah Utes
Coaches Poll
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4. Ohio State Buckeyes
5. Oregon Ducks
10. Ole Miss Rebels
11. Oklahoma Sooners
13. Baylor Bears
14. Iowa Hawkeyes
15. BYU Cougars
16. Texas A&M Aggies
17. Houston Cougars
18. USTA Roadrunners
20. Wisconsin Badgers
21. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
22. Arkansas Razorbacks
23. San Diego State Aztecs
25. Utah Utes
Other teams receiving votes: Kentucky 113; Southern Methodist 45; Coastal Carolina 34; Appalachian State 31; Mississippi State 26; Penn State 20; Auburn 18; Utah State 9; Purdue 7; Louisville 5; Kansas State 4; Fresno State 4; Clemson 4; Arizona State 2.
The AP Top 25
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4. Oregon Ducks
5. Ohio State Buckeyes
10. Ole Miss Rebels
11. Baylor Bears
12. Oklahoma Sooners
14. BYU Cougars
15. USTA Roadrunners
16. Texas A&M Aggies
17. Houston Cougars
18. Iowa Hawkeyes
19. Wisconsin Badgers
21. Arkansas Razorbacks
22. Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
23. San Diego State Aztecs
24. Utah Utes
Other teams receiving votes: Mississippi State 52, Auburn 43, Appalachian State 32, Penn State 31, Coastal Carolina 28, Utah State 12, Kansas State 12, SMU 9, Kentucky 9, Purdue 4
Analysis
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After trailing 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, Georgia outscored Tennessee 34-7 and pulled out the dominant 41-17 win. As I say every week, it’s a Georgia Bulldogs world and we’re just living in it. No. 2 Alabama won huge in their non-conference matchup against New Mexico State 59-3. The Crimson Tide is now one step closer to another SEC West title as a result of losses this week. And by losses, I mean Ole Miss being knocked off by Texas A&M 29-19. It’s the Aggies’ third league loss of the season. Because of this game, the only way we won’t see the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia on Dec. 4 is if they lose their final two games of the season against Arkansas and the Auburn Tigers. Texas A&M’s loss dropped them to 16 in the AP.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Auburn losing to Mississippi State isn't earth-shattering. The Bulldogs had nice wins over Texas A&M, NC State, and Kentucky heading into Saturday. But Auburn surrendering a 28-3 second-quarter lead and giving up 40 unanswered points was the embarrassing part. The Tigers defense gave up 415 yards passing and 6 touchdowns to Will Rogers. Weeks ago, Auburn had a path to the College Football Playoff, now after two horrible losses to Texas A&M and Mississippi State, they’re looking for answers. Auburn is now out of the rankings.
Another top-ranked team crept closer to a division title over the last few days. No. 3 Oregon held off Washington State 38-24 to improve to 9-1 (6-1 Pac-12). Oregon ran for 306 yards in the game. The Ducks can clinch the Pac-12 North with a win at Utah next weekend or with a victory over Oregon State on Nov. 27. Oregon is ranked 4th in the AP.
This weekend, Ohio State also avoided becoming the third top-five team to lose to the Purdue “spoilermakers” this year. The offensive powerhouse performance sprung the Buckeyes to 5 in the poll. While we can argue if Purdue was over-ranked, Ohio State looked the part yesterday. Quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 361 yards and 5 touchdowns, running back TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 2 touchdowns, and the Buckeyes sailed to a 59-31 victory. However, their pass defense is still a question as Purdue QB Aidan O’Connell threw for 390 yards and four touchdowns. Ohio State remains in the top 5 again.
Oklahoma’s loss to Baylor dropped them to 12 in the AP. A poll riser and now 6th ranked Notre Dame, notched a key 28-3 road victory over a Virginia team who was playing without their injured star quarterback Brennan Armstrong. And following the Wolverines’ 21-17 win at Penn State, the Wolverines continue to prove that they probably deserve to be ranked one spot ahead of the Spartans (as they are in the other polls), even though they lost head-to-head against MSU. But the AP didn't feel this way, Michigan is ranked 8th for them.
Oklahoma State is now the frontrunner in the Big 12. After their close loss to Iowa State weeks ago, Oklahoma State has been absolutely unstoppable. Yesterday they notched a 63-17 win over TCU. The Cowboys have now outscored their last three opponents by a combined 142-23. They already have a win over No. 11 Baylor, giving the Cowboys a clean road to the Big 12 title game. And with the way Sooners looked on Saturday and in previous weeks, the Sooners appear as vulnerable as they ever have since Lincoln Riley era. Oklahoma State is ranked 9th in the AP.
In the ACC, NC State came into their matchup with the Demon Deacons with one of the better defenses in the ACC. When it was all over, Wake Forest won 45-42 and all but clinched the ACC Atlantic for the first time since 2006. Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman turned the ball over three times but he was huge in the 13-play drive that bled the clock and helped Wake Forest go up by double-digits. Wake Forest is the highest-ranked ACC team at 13 in the AP.