With all the headlines this past weekend surrounding the magnitude of the Miami lateral ending, it often times might be hard to realize that there were other great games too this weekend. On a more personal level, both USC and Wisconsin won, which definitely makes me happy. But, in general, it was a weekend of complacency, as the top teams stayed at the top and the bottom stayed at the bottom.
Here are the week’s rankings.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes: Although they had the week off, the Buckeyes continue to reign supreme. It will be interesting to see how they progress with the DUI scandal involving quarterback J.T. Barrett, but since the Buckeyes have not had stability at that position all year I think they will be fine. Next week brings up Minnesota.
2. Baylor Bears: Like the Buckeyes, the Bears had the weekend off. This week’s Thursday game at Kansas State will be interesting though because it will be the first game without all-star quarterback Seth Russell at the helm. The anchor of the team, Russell had a large impact, and the Bears season is significantly different in his absence.
3. TCU Horned Frogs: Trevone Boykin threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns, and then ran for 84 yards and a touchdown to power the Horned Frogs to a 40-10 victory over West Virginia. He broke a record previously set by Andy Dalton, now famed Bengals quarterback. TCU is on the move, and should not see problems until the vaunted game against Baylor in a couple of weeks.
4. Clemson Tigers: DeShaun Watson’s six touchdowns led the charge in putting up over 650 yards of offense against NC State this past weekend in a 56-41 victory. The Tigers are strong, and with the first playoff standings being released soon should absolutely be in it. This was Clemson’s 36th straight win against unranked teams, which means that they win the games that they should. Next week against Florida State, however, will be another big test.
5. LSU Tigers: A week off, but a ranking maintained. So goes the story for the Tigers too, who needed Halloween to rest up before a scary opponent next week in the Alabama Crimson Tide. Especially with the game being in Tuscaloosa, who knows what will happen to the Tigers’ vaunted offense led by running back Leonard Fournette. That will be a huge game to follow.
6. Alabama Crimson Tide: Those Tide, always causing trouble at the top of the standings. Alabama also had the week off this past week, as they need more than a normal amount of time to figure out how to stop Fournette and his Heisman-leading candidacy. Alabama got an early Halloween by being scared by Tennessee two weeks ago in Bryant-Denny, and does not want that to happen again next weekend.
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: It is not easy to go into an undefeated team’s stadium and expect to pull off a victory, but that is exactly what the Fighting Irish did against Temple. DeShone Kizer’s touchdown pass with just over two minutes left in the game to Will Fuller clinched a 24-20 win, which is the third time that Kizer has led the Irish back in the fourth quarter. For someone who started off the year as the clear backup quarterback, immense strides have been made for Kizer, and now he looks like a top of the line product.
8. Stanford Cardinal: Washington State? C’mon now Stanford. A 30-28 win is nice, but the fact is they should have lost. Erik Powell’s missed field goal at the buzzer secured a victory for a Stanford team that seemed to bruise right through the Pac 12. For the Cardinal, this is the sign that they are not as good as they think they are and need to continually improve. Colorado and Oregon may be two easier opponents to fall back on, but given the performance this week no opponent is easy for Stanford anymore.
9. Michigan State Spartans: A familiar storyline exists here: nothing. The Spartans had the week off, recuperating after a big win against Indiana and preparing for Nebraska and Maryland. These next two games should be pretty rock and roll for the green and white, as nice preparation for a game that I’ve been long waiting for, at Ohio State in the Horseshoe.
10. Iowa Hawkeyes: Good ol’ Iowa, midwestern pride. Desmond King’s 88-yard interception return for a touchdown led the way in a 31-15 grit-and-grind win over Maryland at home. Three running backs scored for Iowa, and the Hawkeyes will enter a softer part of their schedule still unbeaten. This should be an eventful time in the Big 10.
11. Oklahoma State Cowboys
12. Florida Gators
13. Michigan Wolverines
14. Oklahoma Sooners
15. Utah Utes
16. Memphis Tigers
17. Florida State Seminoles
18. Houston Cougars
19. Toledo Rockets
20. Ole Miss Rebels
21. Mississippi State Bulldogs
22. UCLA Bruins
23. Texas A & M Aggies
24. USC Trojans
25. Wisconsin Badgers
Week 10 – Key Matchups
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh
Florida State at Clemson
TCU at Oklahoma State
LSU at Alabama
Sources
ESPN
All images are courtesy of Getty Images.