2 weeks Ago By Joe Tansey
Week 9's Saturday afternoon slate marked the first time in a while in the which the status quo was maintained at the top of college football. The top-ranked Oregon Ducks did not face any trouble in their win over the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Alabama Crimson Tide bounced back in tremendous fashion with a home win over the Missouri Tigers and the Texas Longhorns earned a nice road victory against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Oregon will remain on top of the AP Top 25 and will be the projected No.
1 seed in most College Football Playoff projections going into Week 10. The only significant change that is expected to happen in the CFB Playoff projections on Saturday night will come from the LSU Tigers' trip to face the Texas A&M Aggies. LSU and A&M are both undefeated in SEC play and the victor in College Station will reside in a terrific position to contend for the conference title and a CFB Playoff berth.
No. 1 Oregon (Big Ten champion) No. 2 Georgia (SEC champion) No.
3 Miami (ACC champion) No. 4 Iowa State (Big 12 champion) No. 12 Boise State at No.
5 Texas No. 11 LSU at No. 6 Penn State No.
10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Ohio State No. 9 Clemson at No.
8 Tennessee Oregon has looked more and more like the best team in the country in the two weeks since its big win over the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Ducks walloped Illinois at home to move to 8-0 and stay on pace to be the top-ranked team in the country in December. Oregon outscored Illinois and the Purdue Boilermakers by a combined score of 73-9 in the last two weeks.
Dan Lanning's team has four unranked teams left on its schedule. it will be significantly favored in all of those contests, including road trips to face the Michigan Wolverines and Wisconsin Badgers. The Ducks' biggest remaining test will come in the Big Ten Championship Game.
They will get more clarity on who their likely opponent is next week when Ohio State meets the Penn State Nittany Lions. Alabama and Texas bounced back from their Week 8 loss with Week 9 victories. The Crimson Tide surged to a 34-0 victory over a Missouri team reeling with offensive injuries.
Quarterback Brady Cook has been dealing with an ankle injury since the first half of the Week 8 win over the Auburn Tigers. Alabama will make up some ground on its SEC counterparts by the end of the night due to the LSU-Texas A&M game. The Tide should be ranked ahead of the loser on Sunday.
Kalen DeBoer's team still has to navigate a road trip to LSU on November 9, but if it gets past that game safely, it will be in good shape to qualify for the playoff. Texas avoided the latest upset bid from the Vanderbilt Commodores to bounce back from the Week 8 loss to Georgia. Texas is in far better shape than Alabama with one fewer defeat, and as long as it wins out, it will have a shot at the SEC Championship Game, and at minimum, it will be line for one of the top at-large berths in the 12-team field.
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