College football rankings: Coaches Poll top 25 for Week 9 announced
Week 8 of the college football schedule is in the books and now it's time to get up to date on the latest top 25 rankings heading into next week.
Six teams in the top 25 poll took the L on Saturday, including a pair of teams that were in the top 10, but there shouldn't be too much change in the new rankings with many of the country's top teams taking last weekend off.
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Here's your first look at the top 25 college football rankings coming into this week's slate of games, according to the coaches' vote.
College football rankings: Coaches Poll top 25 for Week 9 announced
Coaches Poll top 25 college football rankings for Week 9
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- Georgia (43 1st-place votes)
- Ohio State (17)
- Tennessee (2)
- Michigan (1)
- Clemson
- Alabama
- TCU
- Oregon
- Oklahoma State
- Wake Forest
- USC
- Ole Miss
- Penn State
- Utah
- UCLA
- Syracuse
- Kentucky
- Illinois
- Cincinnati
- LSU
- North Carolina
- Kansas State
- NC State
- Tulane
- South Carolina
Others receiving votes
Texas 48; Liberty 42; Maryland 24; Washington 22; Oregon State 21; Baylor 6; Texas-San Antonio 4; Mississippi State 4; Troy 3; Arkansas 3; Coastal Carolina 2; Central Florida 1; Boise State 1
Coaches Poll top 25 biggest movers
South Carolina (Up 4). A big win over Texas A&M is good enough to get the Gamecocks in the top 25 rankings this week.
LSU (Up 6). A huge comeback at home against ranked Ole Miss puts Brian Kelly and the Tigers at 6-2 on the year and 4-1 in SEC games.
Ole Miss (Down 5). Getting outscored 42-3 by LSU after building a lead isn't good news as the Rebels embark on the tougher schedule that's to come.
Kansas State (Down 5). An early lead on the road to TCU, but ultimately a loss after quarterback Adrian Martinez was injured.
Schools dropped out
No. 21 Texas, lost at Oklahoma State
No. 24 Mississippi State, lost at Alabama
College football top 25 losers
Rankings reflect last week's AP poll
No. 7 Ole Miss. No more perfect record for the Rebels, who were unable to protect it on the road at a resurgent LSU on Saturday. Usually an elite rushing team, it struggled to maintain a consistent attack on the ground, which cut into its ability to sell the play-action, exposing Jaxson Dart's relative instability as a pocket passer, especially behind an offensive line that is struggling now. Ole Miss was outscored 42-3 after building an initial 17-3 lead with a tough month remaining, including a date against Alabama on Nov. 12.
No. 9 UCLA. The last undefeated team in the Pac-12 coming into Eugene, the Bruins dropped their first game of the season in the wake of Oregon's aggressive offensive output. DTR and Zach Charbonnet were productive again, but just couldn't keep up with the Ducks, losing the vital head-to-head matchup as the conference title chase tightens up.
No. 14 Syracuse. It all started well enough as the Orange built a 21-7 lead at Clemson on the back of another excellent defensive performance, forcing four takeaways and scoring a 90-yard touchdown on a fumble recovery. But then Clemson's defensive front settled in, wore down Syracuse's protection and run game, and the officials intervened - or rather didn't, when they should have thrown a flag that would have helped the Orange.
No. 17 Kansas State. That three-game win streak is over after injuries to the Wildcats' top two quarterbacks. After putting up 28 points in the first half, K-State didn't score again after the break, allowing TCU to score 28 unanswered points and take first place in the Big 12.
No. 20 Texas. Every time you think the Longhorns are about to take a step forward, something knocks them two steps back. This time it was Oklahoma State, which played penalty-free football, while Texas scored 3 points in the second half as Quinn Ewers hit on just 19 of 49 passes with 3 picks. Back to the drawing board for Steve Sarkisian, who is now 10-10 on the Forty Acres.
No. 24 Mississippi State. The Air Raid was shot down by Alabama, not scoring a point on the road until there was no time on the clock while Will Rogers was held to 50% passing while throwing the ball 60 times, and the run game finished with 2.4 yards per carry. At best, the Bulldogs should go 2-2 the rest of the way, which would put them at 7-5 overall.
Undefeated college football teams remaining
And then there were six.
Georgia (7-0). Idle this past weekend, the Bulldogs face off against rival Florida this coming Saturday.
Ohio State (7-0). This frenetic offense was stymied early by Iowa's talented stoppers, but the Buckeyes broke the dam in the second half.
Tennessee (7-0). As expected, the Vols blew the doors off UT Martin, scoring a school record 52 first half points.
Michigan (7-0). Also off on Saturday, the Wolverines are riding one of college football's premier rushing attacks.
Clemson (8-0). Still perfect are the Tigers after holding off contender Syracuse in a close one, now 6-0 against ranked ACC foes.
TCU (7-0). Another hectic second half comeback keeps the Horned Frogs perfect after holding off K-State and moving into first place in the Big 12.
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