College Football Week 9 Power Rankings

After a few minor changes after Week 7, Week 8 provided major foundation shifts among the top 25 especially the top 10 as 6 teams loss led by Clemson getting blown out by Florida State in their top 5 matchup. Alabama, Oregon, and now Florida State look like the best teams right now. Ohio State survived another close call while Missouri continues to move up the polls after back to back wins over Georgia and Florida; who both find themselves out of the top 25 after their third losses on the year. Injuries have not been kind to either especially the Bulldogs. Washington also suffered its third straight loss and like the two SEC teams; they are out of the top 25. In this week comes Michigan, Notre Dame, and Virginia Tech. The Hokies have quietly won every game after dropping the first to Alabama. Clemson, Louisville, and UCLA look to rebound after their first losses while LSU, Texas A&M, and South Carolina now has two losses on the year and have a tougher road to a SEC title game and potentially a national title game.

With Week 9 ahead, here are this week's power rankings:
1)(1) Alabama (vs Tennessee)- While most of the top SEC stumbled last week, they didn't and they have seemed to mostly avoid such occurrences but who knows if this week will be different.
2)(2) Oregon (vs UCLA)- They have steamrolled everyone so far and it is hard to see UCLA being able to slow them let alone outscore them.
3)(5) Florida State (vs NC State)- They loss one game last year and it was against NC State so revenge might be in mind this week.
4)(3) Ohio State (vs Penn State)- They have survived three straight grind out wins against conference foes and could be tested again.
5)(11) Miami (FL) (vs Wake Forest)- They had a scare last week and will likely look to apply lessons from that game to this week.
6)(14) Missouri (vs South Carolina)- They can continue their march through top SEC teams by taking down South Carolina.
7)(12) Baylor (vs Kansas)- They have benefited from many upsets and could position themselves in the national title conversation if they can keep putting points up.
8)(13) Stanford (at Oregon State)- They rebounded nicely last week and are still in the top tier conversation after several upsets last week.
9)(4) Clemson (at Maryland)- They seemed to building confidence that this year would be different but then got hit hard back to reality last week and will need to quickly refocus.
10)(16) Texas Tech (at Oklahoma)- They have not won every game pretty but they have enough to survive close games and that will help against a big conference foe this week.
11)(10) UCLA (at Oregon)- They draw what Washington did recently by getting Oregon after Stanford and hope to avoid their first two losses in the same fashion.
12)(17) Fresno State (at San Diego State)- They are undefeated and could be a BCS buster if they avoid any trip ups as top teams continue to fall.
13)(24) Auburn (vs Florida Atlantic)- They got probably their biggest win of the last three years last week against Texas A&M.
14)(7) LSU (vs Furman)- They should easily rebound this week but might have thrown away any title game hopes last week.
15)(8) Texas A&M (vs Vanderbilt)- If their defense continues to give up a lot of points, their star quarterback will have to be amazing to bail them out and he might need again this week.
16)(6) Louisville (at South Florida)- They likely are out of any national title talks after their first loss but can still get a BCS game.
17)(18) Oklahoma State (at Iowa State)- They should be leery of a potential upset on the road if they aren't as efficient as their talent should allow them to be.
18)(20) Oklahoma (vs Texas Tech)- They look to be back on track and get an improved Texas Tech team that will test them.
19)(21) Nebraska (at Minnesota)- They have been slowly positioning themselves and could make a run that leads to a Big 10 title.
20)(9) South Carolina (at Missouri)- They let a winnable game slip away and could drop another on the road against a very good Missouri team.
21)(22) Wisconsin (BYE)- They earn a nicely placed bye as they look to again make a run at a Big 10 crown.
22)(23) Northern Illinois (vs Eastern Michigan)- They remain unbeaten and have a week off to only get stronger.
23)(NR) Michigan (BYE)- They could use a bye to continue to strengthen all phases of the game.
24)(NR) Notre Dame (at Air Force)- They have done better than some have expected and get a week off to only improve.
25)(NR) Virginia Tech (vs Duke)- They have won every game since opening weekend and are quietly waiting in the ACC for potential upsets to springboard them forward.

NEXT 5
1) UCF (vs UConn)- They have looked like a BCS contender this year and enter a bye week with a big win over Louisville that positions them well for such an end outcome.
2) Arizona State (BYE)- They get a bye week and hope to build on their nice win last week when they return.
3) Michigan State (at Illinois)- They have been a quiet bystander in a crowded Big 10 but are very good and can show that again this week.
4) Georgia (BYE)- There is probably no team in need of a week off more than them after all their injuries this year.
5) Washington (vs California)- They should hopefully be able to stop their bleeding this week and get their confidence back.

Not as many big games this week but still a couple ranked contests and who knows if another upset or two is lurking again after last week. With about a month to go in the season, the title picture begins to get a bit clearer as the top teams start to separate themselves.