College football rankings: Projected Top 25 rankings after Week 9

Week nine of the college football season didn’t have quite the excitement of weeks seven and eight, but it will still be a week in which we see some movement in the rankings within the top five, thanks to a man named Steve Spurrier showing us once again why he’s been employed in the game of college football for so long.

So, let’s look at what the rankings should look like when released later on this afternoon:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide: After another dominant win, this time over Tennessee, these guys aren’t going anywhere.
2. Oregon Ducks: In what was considered maybe their toughest test of the season so far against UCLA, the Ducks passed with flying colors. They were able to turn it on in the second half again and will have some people looking their way again after Florida State stole the spotlight from them last week.
3. Florida State Seminoles: Speaking of the ‘Noles, they obliterated an inept N.C. State team at home and now get set for their undefeated, ACC showdown next week in Tallahassee against Miami.
4. Ohio State Buckeyes: If style points were what Urban Meyer and this team were looking for, they certainly gained some in their 63-14 domination of Penn State inside the Horseshoe.
5. Baylor Bears: With Missouri’s hopes of an undefeated season dashed by South Carolina, the Bears will now be a top-five team after another 50+ point performance against Kansas.
6. Miami Hurricanes: It wasn’t pretty, but the ‘Canes were able to hold off a scrappy Wake Forest team at home and will now get set to head to Tallahassee next week for the primetime clash with the rival Florida State Seminoles.
7. Stanford Cardinal: It went down to the wire in Corvallis, but the Cardinal took care of business against Oregon State and they’ll now get ready to take on the Ducks in the biggest game of the year in the Pac-12.
8. Clemson Tigers: After what had to have been a rough, soul-searching week after the FSU loss, Clemson bounced back and looked like their old selves in handling Maryland.
9. Auburn Tigers: While it was against FAU, Auburn looked the part of a top 10 team in the victory as they continue to make waves this season.
10. Missouri Tigers: It was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end, and that’s what happened to Mizzou on Saturday against South Carolina. However, they’re still alive in the SEC race and should still be in the Top 10, so no reason to panic too much, Tigers fans.
11. Texas A&M: Johnny Manziel and the Aggies blew out a pretty decent Vanderbilt team on Saturday, a victory they needed after dropping a close one to Auburn last week.
12. LSU Tigers: One week after losing to Ole Miss, LSU had a tough time with Furman for a while. Is it time to panic in Baton Rouge with Alabama looming on the horizon?
13. Oklahoma Sooners: In another one of Saturday’s down-to-the-wire contests, the Sooners ended Texas Tech’s unbeaten run, but suffered a big loss with FB Trey Millard now out for the year after tearing two knee ligaments.
14. Texas Tech Red Raiders: While they did lose to the team above them here, Kliff Kingsbury and company did prove that they belong with the best of the best. Four spots from number 10 is really all they should drop.
15. South Carolina Gamecocks: Amazing how sometimes one man can make a difference in a football game, and that’s exactly what happened when Steve Spurrier inserted Connor Shaw at QB, who led the Gamecocks from down 17-0 to a 27-24, 2 OT victory over Mizzou.
16. Oklahoma State Cowboys: The Cowboys handled a meager Iowa State team, but are still on track to keep themselves alive in the Big 12 if some things go their way.
17. UCLA Bruins: The loss to Oregon really isn’t indicative of UCLA being a bad team, but they’re not in that upper echelon yet.
18. UCF Knights: The kings of the American Athletic Conference at the moment routed UConn on Saturday and are still firmly in control of their own BCS destiny.
19. Louisville Cardinals: They beat USF, but voters will never forgive them for the UCF loss
20. Fresno State Bulldogs: They remained undefeated, but it took an overtime period against San Diego State.
21. Wisconsin Badgers: The red-hot Badgers enjoyed a much-needed bye week.
22. Northern Illinois Huskies: The Huskies are still undefeated after routing Eastern Michigan, keeping BCS return hopes alive.
23. Michigan Wolverines: This team was also off this week, as they get set for a huge showdown with rival Michigan State next week.
24. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The Irish took care of Air Force on the road this week moving them to 6-2 on the season as they get ready to welcome in Navy next week.
25. Arizona State Sun Devils: Although on a bye week, their dominance of Washington last week should be enough to hold off Michigan State from peeking their heads into the rankings for one more week.