Here’s how every college football Power Five conference stacks up heading into Week 9.
A loaded Week 9 slate of college football did not disappoint, as four undefeated teams lost games on the road, producing a major shakeup in this week’s college football conference power rankings.
The biggest news of the day came from the Big 12, as the undefeated runs of both West Virginia and Baylor came to an end. With the two losses, the Big 12 becomes the first conference to be likely eliminated from playoff contention, barring absolute chaos.
One of Saturday’s best games came in Madison, where Wisconsin took town Nebraska in overtime. Nebraska probably won’t be headed to the playoff now, and can not afford another loss if they are to win the Big Ten West.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for playoff contenders, as Clemson and Washington picked up huge road wins against ranked teams to further cement their places in the top four. Five undefeated teams now remain, and there are only a couple of one-loss teams capable of making the playoff following the chaos on Saturday.
There were no changes in the Power Five conference power rankings this week, but the SEC and Big Ten have separated themselves, while the Big 12 continues to fall further behind the rest of the country.
5. Big 12
It was a disastrous Saturday in the Big 12, which saw its only two remaining playoff threats fall on the road.
Fresh off an appearance in the top 10 of the AP Poll, West Virginia’s undefeated run ended with a 37-20 loss at Oklahoma State. Despite playing well enough on defense, Dana Holgorsen’s team turned the ball over three times and was down 14 by halftime.
Baylor hadn’t exactly crushed foes en route to its 6-0 record and No. 8 ranking and lost to a pretty bad Texas team 35-34 to remove whatever small hope it had of a playoff run. The Longhorns are now 4-4 on the season, although the win probably wasn’t enough to save Charlie Strong’s yet.
Those two losses were good news for No. 12 Oklahoma, which is now in the driver’s seat in the Big 12 as the only undefeated team in conference play. The Sooners decimated Kansas for their fifth straight win and should have no trouble at Iowa State on Thursday.
Elsewhere, TCU continued its very disappointing season with a double-overtime loss at home against Texas Tech to fall to 4-4. With only four ranked teams and none in playoff position, the Big 12 has fallen well behind the rest of the Power Five.