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College football rankings: Week 9 Top 25 projections – Big Ten causes major shakeup

By Connor Muldowney

Oct 24, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) dives with the ball to score a two point conversion and win the game in overtime during the game at Memorial Stadium. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 36 to 35. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 24, 2020; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) dives with the ball to score a two point conversion and win the game in overtime during the game at Memorial Stadium. The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 36 to 35. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Top 25 saw Penn State choke vs. Indiana to give a massive shakeup in the new college football rankings, but can Alabama overtake a sleepwalking Clemson at No. 1?

With the Big Ten returning in Week 8, we knew that the rankings would likely be a mess.

The weekend started with Wisconsin hosting Illinois on Friday night down a starting quarterback but that didn’t much matter as Graham Mertz broke out in his first start, throwing just one incompletion and five touchdown passes with 248 yards. Wisconsin cruised to a 42-7 win.

The afternoon slate on Saturday was a little bit crazier than a sure win by the Badgers over Illinois.

In fact, Clemson was fighting off an upset at home against Syracuse in the third quarter. Eventually, the Tigers would win by 26, but it was a close call early on. Ohio State also found itself knotted up with Nebraska early but pulled away late to win 52-17. No. 14 North Carolina smacked around No. 23 NC State in a ranked rivalry battle and Kansas State did the same to lowly Kansas.

Auburn wanted to make a case to get back into the rankings but nearly fell at Ole Miss and Oklahoma also was hoping to earn a spot and won convincingly at TCU.

A rivalry game kicked off the afternoon slate as Alabama traveled to Knoxville to face Tennessee, but much like this matchup has been in recent years, the Tide ran away with a blowout win but lost Jaylen Waddle in the process.

Notre Dame faced its stiffest test of the season at Pitt and passed with flying colors, winning 45-3 and Oklahoma State held off Iowa State in a ranked Big 12 battle.

And then things started to get crazy.

Penn State stormed back from a 20-14 deficit with minutes left to take a 28-20 lead and then Indiana scored and brought the game to overtime. On the first possession, Penn State scored but then Indiana responded and went for two and the win. Sophomore quarterback Michael Penix Jr. scrambled and tried to reach to the pylon for the game-winning score and it was ruled good, but a replay showed he was likely short but the refs upheld the original call as the Hoosiers pulled off the upset.

Virginia Tech then lost at Wake Forest and Iowa, a team on the verge of being ranked, lost at the hands of a Rondale Moore-less Purdue team.

Michigan then traveled to Minnesota for the game of the week and although Minnesota scored first, the Wolverines would go on a 35-10 run to take a commanding halftime lead.

What might the AP Top 25 look like heading into Sunday?

Week 9 AP Top 25 projections

  1. Clemson
  2. Alabama
  3. Notre Dame
  4. Ohio State
  5. Georgia
  6. Oklahoma State
  7. Texas A&M
  8. Cincinnati
  9. Florida
  10. Miami
  11. BYU
  12. Oregon
  13. North Carolina
  14. Michigan
  15. Wisconsin
  16. Kansas State
  17. Penn State
  18. Marshall
  19. Oklahoma
  20. Coastal Carolina
  21. Memphis
  22. Auburn
  23. USC
  24. SMU
  25. Louisiana

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