College football Week 9: Florida, Texas A&M among 5 teams on upset alert

Putting five college football teams on upset alert in Week 9 as these top 25-ranked squads have matchups that could earn them a loss on Saturday.

Now that we have one week of Big Ten games in the books and one major upset — thanks to the Michael Penix Jr. Superman impression — from the conference, we can really get into the heart of the 2020 college football season. And it’s fitting that Saturday in Week 9 of the 2020 campaign falls on Halloween because there is no shortage of top-25 ranked teams that should be scared.

The Wisconsin Badgers were seemingly on track to be one of the ranked teams getting put on upset alert. Despite their dominant season-opening win over Illinois, news that breakout quarterback Graham Mertz and his backup had tested positive for COVID-19 made their hopes of beating Nebraska look slim. But now that game has been scrapped due to an outbreak of the virus in Madison, so we have to look elsewhere for upsets in college football in Week 9.

Of course, there are several teams ranked in the AP Top 25 who won’t have to worry about being put on upset alert in Week 9.

Teams like No. 15 North Carolina (at Virginia), No. 13 Michigan (vs. Michigan State), No. 23 Iowa State (at Kansas), No. 2 Alabama (vs. Mississippi State) and No. 1 Clemson (vs. Boston College) should pretty securely come out of the week with a win. That’s not to say an upset couldn’t happen in any of these games; anything is possible in college football. But in terms of being on alert going into the game, that group is safe.

But whether it’s because of a bad matchup, a ranked team being overrated, an unranked team being underrated, or a combination of these and other factors, some teams have the alarms sounding before kickoff ever happens. With that in mind, we’re putting these five college football teams on upset alert for Week 9.