College football power rankings, Week 10: Alabama overtakes Clemson as new No. 1
Clemson survived an upset scare and opened the door for Alabama to surpass them in the AP Top 25.
One ranked matchup in Week 9 meant that it was going to be a boring slate with no upsets or no must-see games, right?
Wrong.
Clemson opened up on Saturday with what looked to be a favorable matchup against Boston College at home, but Trevor Lawrence sitting out with a positive COVID-19 test meant that star freshman DJ Uiagalelei would have to steer this team to victory heading into Notre Dame week. He found himself fighting back from a 28-10 deficit, but he led the Tigers to a 34-28 nail-biting triumph.
That near-upset was a good indicator of what to expect for the rest of Saturday, especially in that afternoon slate.
No. 13 Michigan hosted unranked Michigan State who was coming off a loss to Rutgers in the opener, expecting a huge win but the Wolverines were shocked 27-24. Is Jim Harbaugh squarely on the “warm” seat yet? Right around the same time, the clock struck zero on No. 16 Kansas State as it was romped 37-10 by West Virginia.
Notre Dame took care of business at Georgia Tech to kick off the late afternoon slate and the Irish improve to 6-0 ahead of a crucial Clemson matchup. Indiana, too, took care of business against Rutgers despite the Scarlet Knights riding high after a Michigan State upset from a week ago.
Auburn may have made a statement to get back into the rankings with their biggest game of the season, beating reigning national champion LSU 48-11.
And Oklahoma State and Texas went to overtime in Stillwater with the Cowboys dropping via upset. The Longhorns shocked the Cowboys and made sure that the Big 12 would be left out of the College Football Playoff for good.
In the evening, Alabama took care of Mississippi State with ease, Ohio State handled Penn State with little resistance, Texas A&M had its way with Arkansas in College Station and Florida escaped an upset against a surprising Missouri team.
Oh, and North Carolina suffered a major late-night upset at Virginia to give one last weekend shakeup to the rankings.
What might the AP Top 25 look like heading into Sunday?
Week 10 AP Top 25 projections
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Cincinnati
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- Wisconsin
- BYU
- Miami
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Oklahoma State
- Coastal Carolina
- Marshall
- USC
- SMU
- Iowa State
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Boise State
- North Carolina
- Auburn
- Texas
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