College football power rankings entering Week 11: Georgia is terrifying, Alabama & Ohio State win ugly and 2 unbeatens fall

New college football rankings after Week 10 saw Michigan State and Wake Forest fall from the ranks of the unbeaten and Alabama and Cincinnati survive upset bids.

1. Georgia (9-0) beat Missouri 43-6

Missouri actually led this game 3-0 for a brief moment sending alarm bells ringing throughout the greater Athens area. Everything was okay. The Dawgs improved to 9-0 and scored 43 of the next 46 points in the process. Stetson Bennett made some big plays in the passing game and JT Daniels even got some time for the first time in a long time. Expect Kirby Smart to give him a little more time and ramp up his activity in practice to see how his health handles it. Smart has bungled quarterbacks before but he wants to make sure he avoids that this time. He’ll want to keep Daniels engaged in case he needs to call him out of the bullpen to win a game in the SEC Championship Game or playoff later this year.

Next: at Tennessee

2. Alabama (8-1) beat LSU 20-14

There were no style points awarded for Alabama’s six-point win over LSU. This was one of the worst games Alabama played all year and could have lost if not for Will Anderson being unblockable off the edge. The outside linebacker had 12 tackles, 4 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Bryce Young topped 300 yards and had two touchdowns but there was a lot to work on for Alabama to finish the year strong and try to upset Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama is the No. 2 team in the country but this may be the worst team Saban has had in a decade.

Next: vs. New Mexico State

3. Ohio State (8-1) beat Nebraska 26-17

This game got a little dicey toward the end of the fourth quarter. Nebraska played Ohio State tough but this had the same outcome as so many previous Huskers games. Nebraska plays competitively, makes things stressful for the opponent and their fans and ends up losing by single digits. That sums up the Scott Frost era. C.J. Stroud threw for more than 400 yards but it wasn’t a good game necessarily. He made some poor throws and decisions that led to turnovers. It kept Nebraska in the game in the end and left Ohio State needing to make a clutch field goal late. Ohio State prevailed but they would lose a game against a better opponent, which they’ll see later this year with Michigan State and Michigan looming. Plus, they have giant-killer Purdue coming to Columbus next week. The Boilers ruined a Buckeyes title path in 2018 and already have wins over No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Michigan State this year.

Next: vs. Purdue

4. Oklahoma (9-0) idle

Sometimes the best thing you can do to move up the college football rankings is to take the week off and let others lose. That’s what happened with Oklahoma who enjoyed their bye week and saw Michigan State and Wake Forest fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Coupled with Cincinnati’s close call and Oklahoma has a chance to move past two teams and get some separation behind them. The best version of Oklahoma has yet to fully reveal itself after the quarterback change from Spencer Rattler to Caleb Williams. Fully expect that to come to the forefront over the next month and the toughest part of the Sooners’ schedule awaits. The Sooners travel to Baylor next week after the Bears lost to TCU this week. Then, they host Iowa State before traveling to Stillwater for Bedlam.

Next: at Baylor

5. Oregon (8-1) beat Washington 26-16

Travis Dye ran for more than 200 yards to pace the Oregon offensive attack against Washington in sloppy conditions. Washington State, Utah and Oregon State are left on the schedule and then a Pac-12 Championship Game appearance. Can they run the table? Even if they do, there’s the potential for the playoff committee moving Ohio State ahead of them despite the head-to-head win because of the better strength of schedule from the Buckeyes. Stanford beating Oregon and then laying an absolute egg on Friday night against Utah isn’t going to make their loss a quality one.

Next: vs. Washington State

6. Cincinnati (9-0) beat Tulsa 28-20

Deep breath. In and out. In and hold for three and out for three. Okay, feeling better? Nice and calm after that ordeal? Cincinnati almost blew their perfect season and chance at a playoff berth vs. Tulsa but managed to hang on by a matter of inches. After fumbling the ball back to Tulsa in the closing minute to give the Golden Hurricane a second chance at forcing overtime, Cincinnati forced a fumble at the goal line on fourth down to preserve the win and keep the dream season alive. After coming in at No. 6 in the initial playoff rankings, it certainly isn’t going to be enough to impress the playoff committee, but a win is a win and they’ll benefit with Michigan State losing. The margin of error is thinner than a wing on a fly and the Bearcats missed on a chance for some style points.

Next: at USF (11/12)

7. Michigan (8-1) beat Indiana 29-7

The Wolverines rebounded after a fourth-quarter collapse last week vs. Michigan State. Thankfully, Indiana was on the schedule this week for an easy win. Hassan Haskins led the Michigan offensive attack, rushing for more than 160 yards. Cade McNamara was steady with a pair of touchdowns and playing mistake-free football. Luke Schoonmaker was the beneficiary of the McNamara strikes, scoring two touchdowns. Michigan heads to Happy Valley next week for a big test against a Penn State team that’s not quite good this year but won’t be a pushover either.

Next: at Penn State

8. Notre Dame (8-1) beat Navy 34-6

Notre Dame is one of the tougher teams to figure out this year. Their record suggests they are one of the 10 best teams in the nation. Looking beyond the box score and their record, they may be an above-average team rather than a team with a chance at making the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row and third time overall. The offense can look like a mess at times but when Kyren Williams carries the ball you forget about any issues in the passing game and get mesmerized with his ability to make defenders miss and his ability to run away from them. Virginia, Georgia Tech and Stanford remain on the schedule and the Irish will be big favorites in all of them. Could a one-loss Notre Dame team leap some of the Big Ten teams ahead of them and sneak in? Irish fans better root for Big Ten chaos, Cincinnati and Oklahoma to fall. That’s a lot to happen but some of it can happen.

Next: at Virginia

9. Oklahoma State (8-1) beat West Virginia 24-3

Is anyone outside Stillwater taking notice of Mike Gundy’s team? I don’t think they are. Quietly, the Pokes are 8-1 and had no trouble putting away West Virginia. And they did it with their defense that only allowed a measly field goal. Spencer Sanders threw a pair of touchdowns to Tay Martin but it was eight sacks from the Oklahoma State defense that was the biggest takeaway and reason to believe they can beat Oklahoma for the Big 12 title. They’ll have to beat them twice, however, to have a chance at the playoff.

Next: vs. TCU

10. Texas A&M (7-2) beat Auburn 20-3

I could have gone with one of the undefeated teams to lose this weekend but Michigan State and Wake Forest just don’t do it for me this week. For this week, at least, Texas A&M gets the nod to crack the top 10 after winning state in Alabama. After beating Alabama earlier this year, the Aggies added a win over Auburn to sweep the state. If only they didn’t have those two pesky losses, this could be a special year for Texas A&M. Alas, they did score a big recruiting win getting No. 2 recruit Walter Nolen to commit before the game, so they got two wins this weekend.

Next: vs. Ole Miss

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