College football rankings 2021: Projected Week 13 AP Top 25 after Oregon gets steamrolled, Alabama survives and Ohio State shines

10. Oklahoma Sooners

On the heels of their disappointing and, frankly, lackluster loss to Baylor last week, Oklahoma needed to come out and handle their business against and Iowa State team that, though imperfect, has proven this season that they can compete with almost anyone. It definitely wasn’t a blowout but the Sooners certainly made a strong statement to get it down on Saturday.

With a 28-21 win over the Cyclones, Lincoln Riley’s team has kept its season alive as they can still beat Oklahoma State next week in Bedlam and then punch a ticket to the Big 12 Championship Game, which would keep their College Football Playoff chances at least somewhat alive. In the simplest terms, they did enough in Week 12 to not be totally written off yet.

9. Ole Miss Rebels

It definitely wasn’t the game that Ole Miss fans were expecting or hoping for against Vanderbilt. On paper and based on the previous 10 games for both teams prior to Saturday, this should’ve been a rout at home in favor of the Rebels. Instead, Lane Kiffin’s team never totally pulled away and left Week 12 with a rather modest victory over the worst team in the SEC — recent-form Florida excluded.

Having said that, this type of game was totally predictable from Ole Miss. For as better as they are in comparison to the Commodores, they were clearly looking ahead to the Egg Bowl next week, which holds a ton more meaning than this game. The fact that they got out of this Saturday with a win is probably enough for them heading into that rivalry matchup.