Updated college football rankings: Ole Miss, UCLA squander dark-horse playoff chances
By John Buhler
The next college football rankings will be heavily impacted by Oregon handling UCLA at Autzen and LSU upsetting Ole Miss in Death Valley.
Two top-10 teams fell in the late-afternoon window in Week 8, as No. 9 UCLA could not hang with No. 10 Oregon in Autzen and No. 7 Ole Miss continued to have issues in Baton Rouge vs. an unranked LSU team.
After seeing Syracuse blow a golden opportunity at Clemson, Death Valley proved to be death today for ranked visiting teams. Although the No. 14 Orange could have won at Clemson, Lane Kiffin’s Rebels ran off the tracks in Tiger Stadium, as Brian Kelly’s LSU team improved to 6-2. That means his family is going bowling this holiday season. Mark it zero, Smokey. You’re over the line!
With the Ducks flying together, UCLA looking soft as Charmin again and Kiffin checking his pulse like his daughter spent another $700 at a Zara, it will be a fine Baton Rouge Saturday night, aight.
How on Planet Earth are the AP voters going to figure out what to do ahead of Week 9’s game?
Updated college football rankings after Ole Miss and UCLA fall to LSU and Oregon
Here is what the AP Top 25 poll could look like after what we have seen so far this Saturday…
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Michigan Wolverines
- Clemson Tigers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Oregon Ducks
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- USC Trojans
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- Ole Miss Rebels
- UCLA Bruins
- Utah Utes
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Syracuse Orange
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- LSU Tigers
- Mississippi State Cowboys
- Tulane Green Wave
The top five is unchanged, no matter how much Clemson wanted it to happen. Alabama maintains the No. 6 spot, assuming the Crimson Tide take care of business vs. a Mississippi State team we cannot believe is ranked anyway. Oregon moves up to No. 7 with the UCLA victory. TCU is No. 8, but we need to see the Kansas State game first. Oklahoma State and USC round out the top 10.
Truth be told, Ole Miss and UCLA don’t fall far in the next college football rankings that come out on Sunday afternoon. The Rebels go to No. 12, while UCLA come in at No. 13. As far as the Mullet Bowl shenanigans between Texas and Oklahoma, the Longhorns ran out of gas to be unranked again, while the Pokes are still in it. That TCU loss on the road still hurts, but they are not dead.
Ultimately, these rankings will shake up just a bit after the 90 Mile Drive, K-State vs. TCU and Minnesota at Penn State reach conclusion. Admittedly, it is not the most robust college football Saturday with so many quality teams on their bye weeks. However, the first two windows did live up to the hype with a handful of great games and timely upsets for fan’s enjoyment everywhere.
Oregon, UCLA and Texas will need to pick up the pieces after suffering their Week 8 losses now.
Next. Red Flags: 5 CFB teams on upset alert in Week 8. dark
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