The Tennessee Volunteers had a chance to take down the No. 1 Texas Longhorns after recovering an onside kick down by three points in the final minute. What followed was some of the worst time management from coach and quarterback that you'll see this season. Josh Heupel and freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon needed just a few yards to get into field goal range but only seemed to go backwards while wasting precious seconds with mind-numbingly bad decision-making. The result? Texas breathed a sign of relief with a 20-17 victory.
The Longhorns will remain the No. 1 team, but there remain significant questions about their offense and Arch Manning's ability to handle the pressure on the road. Manning threw an interception, took six sacks and never found the end zone. Texas' run game averaged 1.7 yards per carry. It's something to keep an eye on, even if their defense looks absolutely unbeatable.
The Volunteers nearly caused a significant shuffling of the college football Top 25. But almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. How far should Tennessee drop? And what about Louisville's fate after an upset and Indiana's status following an upset scare on Friday night?
Projected college football rankings after Tennessee falls to Texas, Louisville upset and Indiana struggles
- Texas
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- Ohio State
- Indiana (down 2)
- Alabama
- BYU
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- USC
- Penn State
- Utah
- Iowa
- Tennessee (down 2)
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Oregon
- Florida
- Louisville (down 5)
- SMU
- Texas A&M
- Mississippi State
- Houston
Tennessee shouldn't be punished for close loss to Texas
Tennessee will inevitably drop a few spots, but they shouldn't plummet for losing a competitive game to the No. 1 team in the country. The Volunteers hung with Texas into the fourth quarter, but they just couldn't generate enough points against that Longhorn defense to pull off an upset, despite the clear opportunities.
Louisville's loss to Wake Forest should keep the fall relatively limited. The winner of Iowa vs. Michigan in the afternoon window will certainly sit ahead of them by the end of the day, though. Missouri would also jump them with a win over Mississippi State in prime time.
There are a lot of positives Tennesse can take from this one and voters should recognize that, but a loss is a loss.
Louisville shouldn't fall further than SMU
Louisville's win over SMU is coming in handy after the Cardinals lost to Wake Forest, 30-27. There's a real question of whether a 2-2 team should even be in the Top 25. However, one of those losses was to the No. 4 team and they have a win over the No. 22 team. So let's drop them to No. 22 for now. The results of other games in the 20-25 range could change the picture considerably.
Indiana should drop in the rankings
It's not time to hit the panic button on Indiana just yet, but results should have consequences. If Ohio State plummeted for losing narrowly to Texas, now the No. 1 team in college football, the Hoosiers should drop at least a couple spots for being a heartstopping onside kick away from losing to Northwestern.
Too often we treat the Top 25 like standings instead of rankings, deferring to win-loss records before actual resumes. That's not the way it should be. Ohio State's loss to Texas or LSU's loss to Ole Miss said more positive things about those teams than any of the wins Indiana has notched against one of the weakest opening schedules in college football.
All credit to Northwestern for making Indiana work for it. Still, this was a home game for the Hoosiers against an outmatched opponent. Oddsmakers had Indiana as a 23.5-point favorite. They didn't play well, found it difficult to get the ball into the endzone and needed a 203-yard performance from running back Lee Beebe to survive the upset scare.
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