College Football Playoff rankings 2023: Projected Week 10 Top 25 after Oklahoma upset, Georgia dominates
- Oklahoma's perfect season ended at the hands of Kansas
- Georgia rolled over Florida in the Cocktail Party
- Ohio State, Penn State, USC all survived shocking upset bids
Projected Top 25 College Football Playoff rankings after Week 9: No. 20-16
20. Tulane Green Wave
Tulane has been flirting with disaster for a couple of weeks now but the name of the game is winning football games, and the Green Wave have done that in every game but one this season, which was against Ole Miss with Michael Pratt out injured. They barely escaped Rice with a two-point win this week after edging past North Texas a week ago. But the finishing stretch of their schedule before a finale against UTSA should set them up well.
19. Utah Utes
Without Cam Rising, there’s no question that Utah is substantially lesser of a team than they would be with their QB at the helm. We saw that against Oregon this week as the offense was just lifeless. And yet, the Utes’ only two losses came against Top 10 teams and they have several quality wins to their credit as well. It’s hard to see this team not being inside the Top 20 with the way the year has played out.
18. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee came out of the loss to Alabama last week with a sour taste in its mouth and we wondered how they’d handle a feisty Kentucky team. The defense was not up to par as the Wildcats move the ball well, but credit to Josh Heupel’s offense, Joe Milton included, for stepping up and delivering. It was only a six-point win, but it was an important one for the Vols for several reasons, not the least of which is keeping them ranked.
17. Oregon State Beavers
Going on the road to Arizona on Saturday night always looked like a dangerous spot for Jonathan Smith's Beavers. The Wildcats have been surging of late and Oregon State, for all the good things they've done this season as a whole, are a team that doesn't have an extra gear. We saw this late when D.J. Uiagalelei and the offense stalled out hard when the Beavs needed big drives. Now with two losses, all hope isn't lost for this team, but they'll be more chaos-causers than contenders.
16. Air Force Falcons
It was a snowy night in Fort Collins with Air Force on the road at Colorado State and the Falcons had some trouble getting off the runway. Once they did, though, they once again proved that they were the clearly superior team on the field as they notched a 30-13 win. The Falcons are still streaking as one of just eight remaining undefeated teams in college football.