College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 9 AP Top 25 after Ohio State rolls Penn State, UNC upset
- Ohio State and Alabama answered the call, manhandling Penn State and Tennessee
- UNC was stunned by one of the ACC's worst teams
- Florida State, Texas and Oklahoma all survived upset scares
Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 8: No. 4-3
4. Florida State Seminoles
Mike Norvell must have a lucky rabbit’s foot that might’ve been rubbed down to the hide at this point in the 2023 season. Florida State was very much on the ropes at home against Duke on Saturday night, trailing 17-7 early in the second quarter and down 20-17 at halftime as well.
The Seminoles undeniably benefitted from Riley Leonard exiting the game for the Blue Devils in the second half, which gave their defense far more opportunities to make plays. But credit to Jordan Travis and the offense for also finally breaking through against Mike Elko’s defense with 21 unanswered points in the second half to secure the win and remain very much alive in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Miami and Florida still loom on FSU’s schedule, but they’ve now survived the most concerning parts of the schedule.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
As much as I’ve been critical of the Ohio State Buckeyes this season, they’ve passed every big test set before them this season. Saturday afternoon in Columbus was no different with the previously No. 7-ranked Nittany Lions making the trip to The Shoe. It was far from a perfect game, yet again, from Kyle McCord as he continued to struggle under pressure, but he made enough plays behind a superhuman defensive effort to get the win.
The more you watch Ryan Day’s team, though, the more you start to realize that, in contrast to years past, it’s the defense that is leading the charge. Jim Knowles’ unit looks like one of the best in the country, proving it again by all but completely shutting down a Penn State offense that had been humming all season long to this point.
If McCord can keep showing improvement, we know the weapons around him are elite. And we now know the defense is on that level too. However, we still need to see if the QB can elevate enough to get this team past Michigan and truly in the Playoff picture.