College football rankings 2023, Projected Week 11 CFP Top 25: Ohio State falls from 1
- Alabama, Georgia passed their biggest SEC tests yet
- Oklahoma, Notre Dame were upset in dramatic fashion
- Texas, Ole Miss, and Ohio State survived upset scares
Projected College Football Playoff rankings Top 25 after Week 10: No. 8-7
8. Alabama Crimson Tide
A shootout appeared to be in order in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night, one of a couple of ranked-on-ranked high-scoring affairs that got started. Alabama and LSU were trading blows in the traditional SEC West rivalry that we’ve seen many great chapters from over the years, leading to a knotted 21-21 halftime score.
And it looked as if the Tigers might really push the Crimson Tide to the brink as they opened up the scoring to take the lead early in the third quarter. Alabama’s defense then tightened things up, however, and Jalen Milroe continued an uneven but overall productive performance against the porous Tigers defense. When Jayden Daniels was ruled out with a concussion in the fourth quarter after a pair of Bama stops, that was all she wrote.
Alabama is starting to build its dark-horse CFP case now, but they’ll need some help to crack the Top 4, especially from our No. 7-ranked team.
7. Texas Longhorns
Everyone in Austin, go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief with me.
With Quinn Ewers out for the second straight game and Maalik Murphy getting the nod for the Texas Longhorns, most people believed that this matchup with Kansas State would be the biggest test remaining for this team coming into the final stretch of the season. Early on, however, it looked like they might pass that test easily.
Texas kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to extend its lead to 27-7 and it looked as if they might be able to pack it in. Then, Murphy got sloppy with the football with a pair of interceptions, the offense stalled when they weren’t turning it over, and Kansas State was able to fight back and ultimately force overtime with a game-tying field goal as time expired.
The Longhorns defense stepped up in the biggest moment, though, stuffing Will Howard in overtime on a fourth-and-goal for the win to pick up the 33-30 victory. But Texas can’t get Ewers back soon enough.