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Projected college football rankings after Ohio State skates by Penn State and Miami survives Duke

The early slate of Week 10 provided a huge win for the Buckeyes and another high-octane showing from the Hurricanes.

By Quinn Everts

Ohio State v Penn State
Ohio State v Penn State / Scott Taetsch/GettyImages
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College football Saturday is just getting started, but we've already seen a huge win from Ohio State, a sketchy (until the fourth quarter) win by Miami, and a loss from a top 25 team that will likely cause them to drop from the rankings completely. Here's where we believe things would stand in the AP Top 25 if the rankings were to come out right now.

Projected AP Top 25 rankings after Ohio State beats Penn State, Miami outlasts Duke and Illinois falls to Minnesota

  1. Oregon Ducks
  2. Georgia Bulldogs
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Miami Hurricanes
  5. Texas Longhorns
  6. Tennessee Volunteers
  7. Penn State Nittany Lions
  8. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  9. BYU Cougars
  10. Texas A&M Aggies
  11. Iowa State Cyclones
  12. Clemson Tigers
  13. Indiana Hoosiers
  14. Boise State Broncos
  15. Alabama Crimson Tide
  16. LSU Tigers
  17. Kansas State Wildcats
  18. Ole Miss Rebels
  19. Pitt Panthers
  20. SMU Mustangs
  21. Army Black Knights
  22. Washington State Cougars
  23. Colorado Buffaloes
  24. Missouri Tigers
  25. Tulane Green Wave

Ohio State's defense comes up huge, Buckeyes jump to number three in rankings

Ohio State's trip to Happy Valley to face Penn State was never comfortable, but it was never supposed to be. Will Howard threw a pick-six on his first pass of the game but then settled down and led the Buckeyes to a massive win, knocking Penn State from the land of the unbeaten in the process. Heading back to Columbus with a win was all that Ryan Day hoped for, and he got just that via a 20-13 victory.

The Buckeyes defense came through with a goal line stand in the fourth quarter and then Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson ran and ran again behind OSU's bruising offensive line to seal the victory.

Is this enough to leapfrog Georgia? Probably not quite — but it's close. Ohio State's one loss being a nailbiter to the Ducks makes it very possible this team finishes the season at number two in the country, though.

Miami's explosive offense carries it past Duke

Cam Ward, Heisman frontrunner? Perhaps after this week. The Miami quarterback threw for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns, powering the Hurricanes to a 9-0 record and likely a top-four ranking with Penn State's loss.

Despite the lopsided final score, this game was close in the fourth quarter. Duke kicked a field goal with 13:51 left that made the score 32-31, but it was all Miami from there on out.

On paper, this was Miami's last big roadblock to the ACC Championship Game, and the Hurricnaes sped past it. This may not be the most technically sound team in the country, but boy they have to be the most exhilirating.

Ole Miss dominates Arkansas, stays on Playoff bubble before Georgia showdown

The Rebels' season would look and feel a whole lot different if they would have pulled out either one of their two losses — which came by a combined six points. Still, after obliterating Arkansas 63-31 on Saturday behind 515 yards and six touchdown passes from Jaxson Dart, this team will welcome Georgia next weekend feeling pretty good about itself.

It's probably not hyperbole to say that the College Football Playoff hopes of this team rest squarely on how that game goes. But for the time being, Ole Miss jumps one spot to number 18 after an eyebrow-raising offensive output against the Razorbacks.

No Bryson Daily, no problem as Army handles Air Force

Navy starting quarterback Bryson Daily missed Saturday's game against Air Force, and it was pretty obvious how much the Black Knights rely on Daily — they managed just 255 yards of offense without him — but luckily, they were also playing a 1-6 Air Force team and still won comfortably, 20-3.

Army's College Football Playoff hopes are alive and well at 8-0, and they stay put at number 21 in these rankings.

Illinois falls to Minnesota, drops from top 25

Well, things went south quickly for Illinois after beating Michigan to improve to 6-1 a few weeks ago. A blowout loss to the Oregon Ducks last week followed by a clunker against Minnesota today likely means the Illini have seen the last of the top 25 this season.

Now 6-3, this team can still finish the season respectably and make a solid bowl game, but after a 6-1 start, this is not exactly where Bret Bielema thought his team would be at this point in the season.

Taking their place in the top 25? Tulane! The Green Wave have won six straight after a 34-3 win against Charlotte on Thursday.

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