Beyond Ohio State, It’s Another Massive Shake-Up in the CFB Top 25

Another week, another massive shake-up atop the college football rankings.

Nine of the top 10 teams changed positions in the Week 9 AP Top 25 rankings released Sunday following another upset-filled weekend—a further sign of the growing parity across college football that puts pressure on the CFP committee in the second year of the expanded playoff format.

Four of last week’s top-10 teams lost—the third time that’s happened this season—while a total of eight ranked programs fell this week, including five teams that lost to lower or unranked schools.

Friday Lit the Fuse

The list includes Miami, whose loss to Louisville on Friday night dropped them from No. 2 to No. 9. The Hurricanes were tied with No. 14 Texas Tech, which lost to Arizona State, for the second-biggest drop in the standings. The largest drop was LSU, which fell 10 spots to No. 20 after a loss to Vanderbilt.

The Cardinals (No. 19) and Sun Devils (No. 24), in turn, both jumped into the top 25 with their upset victories. 

Ohio State was the only top-10 team to stay put, and they’ve held the No. 1 spot since Week 1. Indiana and Texas A&M round out the top three, and all three teams sit at 7–0 to start the year.

No. 7 Georgia Tech, No. 11 BYU, and unranked Navy are the only other undefeated FBS programs.

Hard Rock Headache?

Even though the Hurricanes lost this weekend, hurting their chances of earning a first-round bye in the CFP, Miami could instead be in line to host a first-round playoff game. That, however, could lead to a conflict at Hard Rock Stadium.

The first round of the CFP is scheduled for Dec. 19-20. The latter falls on the same day as a scheduled LaLiga soccer match between Barcelona and Villarreal. It’s a historic match given that it’s the first time one of the five major European soccer leagues is holding an official regular-season match outside of the continent.

Miami and the CFP are working on a potential contingency, according to ESPN.