CFB Week 10 Takeaways: Upsets Galore as Lincoln Riley's Hot Seat Escalates

College football has a funny way of reminding us that, no matter what we think we've learned, we can't predict everything.

On the first weekend of October, mayhem ruled the day. Led by Alabama's shocking loss at Vanderbilt, five of the AP's 11 highest-ranked teams lost. Four of those upsets happened against an unranked foe.

Week 10 had a similar feel.

Saturday began with Ohio State's big win at Penn State and otherwise mostly an expected set of results. However, the slate descended into chaos as a handful of Top 25 teams, yet again, fell to unranked programs.

We'll cover many of those upsets and plenty more in a rather eventful set of takeaways from Week 10.

Thanks to CFP expansion, Group of Five contenders will be closely monitored down the stretch of the season.

Barring an unlikely string of upsets, however, preseason AAC favorite Memphis isn't a threat for the league title anymore. After taking a 24-14 lead on UTSA, Memphis gave up 30 straight points and lost 44-36. It was the second conference loss of the year for the Tigers.

Army holds a 6-0 mark in American play, while Tulane is 5-0 and Navy—which owns a head-to-head win over Memphis—is 4-1.

In short: Memphis needs three straight wins to close the campaign, Navy to lose two remaining AAC games and a Tulane loss at Temple in order to climb the standings. That's just not happening.

Throw in Liberty's loss to Jacksonville State on Wednesday, and the Week 10 slate whipped a couple of daggers into the G5 race.

What an eventful day in the ACC.

Four programs opened Week 10 with an unblemished record in conference play, but only two of them remain.

Early on, Miami used a dominant second half to spoil Duke's upset bid in Manny Diaz's return to South Florida. Heisman Trophy front-runner Cam Ward threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns in a 53-31 victory, propelling the fifth-ranked 'Canes to a 9-0 record.

The nightcap began with 11th-ranked Clemson, which arrived with a 5-0 league mark, losing 33-21 at home to Louisville.

While that surprise was unfolding, SMU dismantled Pitt in—well, what we thought would be—a showdown of ACC unbeatens. SMU raced out to a 28-point halftime lead and cruised to a 48-25 blowout win.

Miami and SMU, which do not play a regular-season game against each other, are on track to meet in the ACC title game.

Should that happen, here's a fun fact in advance: SMU's coach is Rhett Lashlee, who coordinated two excellent offenses at Miami before accepting his current job. SMU's roster is littered with key contributors who have since followed Lashlee and transferred from Miami.

Even if Ohio State lost in Week 10, the Buckeyes absolutely would've remained a CFP contender. There's no way the selection committee would eliminate OSU after top-five losses at Oregon and Penn State.

That hypothetical—at least for now—is not a concern.

During a hard-fought 20-13 win, Ohio State's defense made two clutch goal-line stops. After the second one, the offense put together a five-minute, clock-killing drive thanks to a couple of third-down conversions.

The victory pushed OSU back to a favorable spot in the Big Ten race. Had they lost, either Indiana or Penn State likely would have played Oregon for the league title. Instead, the Bucks presumably set up a decisive head-to-head showdown with Indiana in a few weeks. That matchup will be in Columbus, where Ohio State surely will be favored.

Don't write an Ohio State and Oregon rematch in pen; Indiana is a genuine threat to make it to the Big Ten title game.

The opposite result, however, would have made it clear that Ohio State was not a part of the race anymore. And we'd be seeing a whole lot of criticism about Ryan Day instead of James Franklin.

Trojans, you have a problem.

Late in the 2021 season, USC pulled off an incredible stunner and stole Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma. Riley had maintained a powerhouse a Norman, building an annual Big 12 champion behind prolific offenses and a constant stream of elite quarterbacks.

Riley basically met expectations in his debut season at USC, leading the Trojans to an 11-3 record. They lost in the Pac-12 Championship Game and Cotton Bowl, sure, but the arrow was pointing up.

Just two years later, it has completely flipped.

USC's nightmare year worsened at Washington. Miller Moss had three interceptions, and the Trojans fell to 4-5 following a 26-21 loss. They now must defeat Nebraska and UCLA to avoid needing a win at Notre Dame to even become bowl-eligible this season.

Whew, how quickly the Trojans have fallen.

Riley's buyout reportedly is nearly $90 million, so he'll likely be back in 2025. Get ready for a loudly negative offseason, at best.

The biggest winner of the weekend in the Big 12, by far, was Colorado—and Deion Sanders' team didn't even play a game.

During the mid-afternoon window, two underdogs sprung huge upsets. Texas Tech ran in a last-minute touchdown to put a blemish on unbeaten Iowa State's record. Minutes later, Houston's late score and defensive stop handed Kansas State its second loss of the year.

As a result, the conference is BYU's to lose.

In the process, Colorado has jumped from "legitimate contender" to "borderline co-favorite" within the league.

BYU holds a 5-0 conference mark, while CU and Iowa State share the second-best record at 4-1. None of those programs play a regular-season game against each other, and everyone else in the Big 12 has at least two setbacks in the expanded, new-look league.

The safe bet is that the Big 12 has more chaos in store. I mean, seriously, why should we expect anything else?

Today, nevertheless, the standings are looking a bit clearer.

It was nice while it lasted, right?

As the clock hit triple-zeroes on Texas A&M's win over LSU last weekend, the Aggies stood atop the SEC standings. Everyone else had fallen at least once in conference play.

That perch for A&M lasted only seven days. South Carolina looked like a dangerous opponent in a raucous home environment, and that proved entirely true. Texas A&M failed to score on eight possessions during the second half and gave up 530 yards in a 44-20 loss.

Once again, the conference is a wide-open race.

Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M all hold one-loss SEC records with a ton of marquee games remaining. In particular, Georgia goes to Ole Miss next weekend as LSU hosts Alabama. Tennessee's trip to UGA looms on the following Saturday. Texas travels to Texas A&M in a regular-season finale with potentially huge stakes (and steaks).

As if we didn't already anticipate chaos, A&M's loss ensured the SEC will be loaded with late-season drama.

This isn't quite an "unstoppable force meets an immovable object" kind of situation, given Ole Miss' recent inconsistency.

But if that version of the Ole Miss offense shows up, the description fits. Jaxson Dart set and matched school records with 515 passing yards and six touchdowns in a 63-31 annihilation of Arkansas on Saturday.

Georgia, meanwhile, leaned on a stingy defense to overcome Carson Beck's third game of the season with three interceptions. After shutting down a talented Texas offense its last time out, UGA surrendered just 228 yards during its 34-20 rivalry win over Florida.

Block out your calendar for Week 11's showdown in Oxford.

Georgia could put itself on the brink of wrapping up a CFP berth with a win, whereas Ole Miss needs a victory to stay alive in that chase. This battle between the Rebels' offense and UGA's defense will shape the outcome, and both units are entering on a high note.