College Football Polls

Georgia remains the class of college football. Cincinnati and Alabama escaped. 

Unfortunately for Michigan State and Wake Forest, they can't say the same thing.

Georgia is still the unquestioned No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press poll and is followed by Cincinnati, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Here is how the Top 25 played out.

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Ohio State
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan State
9. Michigan
10. Oklahoma State
11. Texas A&M
12. Ole Miss
13. Wake Forest
14. BYU
15. UTSA
16. Auburn
17. Houston
18. Baylor
19. Iowa
20. Wisconsin
21. North Carolina State
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Penn State
24. Louisiana-Lafayette
25. Pittsburgh

Michigan State and Wake Forest, two teams that were afterthoughts heading into the season before turning into potential spoilers, saw their playoff hopes likely dashed over the weekend. The Spartans became the second team to fall victim to upset-minded Purdue this season, with Aidan O'Connell throwing for 536 yards and three touchdowns for the Boilermakers.

One of O'Connell's touchdown passes was a wild flea-flicker that head coach Jeff Brohm said he found on YouTube.

"We run a multitude of trick plays, you guys have seen that," Brohm told reporters. "This is one we do, kind of double reverse stuff, you know, throw it behind the line of scrimmage. To be honest with you, I stole it from a YouTube video of a high school team years ago, and the first time we ran it, it went for a touchdown."

Wake Forest saw its surprising 8-0 start halted in a 58-55 thriller at North Carolina. The Tar Heels scored 24 fourth-quarter points for the come-from-behind victory. Ty Chandler rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns, while quarterback Sam Howell had three total touchdowns.

"I've told them: Every Saturday you build memories," Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown told reporters. "That's what you do. And this is a game that they will remember for the rest of their lives. And I'm really, really proud that my name is associated with them."

While every other title contender was victorious this week, not all of them were dominant. Cincinnati did not do itself any favors with the College Football Playoff selection committee with a 28-20 win over a 3-6 Tulsa team. The Bearcats turned the ball over three times and committed seven penalties in the sloppy effort.

Alabama's offense also failed to show up in a 20-14 win over rival LSU. While it's not likely to hurt the Crimson Tide in the eyes of the committee, it's more proof that this team is far more beatable than last year's iteration. 

Attention at this point of the season has turned to the College Football Playoff rankings, but the sport's coaches may have provided a Tuesday preview with the latest edition of their poll.

Following its 43-6 rout of Missouri, Georgia still sits atop the latest Coaches Top 25 Poll, which was released Sunday:

1. Georgia

2. Alabama

3. Cincinnati

4. Oklahoma

5. Ohio State

6. Oregon

7. Notre Dame

8. Michigan

9. Michigan State

10. Oklahoma State

11. Texas A&M

12. Ole Miss

13. Wake Forest

14. Iowa

15. BYU

16. Texas-San Antonio

17. Houston

18. Baylor

19. North Carolina State

20. Auburn

21. Coastal Carolina

22. Pittsburgh

23. Penn State

24. Wisconsin

25. UL Lafayette 

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Saturday brought plenty of chaos and near-misses, with many of the nation's top teams receiving stiff tests from unranked foes.

Most notably, Purdue handled Michigan State, No. 3 in the initial CFP rankings, with relative ease in a 40-29 victory. Boilermakers quarterback Aidan O'Connell threw for 536 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, while wide receiver David Bell posted 11 catches for 217 yards and a score.

Purdue beat Iowa this season when the Hawkeyes were undefeated and will have another chance at upsetting a playoff contender with a showdown against Ohio State set for Week 11.

Michigan State wasn't the only previously unbeaten contender to lose Saturday, as North Carolina defeated Wake Forest 58-55. It is not unreasonable to suggest the result virtually eliminated the ACC from CFP contention.

Elsewhere, TCU beat Baylor, Arkansas beat Mississippi State, Tennessee beat Kentucky, Illinois beat Minnesota and Boise State beat Fresno State. All five victors were unranked in the first CFP poll, while the losers were all ranked and looking to play their way into favorable bowl games.

Saturday could have brought even more chaos, but Alabama escaped a showdown with LSU with a six-point win. The Tigers had three drives in Alabama territory during the fourth quarter alone, but they ended with zero points.

Ohio State also survived a scare from Nebraska, which has made a habit of losing close games to contenders this season. The Cornhuskers lost by more than one score for the first time all year in Saturday's 26-17 defeat, but they had the ball while down six in the fourth quarter with a chance to pull off a stunning upset.

Cincinnati also almost saw its quest to become the first Group of Five team to reach the CFP end during Saturday's 28-20 win over Tulsa.

The Golden Hurricane turned over the ball on downs at the Bearcats' 2-yard line in the game's final two minutes, only to have one more chance to force overtime when Cincinnati fumbled while trying to run out the clock. Yet Tulsa failed to score, with quarterback Davis Brin sliding instead of extending the ball at the goal line on third down and Steven Anderson fumbling on fourth down. 

While the Bearcats didn't do themselves any favors in the style-points department, their victory and results elsewhere ensure they remain alive in the chase for a playoff spot.

The Top Five in last week's coaches poll escaped the weekend unscathed.

As for the rest of the Top 25, well, not so much.

Georgia remains the class of college football after a blowout win over Florida and is followed by Cincinnati, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Here is how the remainder of the Top 25 played out.

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan State
7. Oregon
8. Notre Dame
9. Wake Forest
10. Michigan
11. Oklahoma State
12. Texas A&M
13. Baylor
14. Auburn
15. Ole Miss
16. Iowa
17. Kentucky
18. UTSA
19. Houston
20. BYU
21. Coastal Carolina
22. NC State
23. Penn State
24. SMU
25. Pitt

Michigan State firmly established itself as a playoff contender with a 37-33 comeback win over rival Michigan. The Spartans trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before scoring 23 of the game's final 26 points. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 197 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 5:08 remaining.

Walker has rushed for 1,194 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to put himself firmly in the Heisman race. 

"I don't believe in self-imposed limitations," Michigan State coach Mel Tucker told reporters. "I've said this before publicly, our goal is to win every game on our schedule. Whether it's home or away or regardless of who it is, that's our goal. Whether we can do that or not, only time will tell. What does success look like? I've been asked several times, success is us reaching our full potential as a football team.

"And so we have not hit our ceiling yet, we still have room for improvement and we have a tough schedule ahead."

The Nov. 20 matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State is looking increasingly like a game that will determine the Big Ten's CFP chances. The Buckeyes moved to 7-1 with a 33-24 win over Penn State on Saturday, while Iowa's outside chance of making a run ended with a 27-7 loss to Wisconsin.

Potential SEC dark horses Ole Miss and Kentucky also saw their chances of making the CFP go down in upset losses. Ole Miss dropped a 31-20 trip to Auburn, while Kentucky lost by two touchdowns in Mississippi State.

Another Group of Five spoiler also went down, with SMU losing a 44-37 thriller to Houston. San Diego State saw its hopes of an undefeated season dashed with a 30-20 home loss to Fresno State. 

The selection committee for the College Football Playoff will be releasing its first Top 25 rankings of the 2021 season Tuesday night, and, buddy, there are going to be some arguments.

Not about Georgia at No. 1, of course. The Bulldogs were already the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP poll before squeezing the life out of Florida for a 34-7 victory on Saturday afternoon. Thanks to a Nakobe Dean pick six just before halftime, Georgia's defense/special teams has now scored four touchdowns while allowing its opposition to score just five. The Dawgs are officially in 2001 Miami (10 touchdowns scored against 12 allowed) and 2011 Alabama (five scored against nine allowed) territory of absurd dominance on D.

Beyond that, though, the order of Nos. 2-7—no matter what it is—will be highly controversial. Alabama, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Oregon all have an argument for debuting in the Top 4, but only half of them can do so.

Before we dive into the cases for and against each of those six teams, let's be sure to point out that—while certainly more important than the AP poll—these initial rankings still don't really matter.

When all four teams that debuted in the Top 4 actually made it into the playoff last year, that was very much the exception to the rule. In the first six years of the CFP, only 13 of the 24 national semifinalists debuted in the Top 4. The vast majority of them (21 of 24) did start in the Top 7, but Ohio State famously went from No. 16 to national champion in 2014. Oklahoma also vaulted from a starting spot at No. 15 into the Top 4 the following year.

And looking at it from the opposite direction, 2020 was the first time that there was not at least one team that finished outside the Top 10 after debuting in the Top 4. 2016 Texas A&M was the only one to actually drop all the way out of the Top 25, but there's typically at least one team that fades considerably in November.

In other words, if you're a fan of one of these teams that isn't in the Top Four on Tuesday night, there's still plenty of time to get there.

With that in mind, let's try to figure out what the selection committee will decide this week.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Case For: Ridiculously good offense, and that loss to Texas A&M isn't anywhere near as bad as it looked at the time.

Quarterback Bryce Young is a bona fide Heisman Trophy front runner, leading an offense that has averaged 45.9 points per game this season. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. took a few weeks to get into the zone, but he averaged 160.5 yards of total offense and 2.5 touchdowns per game in October.

Aside from the final three quarters of the road game against Florida, the Crimson Tide have been virtually unstoppable.

And that three-point road loss to the then-unranked Aggies? That hardly seems unforgivable now that A&M is thriving and has bounced back into the AP Top 15. At any rate, that loss is much less of an eyesore than Oregon's loss to Stanford.

Jumping out to that 35-0 lead over Ole Miss before cruising to a 21-point victory was an impressive best win, too.

Case Against: Already lost one game, and hasn't looked like the Alabama of yore.

The committee isn't going to compare 2021 Alabama to any other iteration of this program, but there's no question that this hasn't been quite a vintage Crimson Tide team as far as game control is concerned.

Not only did they lose to a team that already had two losses, but they were considerably less than dominant in the wins over Florida and Tennessee. They owned the first quarter of the former and the fourth quarter of the latter. However, a now-.500 Gators team out-played them over the final 45 minutes and a now-.500 Volunteers team went into Tuscaloosa and legitimately hung with Alabama through the first 45 minutes.

None of that will matter if they win out, but it could be a justification for slotting Alabama outside the initial Top 4.

        

Cincinnati Bearcats

Case For: Undefeated with a pair of road wins over Power Five programs

Plain and simple, Cincinnati did exactly what we've been waiting for a Group of Five team to do to make things interesting.

When UCF ran the table in both 2017 and 2018, it did so against an uninspired schedule. The Knights didn't play a single road game against a ranked team, and (excluding the bowl games) only faced two mediocre Power Five programs, beating 4-8 Maryland the first year and 7-7 Pittsburgh the latter year.

But Cincinnati went on the road against preseason No. 17 Indiana and preseason No. 9 Notre Dame, winning both of those contests by double digits. Indiana has since fallen apart for a 2-6 overall record, but that 24-13 win at Notre Dame is still one of the most impressive victories by any team in this entire season.

Not only that but both the Pac-12 (Oregon) and the ACC (Wake Forest) are already down to just one team with any argument whatsoever for a spot in the Top 15. Might as well put an undefeated Cincinnati in the Top 4 alongside the best team from each of the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12.

       

Case Against: Only one game against a remotely noteworthy opponent and hasn't looked good lately.

As awesome as the road win over Notre Dame was, what is Cincinnati's second-best win now that it looks like Indiana isn't any good? The home win over UCF sans Dillon Gabriel? The season opener at home against 4-4 Miami-Ohio?

The Bearcats will eventually need to face a pretty good SMU team (Nov. 20), plus either a rematch with the Mustangs or a showdown with Houston in the AAC championship. But the overall schedule thus far isn't that great, and two games against SMU is nothing compared to what the rest of these contenders will face the rest of the way.

And while there's only so much Cincinnati can do about the strength of its schedule, it should have at least played well in the recent wins over Navy and Tulane.

Sure, they were both road games, but 2-6 Navy had the ball with a chance to tie in the closing minute while a 1-7 Tulane team with a terrible defense held the Bearcats offense in check. The latter was a 14-12 game at halftime, and Cincinnati didn't exactly flex its offensive muscles after the intermission with just one drive of more than 40 yards.

Style points are going to be crucial for Cincinnati to ultimately land in the playoff, and it hasn't gotten many as of late.

      

Michigan State Spartans

Case For: Last undefeated Big Ten team; just scored a massive win over AP No. 6 Michigan.

Let me first say how incredible it is that we're even having this conversation. At Big Ten media days in July, Michigan State was picked to finish in dead last in the Big Ten East, and Sparty was considerably behind both Rutgers and Maryland in that poll. Going from an expected seventh-place finish in their division to a certain spot in the current Top 7 is the type of thing that could make Mel Tucker a unanimous Head Coach of the Year.

Speaking of year-end honors, go ahead and lock in Kenneth Walker III for a spot among the Heisman finalists. The Wake Forest transfer was already leading the nation in rushing yards per game heading into a Week 9 gem against rival Michigan, in which he rushed 23 times for 197 yards and five touchdowns. He has been the heart and soul of the Big Ten's lone remaining unblemished team.

In addition to that come-from-behind 37-33 win over the Wolverines, the Spartans burst onto the scene in September with a 38-17 road win over then-AP No. 24 Miami. The Hurricanes are only 4-4 overall, but they do have wins over Pitt, NC State and Appalachian State, as well as close calls against North Carolina and Virginia. The committee is sure to view that as an impressive victory.

       

Case Against: Close calls against Nebraska and Indiana; major question marks in the secondary

The Spartans needed a Jayden Reed punt-return touchdown late in the fourth quarter at home against Nebraska just to force overtime and ultimately win that game. And against an Indiana team adjusting to a new starting quarterback (Jack Tuttle) in the middle of the season, Michigan State narrowly eked out a 20-15 victory, thanks in large part to a pick six of Tuttle in the first quarter.

Two close calls is better than the many that Oklahoma has had, and it's better than the losses that Alabama, Ohio State and Oregon have suffered. But for a team that did not have a win over a currently ranked opponent until that comeback win against Michigan, those razor-thin margins against two teams unlikely to even qualify for a bowl game were a bit concerning.

And even in that win over Michigan, Michigan State's Achilles' heel was on full display: less-than-mediocre pass defense.

The Spartans have a great pass rush, but they just allowed more than 400 passing yards against a Wolverines offense that had not previously topped 255 this season. MSU is now allowing 301.0 passing yards per game.

Granted, hemorrhaging passing yards on a regular basis never kept Oklahoma from reaching the playoff. But with so little separating No. 2 from No. 7 at this point, those defensive numbers against what wasn't a particularly daunting schedule prior to this weekend will be a major talking point for the committee.

      

Ohio State Buckeyes

Case For: Offense is sensational and the defense appears to have improved a lot since mid-September.

At 49.3 points per game, Ohio State entered Week 9 as the highest-scoring offense in the country by a margin of more than a field goal per game.

C.J. Stroud was averaging well over 10 yards per pass attempt, TreVeyon Henderson was averaging nearly nine yards per rush attempt and each portion of the Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba three-headed receiving monster was well on its way to a 1,000-yard campaign.

Even on what ended up feeling like a down night against Penn State, the Buckeyes racked up 466 yards of total offense and scored 33 points against a mighty fine defense.

A national championship pitting this offense against Georgia's defense would be objectively fantastic.

And after getting shredded for 472 yards and six touchdowns on the ground through the first two games, Ohio State's defense has held its last six opponents to 383 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. As long as that continues, one could argue this is the most well-rounded team in the country.

         

Case Against: Lost to Oregon and has feasted on a diet of cream puffs.

Winning those Week 4-8 games by a combined score of 231-44 was quite the display of dominance, but are we really supposed to be impressed by steamrolling Akron, Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana? It's likely that only one of those teams will get to six wins this season, and that's probably going to come down to the regular-season finale between Maryland and Rutgers.

Take out those four games and you're left with the home loss to Oregon, the season opener against Minnesota that was a toss-up prior to a defensive touchdown late in the third quarter, the home game against Tulsa that was a one-score game until late in the fourth quarter and the Week 9 win over Penn State in which the Buckeyes uncharacteristically scored a touchdown on just one of six red-zone possessions.

If you want to believe in Ohio State as a title contender, it's not hard. But it's also not that hard to talk yourself into this being a borderline Top 10 team that made the most of a few of its games against sub-par competition.

       

Oklahoma Sooners

Case For: The only 9-0 team in the country hails from the third-best conference.

Undefeated in the Big 12 isn't quite as impressive as undefeated in the SEC or Big Ten, but it's still quite the achievement for the Sooners. And aside from that bizarrely slow start in the first half against Kansas in Week 8, they have been humming on offense since making the switch from Spencer Rattler to Caleb Williams at quarterback.

Perhaps more than anything else that could come from Tuesday night's rankings show, I want to hear selection committee chair Gary Barta say something about how it is handling its evaluation of Oklahoma based on the quarterback situation.

We can't sit here and say that Oklahoma would have more convincingly beaten Tulane, Nebraska, West Virginia, Kansas State and Texas if Williams had been the starter back then. However, it'd be fair to acknowledge that this team has been different over the past month and make an effort to rank the Sooners based on their current state.

      

Case Against: Too many close calls and a surprisingly weak schedule.

Oklahoma's first five wins against FBS opponents were each by a one-possession margin. It was dreadful defense against Tulane and Texas; dreadful offense against Nebraska and West Virginia. Without suffering a loss, the Sooners slipped all the way from No. 2 to No. 6 in the AP rankings, and it often felt like they didn't even deserve to be that well off in the polls.

And making matters worse, Oklahoma has not yet faced a currently ranked opponent.

That's going to change in a big way down the stretch against Baylor, Iowa State and Oklahoma State, but the Sooners had a painfully weak nonconference schedule and have thus far only faced the bottom 60 percent of the Big 12.

Again, they've looked good lately, winning three straight by multiple scores. But strength of schedule and those early margins have to matter, right?

       

Oregon Ducks

Case For: Road win over Ohio State, road win over Ohio State and road win over Ohio State.

The way that Oregon fans and Ohio State naysayers have been bringing up that Week 2 result in complaining about the AP rankings week after week, you'd think it was the only game that either team has played.

But there's no question it was a damn fine win.

Even though C.J. Stroud threw for nearly 500 yards, the Ducks defense did a sensational job of digging in its heels when the Buckeyes got to the fringe of field-goal range. And C.J. Verdell was a strong candidate for the "September Heisman" as a result of his 195 total yards and three touchdowns against the Ohio State defense.

The Ducks do have the worst loss (at Stanford) of any team in this conversation, but they also have the best win. Balancing those two outcomes will be tricky for the committee, but please do not assume that Oregon is going to rank ahead of Ohio State just because of that 12.5 percent of their respective resumes.

       

Case Against: The other six FBS games Oregon has played.

In addition to the loss to sub-.500 Stanford, Oregon needed a late touchdown to win its opener against Fresno State, had to erase a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to take down Cal, had to climb out of an early 14-0 hole to beat UCLA, didn't pull away from winless Arizona until the fourth quarter and allowed 29 points against a Colorado offense that had been held to 14 points or fewer in five of its previous six games.

In other words, that one fantastic road win over Ohio State has been surrounded by a bunch of "meh."

Injuries and suspensions/ejections—especially on defense—have surely played a part in Oregon's inability to put together a complete game in the past month and a half. However, that doesn't change the fact that the Ducks have been consistently scraping by against a recent schedule that (aside from the road game against UCLA) a legitimate title contender would be expected to dominate.

       

Our Projection:

1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma
5. Michigan State
6. Cincinnati
7. Oregon

I'm reasonably confident Oregon will check in at No. 7, but I truly have no idea how Nos. 2-6 will be arranged. Alabama and Ohio State will most likely be a package deal with the Crimson Tide one slot ahead of the Buckeyes because of their more difficult schedule. Though with the way they have been playing over the past month-plus, it would be very easy to argue that Ohio State is the second-best team in the country.

I do hope I'm wrong about Cincinnati and that the Bearcats get to begin the CFP rankings at No. 2 to match their current spot in the AP and Coaches polls. But a Group of Five team has never been ranked in the Top 6 by the CFP selection committee, so we should probably be prepared for Cincinnati to debut outside the Top 4. 

What do you think we'll see on Tuesday night?

              

Kerry Miller covers college football and men's college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @kerrancejames.

The top of the poll largely remains the same, but at least two potential playoff teams saw their chances end over the weekend to shake up the latest Coaches Poll.

Georgia reigns supreme as the top team in the nation and is now followed by Cincinnati and Alabama, both of whom leapfrogged Oklahoma. Ohio State rounds out the Top Five.

Here is how the entire poll played out.

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Oregon
9. Ole Miss
10. Iowa
11. Notre Dame
12. Kentucky
13. Wake Forest
14. Texas A&M
15. Oklahoma State
16. SMU
17. Penn State
18. Baylor
19. Pitt
20. San Diego State
21. Auburn
22. UTSA
23. Iowa State
24. Coastal Carolina
25. NC State

Oklahoma remaining undefeated is a slight miracle considering how poorly the Sooners have played this season. Lincoln Riley's team trailed by as many as 10 points and was down 17-14 going into the fourth against the Kansas Jayhawks before scoring 21 points in the final 15 minutes. 

Upset losses by Penn State and Oklahoma State created the largest ripple in the polls, with both teams nosediving several spots.

The Nittany Lions were part of the first nine-overtime game in college football history, a ghastly 20-18 affair that saw them unable to mount any offense against an Illinois team that entered 2-5. Penn State's nightmarish offensive performance saw the Lions put up only 227 total yards of offense while failing to capitalize on three Illini turnovers.

"Obviously we did not have our guys ready to play. I think there was a difference between playing Iowa on the road and having that type of loss with the type of injuries we had going into our bye week," coach James Franklin told reporters. "But at the end of the day, all that matters is that we get the job done, and we did not today."

Penn State has lost two straight games, going from potential Big Ten favorite to being in serious danger of dropping three consecutive contests with next week's visit to Ohio State looming.

Iowa State continued getting its season back on the right track with a 24-21 win over eighth-ranked Oklahoma State. Brock Purdy threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns, and Breece Hall added the game-winning touchdown on the ground with five minutes, 29 seconds remaining.

The Cyclones began the season as a top-10 team but failed to look the part in an ugly 2-2 start. They've since reeled off three straight wins to jump back into the Top 25. 

"The character of this game is what we've talked about," Cyclones coach Matt Campbell told reporters. "It's not always going to be pretty. It's not always going to be easy."

Coastal Carolina also lost any hope it had of reaching a New Year's Six bowl game with a 30-27 loss to Appalachian State.

The Georgia Bulldogs were still the consensus No. 1 college football team in the country when the Associated Press Top 25 poll for Week 8 was released Sunday.

Georgia remains undefeated, moving to 7-0 with a convincing 30-13 victory Saturday over the then-No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats.

Here is a full rundown of the Top 25, courtesy of the AP (with the previous week's ranking in parentheses):

1. Georgia (1)

2. Cincinnati (3)

3. Oklahoma (4)

4. Alabama (5)

5. Ohio State (6)

6. Michigan (8)

7. Penn State (7)

8. Oklahoma State (12)

9. Michigan State (10)

10. Oregon (9)

11. Iowa (2)

12. Ole Miss (13)

13. Notre Dame (14)

14. Coastal Carolina (15)

15. Kentucky (11)

16. Wake Forest (16)

17. Texas A&M (21)

18. NC State (22)

19. Auburn (NR)

20. Baylor (NR)

21. SMU (23)

22. San Diego State (24)

23. Pittsburgh (NR)

24. UTSA (NR)

25. Purdue (NR)

The Bulldogs are now the only undefeated team remaining in the SEC and one of only six Power Five conference teams without a loss.

Journeyman senior quarterback Stetson Bennett was solid once again in place of injured starter JT Daniels with three touchdown passes, but it was the Bulldogs defense that continued to lead the way.

Georgia shut down running back Chris Rodriguez, who was the SEC's leading rusher going into the game. Blayne Gilmer of UGASports.com noted how remarkably the Georgia front seven played against Kentucky:

Holding Kentucky to 51 rushing yards is one of the more impressive feats in college football this season! What a front 7 Georgia has

— Blayne Gilmer (@BGilmer18) October 17, 2021

ESPN's Peter Burns expressed his belief that Georgia is the clear favorite to win the national championship as well:

Feels like we’ve reached the point from saying that Georgia could win the title this year to….it would be pretty shocking if they didn’t.

Banged up and still playing absolutely dominating football.

Impressive.

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) October 16, 2021

In seven games, the Dawgs have not allowed more than 13 points in a single one, and their defense is surrendering just 6.5 points per contest.

While there is no real argument to be made against Georgia being the best team in the nation, things are far less certain behind the Bulldogs.

Iowa entered Week 8 with a perfect 6-0 record and the No. 2 ranking, but the Hawkeyes had no answer for Purdue wide receiver David Bell on Saturday.

Bell carved Iowa up for 240 receiving yards in a 24-7 win, resulting in the Hawkeyes dropping from second to No. 11 in the rankings.

Iowa's loss opened the door for several other teams to move up the rankings, including Cincinnati, Oklahoma and Alabama.

The Bearcats remained undefeated with a 56-21 win over UCF, and quarterback Desmond Ridder kept himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation.

If Cincy runs the table, it has a strong chance to become the first team from outside a Power Five conference—besides independent Notre Dame—to reach the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma also continues to be unbeaten, as the Sooners cruised past TCU by a 52-31 score.

True freshman Caleb Williams got his first start at quarterback over Spencer Rattler and likely did plenty to keep the job, as he accounted for 361 total yards and five total touchdowns.

Former Oklahoma and Dallas Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer expressed his belief that Williams could find himself in the Heisman race despite beginning the year as a backup:

Caleb Williams keeps playing like he has in the first quarter Oklahoma versus TCU he will become the Heisman favorite midseason!!@OU_Football

— Barry Switzer (@Barry_Switzer) October 17, 2021

While no longer undefeated, Alabama earned its way back into the Top Four on Saturday with a 49-9 trouncing of Mississippi State on the road.

It marked a solid bounce-back performance for a Crimson Tide team that was shocked 41-38 by Texas A&M one week earlier.

While the loss to the Aggies put a damper on the season for Bama, it remains one of the most explosive offensive teams in college football history, as evidenced by this stat courtesy of SEC Network:

.@AlabamaFTBL has scored 30+ points in 33 straight games.

The longest streak in major college football history. pic.twitter.com/eEM4XsN03L

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 17, 2021

In addition to Georgia, Cincinnati and Oklahoma, other undefeated teams in the Top 25 include Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Coastal Carolina, Wake Forest, SMU and San Diego State.

Of those teams, Michigan State, Oklahoma State and San Diego State were all victorious while the rest were idle.

In terms of schools besides Iowa that experienced a drop due to a loss, Kentucky fell from 11th to 15th as Arkansas, Arizona State, BYU, Florida and Texas all fell out of the Top 25.

New entries into the AP Top 25 include Auburn, Baylor, Pittsburgh, UTSA and Purdue.

There was a change near the top of the AFCA Coaches Poll for Week 8 of the 2021 season. 

Georgia, fresh off an easy 30-13 win over Kentucky on Saturday, remained in the No. 1 spot and received all 65 first-place votes. Iowa fell nine spots to No. 11 after its 24-7 loss to Purdue at home.      

The Hawkeyes' misfortune opened the door for Oklahoma to move up one spot in the rankings to No. 2 overall. Cincinnati, Alabama and Ohio State round out the Top Five. 

Coaches Poll Top 25 (Week of Oct. 17-23)

1. Georgia Bulldogs (7-0)

2. Oklahoma Sooners (7-0)

3. Cincinnati Bearcats (6-0)

4. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-1)

5. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1)

6. Michigan Wolverines (6-0)

7. Michigan State Spartans (7-0)

8. Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1)

9. Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0)

10. Oregon Ducks (5-1)

11. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-1)

12. Mississippi Rebels (5-1)

13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-1)

14. Kentucky Wildcats (6-1)

15. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-0)

16. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (6-0)

17. Texas A&M Aggies (5-2)

18. North Carolina State Wolfpack (5-1)

19. SMU Mustangs (6-0)

20. Baylor Bears (6-1)

21. San Diego State Aztecs (6-0)

22. Auburn Tigers (5-2)

23. Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1)

24. Clemson Tigers (4-2)

25. Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners (7-0)

Saturday marked the third consecutive game for the Bulldogs against an SEC opponent that was ranked in the Top 20 at kickoff time. They have defeated Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky by a combined score of 101-23. 

Georgia has next week off before taking on Florida on Oct. 30. The Gators won the last meeting between the two schools 44-28 on Nov. 7, 2020. The Bulldogs have rattled off 11 straight wins since that day in Jacksonville. 

Next week's game did lose some of its luster with Florida falling 49-42 to LSU on Saturday. The Gators have already lost three games this season and are unranked in the Coaches Poll for the first time since Sept. 2018. 

Staying in the SEC, Alabama looked much better this week coming off its loss to Texas A&M. Head coach Nick Saban's squad took it to Mississippi State in a 49-9 win. The Crimson Tide had a 543-299 advantage in yards and forced Will Rogers to throw three interceptions. 

Alabama blowing out Mississippi State 👀 pic.twitter.com/kXe965NToG

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 17, 2021

Alabama does have a favorable schedule to run the table for the rest of the season. It doesn't have any games remaining against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. 

Outside of the SEC, Oklahoma State improved to 6-0 with a 32-24 win over Texas. This marks the program's best start since 2015 (10-0). The Cowboys will be hoping for a better finish this time around, as that team lost three straight to end the year. 

One encouraging sign is how well Oklahoma State's defense fared in the second half of Saturday's win:

Oklahoma State's D owned this second half. Final 6 drives for the Horns:

17 plays
14 yards pic.twitter.com/d1F8JFgh5S

— Max Olson (@max_olson) October 16, 2021

Baylor returned to the Top 25 this week thanks to an impressive 38-24 victory over BYU. The Cougars' once-promising season has taken a turn for the worse with back-to-back losses after a 5-0 start. 

Another team that has been flirting with disaster recently are the Oregon Ducks. They lost their first game of the season one week ago on the road against Stanford. Head coach Mario Cristobal's squad was able to avoid another upset on Friday with a 24-17 victory over Cal. 

No. 9 OREGON SURVIVES 🙌

A last-second goal line stand seals the deal for the Ducks over Cal. pic.twitter.com/dYodZZX68l

— ESPN (@espn) October 16, 2021

Next week's schedule is light on head-to-head matchups featuring Top 25 programs. Oregon does have a potentially difficult game at UCLA. Oklahoma State will play its second consecutive road game, this one against Iowa State. 

The race for the top spot in the Big Ten East will remain a hotly-contested battle between four teams. Michigan State will remain in the top spot by virtue of having a bye week. Michigan (vs. Northwestern), Ohio State (at Indiana) and Penn State (vs. Illinois) have winnable games to keep pace with the Spartans. 

What. A. Saturday.

Oklahoma and Texas combined for 103 points in one of the most memorable editions of the Red River Rivalry, and it wasn't even close to the biggest development of the college football weekend.

That honor belonged to Texas A&M's shocking upset of the defending champions.

Seth Small's chip-shot field goal as time expired propelled the Aggies to a stunning 41-38 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide and further shook up the early College Football Playoff picture. Elsewhere, Iowa outscored Penn State 10-0 in the fourth quarter to earn a Top 10 win and cement its place among the Big Ten's many contenders.

There were naturally some changes in the Associated Press Top 25, which was announced Sunday.

1. Georgia Bulldogs

2. Iowa Hawkeyes

3. Cincinnati Bearcats

4. Oklahoma Sooners

5. Alabama Crimson Tide

6. Ohio State Buckeyes

7. Penn State Nittany Lions

8. Michigan Wolverines

9. Oregon Ducks

10. Michigan State Spartans

11. Kentucky Wildcats

12. Oklahoma State Cowboys

13. Ole Miss Rebels

14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

15. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

16. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

17. Arkansas Razorbacks

18. Arizona State Sun Devils

19. BYU Cougars

20. Florida Gators

21. Texas A&M Aggies

22. NC State Wolfpack

23. SMU Mustangs

24. San Diego State Aztecs

25. Texas Longhorns

Here is a brief rundown of the most notable results from an epic Saturday of football:

• Zach Calzada, who started the season as Texas A&M's backup quarterback, fought off an apparent injury and spearheaded a 41-point effort to upset the previously top-ranked Crimson Tide.
• Iowa benefited from quarterback Sean Clifford's injury and overcame a 14-point deficit to beat Penn State and potentially pave the way for an eventual undefeated appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game.
• Oklahoma scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to outlast Texas in a thrilling 55-48 win, with Kennedy Brooks scoring the final touchdown with three seconds remaining.
• Ole Miss and Arkansas went back and forth in a high-scoring affair until the Rebels stopped the Razorbacks' two-point conversion on the final play of the game to clinch a 52-51 win.
• Michigan and Notre Dame escaped challenges from Nebraska and Virginia Tech, respectively, with late field goals.
• Boise State upset previously undefeated BYU and ended the Cougars' chances of crashing the College Football Playoff.
• Georgia steamrolled Auburn to further make a case for being the best team in the country.
• Wake Forest prevailed over Syracuse in overtime to keep its dreams of an undefeated season alive. Kentucky also remained undefeated with a blowout win over LSU.
• Ohio State and Michigan State remained in the CFP picture in the Big Ten with painless wins over Maryland and Rutgers.

There will be plenty of twists and turns in the race to the four-team playoff, but it no longer seems like a complete lock that two SEC teams will be in the field.

It appeared as if Alabama and Georgia were each going to cruise to an undefeated showdown in the conference title game, creating a situation in which even the loser would have likely been included in the CFP.

Instead, the Crimson Tide cannot afford another loss if they hope to defend their crown.

There are also five realistic playoff contenders in the Big Ten, with Iowa leading the way, but Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State are still in the picture. The Hawkeyes are the only team among that quintet in the West Division, so they will likely await the one that emerges from the loaded East Division in a potential Top Five showdown to clinch a playoff spot.

Elsewhere, Cincinnati has a realistic chance to become the first Group of Five conference team to play its way into the CFP. It has a marquee win at Notre Dame and looked dominant in Friday's 52-3 dismantling of Temple.

While the Bearcats' resume will not feature as many quality victories as those in Power Five conferences, they will be the primary benefactor as teams from the daunting SEC and Big Ten start to hand each other multiple losses.

Perhaps none of which will be as shocking as Alabama's loss to Texas A&M.

Each of the nation's top 10 teams were victorious Saturday, but that doesn't mean the Associated Press Top 25 poll was stagnant.

Alabama and Georgia remain the nation's top two teams, with Oregon sliding up to No. 3 after Oklahoma's less-than-stellar showing against Nebraska. Penn State moved up four spots to No. 6 after an impressive win over Auburn, while Clemson slid down three spots to No. 9 despite winning this week.

Here is a look at how the entire Top 25 played out.

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Oregon
4. Oklahoma
5. Iowa
6. Penn State
7. Texas A&M
8. Cincinnati
9. Clemson
10. Ohio State
11. Florida
12. Notre Dame
13. Ole Miss
14. Iowa State
15. BYU
16. Arkansas
17. Coastal Carolina
18. Wisconsin
19. Michigan
20. Michigan State
21. North Carolina
22. Fresno State
23. Auburn
24. UCLA
25. Kansas State

Alabama escaped Gainesville with a 31-29 win over Florida that left Nick Saban knowing his team has its work cut out if the Crimson Tide want to repeat as national champions. Bryce Young continued to perform at a Heisman-level pace with 240 yards and three touchdowns through the air, but the Tide managed just 91 yards on 28 carries on the ground.

The Alabama defense also allowed Florida to rush for 245 yards and four touchdowns, with Malik Davis and Emory Jones leading the way.

"I think the offense did a great job of answering the bell in the game," Saban told reporters. "But our team needs to learn to maintain intensity throughout the game. ... We've got a lot of good players. We've just got to get them to play a little better."

Alabama led 21-3 at the end of the first quarter but was outscored 26-10 the rest of the way.

Penn State escaped a nail-biter of its own, beating Auburn 28-20 for its second win over a ranked opponent in three weeks. Sean Clifford threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns, while the Lions secondary thwarted Bo Nix through the air. Penn State even overcame a major refereeing snafu in the second quarter that led to them being forced to punt what should have been third down.

"I think we have a really good mentality on defense," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "I think our leadership is really good. I think we're a mentally tough football team. I think we're a physically tough football team."

The biggest upset of the week saw Chip Kelly's stellar start to the 2021 season come crashing down at UCLA, with the Bruins losing a 40-37 barnburner to Fresno State. Kelly's team had opened with wins over Hawai'i and LSU in the most promising start of his tenure.

UCLA dropped to No. 24 after the loss.

Virginia Tech also suffered its first defeat of the season, falling 27-21 to West Virginia. The Hokies dropped out of the Top 25. 

No. 20 Michigan State, No. 22 Fresno State and No. 25 Kansas State are the three new teams in the polling. 

Heisman Trophy contender Bryce Young and top-ranked Alabama survived a tough SEC test from Florida on Saturday to remain atop the USA Today American Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll for Week 4.

There weren't any massive upsets in Week 3 as nine of the top 10 teams in the Coaches Poll picked up victories, with the lone exception being the No. 9 Gators. So the top of the poll remained mostly steady once again in what's been a pretty chalk start to the college football season.

Here's a look at the complete Top 25 released Sunday:

1. Alabama (64 first-place votes)

2. Georgia (1)

3. Oklahoma

4. Oregon

5. Texas A&M

6. Iowa

7. Clemson

8. Penn State

9. Cincinnati

10. Notre Dame

11. Florida

12. Ohio State

13. Ole Miss

14. Iowa State

15. Wisconsin

16. BYU

17. Coastal Carolina

18. Arkansas

19. Michigan

20. North Carolina

21. Michigan State

22. Oklahoma State

23. Auburn

24. UCLA

25. Fresno State

---

Alabama looked poised for another blowout of a ranked opponent as it stormed out to a 21-3 lead after the first quarter. Florida fought back in the second half and had a chance to tie the game after a touchdown by Dameon Pierce with just over three minutes remaining, but it failed on the two-point conversation as the Crimson Tide held on for the 31-29 win.

"I think the offense did a great job of answering the bell in the game," Bama head coach Nick Saban told reporters. "But our team needs to learn to maintain intensity throughout the game. ... We've got a lot of good players. We've just got to get them to play a little better."

Young continued to impress by completing 22 of his 35 passes for 240 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for the Tide.

Alabama wasn't the only Top 10 team who faced a challenge in Week 3.

Oklahoma's high-powered offense was kept in check by Nebraska for much of the day, and the Sooners needed to come up with a defensive stop on the final drive to hold off the Cornhuskers, 23-16.

Clemson only mustered 284 total yards of offense and committed eight penalties, but the Tigers defense rose to the occasion by holding Georgia Tech to 3-of-15 on third-down conversions in a 14-8 win. Will Shipley ran in both touchdowns for Dabo Swinney's squad.

Cincinnati fell behind Indiana 14-0 and still trailed 24-23 entering the fourth quarter, but Desmond Ridder threw one touchdown to Alec Pierce and ran in another in the final period to help the Bearcats escape the upset bid, 38-24.

Meanwhile, Penn State won Week 3's other marquee matchup with three defensive stops in the fourth quarter to hold off Auburn, 28-20, in front of a raucous crowd for the Nittany Lions' annual White Out game. PSU entered the week No. 12 in the Coaches Poll, while Auburn was No. 20.

Aside from Florida, the highest-ranked team in the Coaches Poll to lose Saturday was No. 13 UCLA, which fell 40-37 to Fresno State on a touchdown pass from Jake Haener to Jalen Cropper with 14 seconds left.

Looking ahead, some of the top matchups on tap for Week 4 include Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin, Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, Iowa State vs. Baylor and Tennessee vs. Florida.