Week 9 is in the books and we’re into November with the final stretch of the regular season. This past weekend saw Miami hold on to remain undefeated ahead of their trip to South Bend, the Hoosiers simply won’t die, Ohio State looks in trouble, Florida may be put out of their misery, while SMU doesn’t travel well to upstate New York. All this and more for the new Week 10 rankings.

18 Stripes Top 20 Ranking

Dropped Out:

#17 SMU
#18 Northwestern
#19 Arizona

Will any of these teams make their way back into the top 20? Northwestern should be underdogs in their next 2 games at least. SMU has their visit to Notre Dame which will be preceded by facing Wake Forest. Arizona will have Utah coming directly off the Holy War but otherwise a friendly enough schedule where they might be back at some point.

National Stories:

#1 Florida’s Last Chance?

Florida’s rivalry game with Georgia may have been a last chance to remain in the playoff talk. However, the Gators were outplayed easily in a 27-8 loss in Atlanta. That drops UF to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the SEC. If they can win out (OU, at Kentucky, Vanderbilt, at FSU) is there any way they’re in the playoffs? They do have wins over Ole Miss and Texas…

#2 Big “L” for OSU

Lincoln Riley is feeling himself this weekend following a 30-18 win over visiting no. 2 Ohio State. We’ll note the Buckeyes did have 10 more first downs and well over 100 more yards than the Trojans but simply couldn’t find the end zone in key moments. USC is now back in the race for the Big Ten (no seriously!) while Ohio State has to feel their offense did pretty well without Julian Sayin, except you know, losing and all that. The pressure is on for the Buckeyes to win out.

#3 No. 1 Comes to Town

Miami was in a fight all night with North Carolina and came out with a 38-35 victory to remain undefeated. The Canes briefly trailed in the 3rd and 4th quarters while allowing a big day from Tar Heels quarterback Billy Edwards. Now, we’ll get GameDay on campus as the no. 1 ranked Hurricanes come to South Bend on Saturday.

#4 Begging to Lose

The tight rope act for Indiana continues as they outgain Minnesota by 204 yards and yet needed overtime to win 23-16. The Hoosiers are now specializing in these ugly type of games. The teams combined to go 5 for 28 on third down, gross.

#5 The Other Two Undefeated Teams

Both UCLA and Utah remained perfect over the weekend, keeping pace with Miami as the only power programs without a loss this season. The Bruins offense is sure to let them down eventually (only 303 yards in a 27-0 win over Nevada) but their defense is keeping them in every game. Meanwhile, Utah tore Cincinnati to pieces (49-25 win) in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicates.

#6 Tech Responds

It was a fun back and forth game between Arizona and Texas Tech this weekend with the Red Raiders pulling away late to win 34-26 in Lubbock. They will be watching this weekend’s Holy War with anxiousness. Note, Texas Tech doesn’t face either BYU or Utah during the regular season. Yay, super conferences!

#7 Oregon with the Comeback

In the mid-2nd quarter, Oregon trailed visiting Northwestern 20-6 and were having a hard time stopping the Chip Kelly offense. Yet, the Ducks finished the game on a hot streak and beat the Wildcats 34-26. Oregon has 3 losses but things could get interesting in the Big Ten if they can beat Ohio State on Saturday.

Opponent Recap:

Wisconsin (5-3): I’m not sure this can be a quality win anymore following Wisconsin’s 30-0 embarrassing loss at Iowa.

Rice (1-7): This poor team thankfully had a bye this week.

Michigan State (2-5): Also another team on a bye.

Purdue (3-5): Purdue has been spunky this year but handed Penn State their first win in the Big Ten this year. The Nittany Lions won 31-17 in Happy Valley.

North Carolina (4-4): Close but no cigar for the Heels who drop to 2-3 in the ACC following the 3-point loss to Miami.

Stanford (4-4): The game was close in the first half before Louisville’s offense exploded and beat Stanford 52-24.

BYU (7-1): Arizona State was playing with a 3rd string true freshman making his first start and took BYU to the wire. The Cougars were able to hang on 27-20 at home, though.

Navy (2-6): The Middies could end the season with some wins but they’ve lost 6 out of their last 7 games.

Miami (8-0): It’s not official yet, but Miami has pretty much punched their ticket to the ACC Championship Game.

Boston College (4-4): The Eagles scored on a blocked PAT and that was all they mustered in a 47-2 loss at Duke.

SMU (6-2): A couple of lost fumbles really put SMU in a bad spot on the road at Syracuse. They will need some help to make the ACC Championship Game.

Syracuse (4-4): A game-winning touchdown drive by Steve Angeli, you love to see it! Syracuse improves to 2-4 in the ACC.