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College Football Rankings Week 9: Michigan, Clemson Rise; Ohio State, Houston Fall After Upsets

By Joseph Karbousky
Published on: 06:59 PST, Oct 23, 2016

The new NCAA College football rankings for Week 9 have been released, and we are beginning to see a shift in the rankings after a few key teams were upset. First and foremost, the No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes had a monumental collapse in the fourth quarter vs. unranked Penn State as the Nittany Lions rallied to a 24-21 win.

In what is definitely the biggest victory of the post-Joe Paterno era, Penn State outscored Ohio State 17-0 in the final period to complete the improbable comeback.

The crowd in Happy Valley was electric all night, but in the fourth quarter, it was shades of the days when Penn State ruled college football. Thunderous roars from the sellout crowd of ”We Are! Penn State!” went on for minutes, and most likely carried well into the morning hours following Saturday night’s big win.

Penn State coach James Franklin knows that this type of win can turn a season around.

”Obviously these types of wins are important,” coach James Franklin said. ”To be honest with you, I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture right now, I just want to soak this all in. I just want to enjoy tonight.’‘

As for Ohio State, now they will have to most likely run the table and hope for teams ahead of them to falter. Saturday’s loss at Penn State makes the Michigan game all that more important for the Buckeyes, who are now the No. 6 team in the land. The win for Penn State was their first against Ohio State since 2011 and their first victory over a ranked team under coach Franklin. The last time PSU defeated a No. 1 ranked squad was back in 1990 when they defeated Notre Dame.

Another team that tasted the bitter pill of defeat was the Houston Cougars.

Houston had visions of a National Championship officially wiped away Saturday as they were upset in an ugly way 38-16 by SMU. The Cougars have now lost two of their last three games after starting the season 5-0. The last time Southern Methodist defeated a team ranked 11th or higher was back in 1982. This loss may even take Houston out of the running for a New Year’s Day Bowl game, which is very disappointing for a team that started the season with a win against No. 3 ranked Oklahoma.

Now on to Michigan.

The Wolverines are the new No. 2 team in the country following their thrashing of Illinois 41-8 in the Big House Saturday afternoon. Jim Harbaugh said his goal was to make Michigan football relevant once again, but, not many folks thought he would do so in such a quick period of time!

The Wolverines who remained unbeaten (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) were leading 31-0 at the half and 34-0 heading into the fourth quarter. Starting quarterback Wilton Speight quietly had a nice afternoon, completing 16 of 23 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns before giving away the reigns in the fourth quarter to backup quarterback John O’Korn.

Coach Harbaugh was impressed with Speight’s play.

”(He) May have had one of his best games,” Harbaugh said. ”It was windy out there. It was tough to throw.”

Whew, what a crazy week it was! The best thing for NCAA football fans is that things are only going to get more interesting from here.

So to recap, Houston, Arkansas, and Ole Miss are out of the Top 25, while West Virginia cracks the Top 10. Colorado and Virginia Tech have cracked the Top 25 for the first time this season. The new Top 10 looks this way:

  1. Alabama
  2. Michigan
  3. Clemson
  4. Washington
  5. Louisville
  6. Ohio State
  7. Nebraska
  8. Baylor
  9. Texas A&M
  10. West Virginia

You can see the entire new NCAA College football rankings for Week 9 by clicking here.

[Featured Image by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images]

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