College Football Rankings 2021: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 9

As if the 2021 college football season couldn’t get any wilder, Week 8 came and really shook things up, especially in the race for the playoff and New Year’s Six bowls.

The week’s craziness started early with a Wednesday night Sun Belt gem between App State and No. 14 and undefeated Coastal Carolina. Everyone expected a good game and that’s exactly what they got as the Mountaineers picked up a huge upset win over the Chanticleers and ended their undefeated season, possibly crushing their New Year’s Six hopes.

Saturday’s noon slate saw a number of top-ranked teams struggling against inferior opponents. Too much partying on Friday night? Maybe.

Michigan was only up 10-7 at halftime over Northwestern before pulling away, Oklahoma was trailing Kansas 10-0 at the half before winning, and Penn State lost in nine overtimes to Illinois. Cincinnati, too, needed all 60 minutes to avoid an upset against Navy, picking the Midshipmen off with 25 seconds left to seal it.

The 3:30 p.m. ET slate wasn’t quite as wild as the noon one but Wisconsin did pull off the “upset” of Purdue in West Lafayette. Iowa State, too, pulled off an upset, beating the No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys and you can bet we’ll probably see the Cyclones in the AP Top 25 instead of Purdue this week.

Oregon escaped an upset against UCLA, Ole Miss handled LSU, and Pitt held off Clemson to essentially end the Tigers’ ACC title hopes.

At night, Alabama had a little more trouble with Tennessee than anyone had expected and Notre Dame played tough against USC to pick up a much-needed win.

What could the Week 9 AP Top 25 look like on Sunday afternoon?