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

The AP voters aren’t going to be too kind to Penn State this week. The last time the Nittany Lions took the field, they lost to Iowa without Sean Clifford in the second half. After a bye and with Clifford back, they were held to just 10 points in regulation and lost to one of the Big Ten’s worst teams in nine overtimes in Happy Valley. We may see Penn State drop to around No. 20.

Pitt is going to move up a decent amount, probably into the top 20, after beating Clemson on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers were favored and the Tigers were unranked, but a win over Clemson is still impressive. Kenny Pickett had another big game and has become a serious Heisman candidate and Pat Narduzzi’s squad now looks like an ACC title favorite.

Tanner Mordecai has just been unreal this season and the former Oklahoma gunslinger continued his torrid stretch on Thursday night as he led SMU past Tulane, 55-26. He passed for 427 yards and three touchdowns and the Mustangs easily improved to 7-0 and they’ll likely slide into that top-20 range when the new rankings come out on Sunday.

Dave Aranda is probably fending off some LSU rumors during his bye week but that’s OK because that means he’s been doing something right in his second year at Baylor. The Bears have been one of college football’s biggest surprises and they still have a real shot at a Big 12 title and the playoff as a top-20 team.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Auburn was going to be able to pull off a win at Arkansas last week, but Bo Nix and the Tigers continue to prove me wrong. This is a team that just continues to exceed expectations and they’ll probably move up a couple of spots despite being on a bye this week.