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College Football Rankings 2023: Projected AP Top 25 for Week 9

By Connor Muldowney

Oct 21, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Kayden McDonald (56) celebrates during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 20-12.
Oct 21, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Kayden McDonald (56) celebrates during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won 20-12. /
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Mississippi Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins (4) celebrates his touchdown run as Auburn Tigers take on Mississippi Rebels at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.
Mississippi Rebels running back Quinshon Judkins (4) celebrates his touchdown run as Auburn Tigers take on Mississippi Rebels at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. /

Hosting a really bad Virginia team in Week 8, North Carolina was expecting to remain unbeaten and move on to the final half of the season with a ton of confidence, but Mack Brown’s team couldn’t hold on. This was a really bad loss and we’ll see the Tar Heels drop a considerable amount.

People love to hate on Notre Dame for its two losses this season but neither was a “bad” loss and the Irish have made up for them with wins at Duke and by four touchdowns against USC. That’s why this team is still ranked in the top 15 as a legit dark horse playoff threat. They had a bye this week, though.

Penn State suffered its first loss of the season and will drop out of the top 10 in Week 9. The Nittany Lions couldn’t get anything going offensively until it was too late and they’ll need to get back to the drawing board after losing 20-12 at Ohio State. They held their own defensively, for the most part, but that offense was bad.

Ole Miss is going to approach the top 10 this week after going on the road and beating a .500 Auburn team that has been better than its record has shown. The Rebels made a statement with this win and it was good to see Quinshon Judkins getting back on track.

Jonathan Smith has done a fantastic job with this Oregon State program. He has returned to his alma mater to turn things around completely. The Beavers have one of the most consistent offenses in the country and I could legitimately see this team running the table. They’ll have a tough test next week, traveling to Tucson to face an improved Arizona team.

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