College Football Fans are going ballistic with Latest AP Poll Rankings

The latest AP top-25 rankings were released on Sunday afternoon after an eventful weekend of College football. The early slate of games were rather tame, but the night slate that ensued later in the day provided a top-notch experience for the College Football community. However, since the rankings came out, fans across the country had their complaints about which teams deserve their spot and teams who shouldn't even be in the rankings.

The early slate of games saw Notre Dame destroy a white-hot Navy team 51-14 and Ohio State narrowly having escaped an unranked Nebraska team that is clawing its way back into national relevance. However, the evening slate featured thrilling games such as SMU luckily sneaking past Duke, Texas A&M defeating LSU while having made a change at quarterback, and Texas surviving a competitive matchup against the upstart Vanderbilt Commodores on the road.

Overall, week 9 was a solid week of College Football and as the season reaches its end, positioning of teams are crucial and each AP ranking will be critiqued and analyzed under a microscope.

Yes, Missouri did get dominated by the Crimson Tide on Saturday, but the Tigers didn't have leading rusher in Nate Noel and quarterback Brady Cook came into the game less than 100% and didn't finish the game. The Tigers dropped only its second game of the season and they did defeat Vanderbilt earlier in the season, the same Commodores team that beat then-No.1 Alabama a few weeks back.

Vanderbilt on the other hand, were ranked No.25 heading into the showdown against the Longhorns, but unfortunately, it was their third loss of the season and add in the fact they lost to Georgia State earlier in the season. Either way, the Commodores and Tigers are pretty much out of the SEC and College Football Playoff race.

The Hoosiers have had a magical season thus far under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. At 8-0, this is the program's best start since 1967. Indiana defeated Washington 31-17 without starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Thus far, the Hoosiers haven't played the best competition, but they've pretty much handily beaten every team they've faced. In speaking of competition, Indiana are slated to clash with Ohio State on November 23rd. The Hoosiers now look start a season 9-0 for the first time in program history if it can defeat Michigan State on the road next weekend.

The 13th spot is still a solid placement for the Hoosiers. Cignetti and company just have to continue to keep the foot on the gas and everything will take care of itself.

The Fighting Irish indeed did defeat the Aggies at Kyle Field in each teams first game of the season back on August 31st. Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard and company defeated the Aggies 23-13 and that win looks better and better as the Aggies continue to stack wins. Yes, Notre Dame suffered perhaps the biggest upset in College Football history when they lost to Northern Illinois at home when they were ranked No.5. However, since that game, the Fighting Irish have won six consecutive games by having outscored its opponents 256-68.

The Aggies do have more impressive victories compared to the Irish with wins over LSU and Missouri, but head-to-head has to matter and Notre Dame won in that department. But rest assured, Notre Dame has no room for error the rest of the way.

It remains to be seen which quarterback Aggies head coach Mike Elko will trot out for the rest of the season after having benched Connor Weigman for backup Marcel Reed against LSU. Weigman struggled immensely against the LSU defense by having tossed for 64 yards and having completed only 33% of his passes. Reed, on the other hand, provided a much needed spark by having rushed for 3 touchdowns and 62 total yards.

All in all, the AP rankings matter to a fault, but the actual College Football Playoff rankings will start being released weekly on November 5th. For now though, fans and analysts can go back and forth about which teams deserve or doesn't deserve their placement, which is one of the many joys of College Football.