Tuesday, November 3rd, is Election Day and the College Football (CFB) Playoff Committee's 1st Top 25 Selection Day. Final rankings will be released on December 6th at 7 PM Eastern/ 4 PM Pacific on ESPN. The CFB Committee, unlike the College Basketball Committee, does not specifically reveal the metrics it uses in determining the Top-25. A handy tool to compare what the CFB Committee gives us versus specific metrics is ESPN's Strength of Record (SOR) rankings, updated after a given Saturday's games. In addition to SOR, this site provides current Strength of Schedule (SOS) rankings, SOS rankings for remaining games, Game Control rankings, and Average Win Percentage (AVWP): the average results for a game as predicted by ESPN's FPI compared to a game's final score. Post-Week 8, the top 12 teams in the SOR ranking: 1 Kentucky/ 2 UCLA/ 3 Miami/ 4 Ohio State/ 5 Indiana/ 6 Utah/ 7 Alabama/ 8 BYU/ 9 Ole Miss/ 10 Georgia/ 11 Wake Forest/ 12 Texas. No. 12 Texas would be knocked out of the 2026-27 12-team PO field by AP Poll No. 21 and Strength of Record No. 24, Pac-12 Boise State. The Texas Longhorns being bucked out of the PO by the G6 Broncos would make 2026 24-team PO holdout Greg Sankey and his constituents happy, right? 😁 SOR No. 1 Kentucky is off in Week 9, more time for Will Stein and his youngsters to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. On Tuesday, no matter how much candy Will and the kids score, I don't believe 7-1 Kentucky will be the CFB Committee's No. 1 ranked team. Week 9 Big Ten Games - All games on Halloween, Saturday, November 31st. All game times are Pacific. AP Poll rankings used. BTN = Big Ten Network. And if you aren't in Arizona, make sure to turn the clocks back. No. 20 Northwestern +3.5 vs. Oregon - Autzen Stadium 12:30 PM Pee, er, Peacock Oregon's opponent on Halloween is AP Poll No. 20 ranked, 6-1 Northwestern. The Wildcats are ranked 17th in SOR: SOS 53/ Remaining SOS 12/ Game Control 20/ AVWP 14. This is a darn good and AP Poll underranked football team. Oregon is ranked 31st in SOR/ SOS 18/ Remaining SOS 28/ Game Control 39/ AVWP - an abysmal 83 out of 138 FBS teams. At UCLA, Chip Kelly went 0-4 against the Ducks. Twice in 2026, Northwestern QB Aiden Chiles, who struggled at Oregon State and lost his starting job at Michigan State, has received Pro Football Focus's highest QB grade in the nation, including his Week 8 performance in the 42 to 14 win over Rutgers. For the 3rd week in a row, Northwestern gets the Peacock Trick, instead of NBC's Prime Time Treat. No. 25 5-2 Wisconsin +3.5 at No. 26 5-2 Iowa - 9 AM Fox The 36.5 Over/Under is Week 9's lowest total score. This is a playoff elimination game; the 100th meeting of the two teams, with Wisconsin barely in the lead, 49-48-2. It's a B1G weekend, so there has to be a Trophy Game. Iowa and Wisconsin play every year for the Heartland Trophy, a statue of a Bronze Bull, awarded to the team that played the game with the Biggest Bronze B ... let's leave it at the team that plays with the most brass gets to keep the Bronze. In the last four meetings, Iowa has bagged the Bull. Ole! 4-3 Illinois -2.5 at 2-5 Maryland - 9 AM FS1 Frankly, Dame Maryland, I don't give a damn about this game. 🥸 I've seen more than enough of Jabba the Hut Bielema. 4-3 Michigan -14 at 2-5 Rutgers - 9:30 AM BTN If the Wolverines can't get right in Jersey, tell Whit it's no Utes; take the motorcycle back to Salt Lake. Plus slide, Whit: Slightly better downhill skiing than in Michigan. No. 31 5-2 Minnesota +19.5 at No. 4 Indiana - 12:30 PM Fox After USC traveled to Mad City in Week 8 and ran for -14 yards (REVERSE!😁), College GameDay couldn't find the way to LA for the Halloween Buckeyes blast. After being (obscurely) insulted in Salt Lake City, the prepubescent Pat McAfee insisted on being sent back home again to Indiana. Folks at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party are dazed and confused that the game is being played indoors and Mercedes-Benz dealer Nick Saban isn't joining the arm-bending in the parking lot. Cig is so excited over Rece and friends visiting Bloomington that he cracked a grin. I think the Hoosiers are likely to score more than 13 points against the Gophers. The last time the Gophers visited the great state of Indiana, Purdue buried Minnie in a 41-13 hole. 3-4 Nevada +22.5 at 7-0 No. 7 UCLA - 1:15 PM BTN If in Reno, take the Bruins and lay the points. UCLA's strength of schedule to date is ranked 63rd, with a remaining strength of schedule ranked 56th. This is Halloween scary stuff similar to Indiana's 2024 strength of schedule when Curt Cignetti moved from James Madison to Indiana, took many of his JMU players with him, and Indiana made the 12-team playoff field. Unlike Indiana in 2024, UCLA does not play Ohio State. After the Nevada win, the Bruins' remaining games- at Minnesota, Illinois, at Michigan, and USC are all very winnable. Perhaps the JMU gone B1G boys will match up against No. 3 Ohio State or No. 4 Indiana in what is likely to be the Big Ten's last Conference Championship Game. 3-4 Purdue +7.5 at 3-4 Penn State - 1:15 PM BTN If ever a game deserved the Bird or a Blackout ... 6-1 No. 2 Ohio State -6.5 at 6-2 USC - 4:30 PM NBC With a 6-2 record and No. 32 AP Poll ranking, SC is the lowest 2-loss Power 4 football team. Lincoln Riley says he is exactly where he is supposed to be, and if he is only given a little more time, the Trojans' blood will again run Blue instead of blew lunch. I think the ink in South Central will turn red with what it will cost to send Linc missing, but like any divorce, AD Jen Cohen will feel like it's worth every penny. Speaking of missing, how good will the Buckeyes be able to compete without injured Heisman finalist QB Julian Sayin, a SoCal guy who took his talents to Columbus? Sayin's likely replacement is another SoCal guy, 3* QB true freshman Luke Fahey, straight out of Mission Viejo High School. I imagine the Buckeyes DC Matt Patricia, noted SC QB Jaden Maiava, being intercepted twice in the 1st quarter, while being battered and Badgered for four quarters in Mad City. Cry Havoc! and Unleash the Bucks! After a Week 10 nap, SC's next game is at Indiana. 😁 4-3 Washington +6.5 at 5-2 Nebraska - 5 PM BTN 5-2 Nebraska is coming off a bye week after two tough losses to No. 4 Indiana in Lincoln and on the road at Oregon. Washington is also coming off a bye week after its first Power 4 game win in Week 7 at Purdue. Like its neighbor to the south, the UW O has been missing in action. UW is not ranked, so the Cornhuskers win the game, right? If USC AD Jen Cohen sends Linc missing, does Jedd Fisch, who Cohen hired when she was the AD at UW, get an interview for the Trojans job? It wouldn't be a splash hire, but with SC's resources, Fisch would put a competitive team on the field. Forget Georgia Tech and Florida State; for Forum Friends GatOrlando and Nevada Dawg, the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is the rivalry game. No. 3 6-1 Georgia -12.5 vs. No. 17 5-2 Florida - Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, Georgia - 12:30 PM ABC The Gators are coming off a bye week after upsetting Texas in Austin in Week 7, behind the play of dual-threat backup QB Tramell Jones, Jr. The Dawgs are coming off a bye after doing everything but putting up more points in a rare home loss to old foe Auburn, in the South's oldest rivalry game. Against Auburn, the usually reliable UGA QB Gunner Stockton turned the ball over three times. Florida has been one of the SEC's 2026 yo-yo teams; terrific wins followed by puzzling upset losses. Sorry, Gat, but I like the Dawgs to win this game, return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and win its 3rd SEC title in a row in the SEC's last Conference Championship Game, before winning a game or three in the playoffs. On3's Top 10 Week 9 College Football Games - On3Top 10 games for Week 9 of the college football seasonGeorgia-Florida and Ohio State-USC highlight the top 10 games on Week 9 of the college football schedule. Forget the Gipper! Win (another) One Against the Chipper!
Or, just watch Cal.He might try and run off to Baylor if given the chance.
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