The Week 8-9 AP Poll is out. Oregon is not among the Others Receiving Votes (ORV).

Five Big Ten teams are ranked.

B1G teams among ORV: 2-loss Iowa No. 26, 2-loss Minnesota No. 31, and 2-loss USC. With a loss at No. 25 Wisconsin, the Trojans drop from 16th to 31st. Absurd!

No. 15 Iowa loses a rivalry game on the road to 2-loss Minnesota by three points and drops out of the Top 25. B1G losses count.

Six B12 teams are ranked. Texas Tech has a sorry strength-of-schedule (SOS), lost at unranked Cincinnati, and only drops to 13th.

If you want to see what a mobile, athletic QB can do, try to watch the play of No. 6 Utah QB Devon Dampier in last night's win in Salt Lake City against No. 18 Houston.

Yes, Dampier threw two picks, but he was the first B12 QB since Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl victory against No. 1 USC to pass for 150+ yards and run for 150+ yards.

In today's CFB, where better than average O-line play is sorely lacking, having a dual-threat QB helps the cause.

Nine SEC teams are ranked. 2-loss Texas and 2-loss Ole Miss are ranked in the top 12. Five 2-loss SEC teams are ranked above 1-loss Northwestern. NW's sole loss came against No. 4 Indiana by two points in Bloomington.

Texas lost a neutral-site game to unranked Oklahoma and at home to 2-loss Florida. So what?

After some scary games are played on Halloween in Week 9, the Playoff Committee's first Top-25 ranking of the 2026 season will be revealed on Tuesday, November 3rd. Will SOS matter? Will losses in the SEC count?

Make no mistake, based on its out-of-conference record, the SEC deserves polling love, but not this kind of unconditional love.

Based on this week's AP Poll, Ohio State, Indiana, and UCLA would be in the playoff field.

Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas would be in. No. 12 Ole Miss would be knocked out by G6 No. 20 Boise State; 1-loss Boise State is also ranked above 1-loss Northwestern.

Boise State's loss to Oregon is forgiven; USC's loss to Oregon is not.

SSecDD.

On3

College Football Rankings: AP Poll Top 25 after Week 8 re...

.

Love your updates JJ. Fun reading.

I'm so tired of media bias and dishonesty. It's clear very few actually watch many games.

It's also clear there is no clear definition for SOS.

None of this would matter, except you can't make the playoffs without it!

And now nothing but a Natty matters.

Oh bring back good bowl games with good matchups. Please.

If only!