NCAA Football 2019 Week 9 results

This week saw plenty of upsets!  Oklahoma fell from the ranks of the unbeaten, one of three Top 25 teams to fall to unranked teams.  Oklahoma had enough strong victories on their resume to maintain position; the other two fell from the ranks.

This week I begin my tracking of teams competing for their conference and division titles.  We have some interesting races, and some which are nearly set already.  All will be revealed later in the column.

The Top 25 has an interesting feel this week, as different windows of five positions show different conference dominance.  The top five positions are covered by Big Ten and SEC, the next five by the Big XII and Pac-12, the Big Ten again for 11-15, then non-Power Five teams for the next ten positions.

Top 25 [Last week's position]
1.  Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0) [1]
2.  Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) [2]
3.  Penn State Nittany Lions (8-0) [3]
4.  LSU Tigers (8-0) [4]
5.  Clemson Tigers (8-0) [5]
6.  Oklahoma Sooners (7-1) [6]
7.  Oregon Ducks (7-1) [9]
8.  Utah Utes (7-1) [13]
9.  Baylor Bears (7-0) [10]
10. Georgia Bulldogs (6-1) [11]
11. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2) [7]
12. Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-0) [15]
13. Michigan Wolverines (6-2) [18]
14. SMU Mustangs (8-0) [14]
15. Auburn Tigers (6-2) [12]
16. Iowa Hawkeyes (6-2) [16]
17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2) [8]
18. UCF Golden Knights (6-2) [23]
19. Appalachian State Mountaineers (7-0) [25]
20. Florida Gators (7-1) [20]
21. UAB Blazers (6-1) [21]
22. Washington Huskies (5-3) [22]
23. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (7-1) [NR]
24. Navy Midshipmen (6-1) [24]
25. Boise State Broncos (6-1) [26]

Dropped off: Missouri Tigers [#17], Texas Longhorns [#19]

On the Edge: Memphis Tigers (7-1), San Diego State Aztecs (7-1), Wyoming Cowboys (6-2), Cincinnati Bearcats (6-1), Air Force Falcons (6-2), USC Trojans (5-3), Iowa State Cyclones (5-3), Kansas State Wildcats (5-3)

Big Ten Report
There were some surprises.  Ohio State, Illinois, and Minnesota both dominated far more than I expected.  Michigan's dominance was an upset.  Penn State's dominance over Michigan State wasn't too surprising.  Iowa and Rutgers performed as expected, while Indiana got past an ever-more-struggling Nebraska squad.

Upset Watch
Holy cow, where there plenty!  We were almost treated to one on Thurs, but SMU held off a Houston surge to prevail.  But early games on Saturday set the tone.  Miami beat Pittsburgh in a defensive battle, and then Kansas State lit up the scoreboard and blasted past a Sooners team that made way too many mistakes.  The Big XII wasn't done producing upsets, as TCU then defeated Texas and Oklahoma State tripped up Iowa State.  That evening, Kansas scored their second upset of the season in toppling Texas Tech.

The ACC had another upset in their arsenal, as Louisville capped the afternoon with an upset over division-leading Virginia.  The SEC came along in the evening, as Tennessee toppled previous upset-meister South Carolina and Kentucky trounced Missouri.  UCLA and Colorado State capped off the night by beating Arizona State and Fresno State, respectively.

Title Races
American Athletic East:  Cincy leads with an unbeaten conference record.  UCF trails by a game, but Cincy holds the tiebreaker, having already beaten them.  Temple and South Florida each have two conference losses, and they are yet to face Cincy.  If Cincy beats both of them, the title is theirs.
American Athletic West:  Unbeaten SMU leads, yet they still need to face the three teams behind them.  Memphis and Navy could pose some problems; Tulane not so much.  Still, a loss to either Memphis or Navy puts that team in the driver's seat, as each has only one conference loss and would hold the tiebreaker over SMU.

ACC Atlantic:  Unbeaten Clemson rules, but Wake Forest is only a game behind.  Clemson has only two conference games remaining, against NC State and those Demon Deacons.  Both games are "must wins" for the Tigers.  For Wake, the only tough opponent (other than Clemson) would be Duke, who they could face again in the ACC Championship if the Demon Deacons beat Clemson.
ACC Coastal: Okay, this one is just a mess, with Virginia's loss and North Carolina's win.  Let's look at this one again next week, as everybody is still eligible for this one.

Big XII: Oklahoma's loss puts Baylor in the driver's seat, sitting on top as the only unbeaten team.  Baylor's remaining schedule is tough, though, facing TCU, Texas, and Oklahoma before finishing against Kansas, who has notched two upsets themselves. Oklahoma doesn't exactly have it easy, as they must play TCU, Baylor, and Iowa State.  That means any of those, including Kansas State, could still swoop in and capture the title.

Big Ten East:  It looks like the Ohio State - Penn State game will decide this title.  Penn State has already beaten Michigan, so they already have a tiebreaker edge.  For Michigan to win, they must win out while hoping Maryland beats Ohio State and both Ohio State and Minnesota beat Penn State.  Michigan's chances are extremely slim.
Big Ten West:  With a two-game lead over both Wisconsin and Iowa, this title is Minnesota's to lose.  Unfortunately the Gophers have their toughest games ahead of them, facing both of those teams as well as Penn State. Minnesota must beat the winner of next week's Wisconsin-Iowa battle to lock down the title.

Conference USA East:  This one is pretty wide open, with three teams on top and Middle Tennessee lurching just below. 
Conference USA West:  Louisiana Tech leads the division.  They still face Marshall and UAB, but beating the Blazers is the big goal (Marshall is in the East division).  That win would basically lock it in for the Bulldogs.

MAC East:  Also a wide open division, with four teams having a serious chance.  Let's see how this one plays out next week.
MAC West: Leader Ball State already beat Toledo. If they beat both Western Michigan and Central Michigan, they clinch. Western has a good shot, as they already beat Central.  If the Broncos beat Ball State, they have the inside shot for the title.

Mountain West Mountain:  Division-leading Boise State already beat Air Force and they host Wyoming, who have a poor road record.  The Broncos travel to Utah State, though, who could win the division by beating Boise State and winning out, which would involve a victory over Wyoming.  If Wyoming beats both Boise State and Utah State the Cowboys have a good shot.
Mountain West West:  San Diego State has to travel to Hawaii.  That is really the only threat to them capturing the division.

Pac-12 North:  If Oregon wins one more game, their only threat is Oregon State.
Pac-12 South:  USC holds the tiebreaker over Utah, but the Utes have the better schedule remaining.  The Utes could win out, which would force USC to do the same.

SEC East:  The upcoming Florida-Georgia game could decide this division.  If Florida wins, they certainly have the easier schedule remaining, as Georgia has two other tough SEC opponents (Auburn and Missouri) after that.
SEC West:  Alabama and LSU play this week.  Even if the Tigers lose, they have the better schedule, but that would mean that Alabama would have to lose twice, which isn't likely.  Truly, it appears that this week's game could decide this division.

Sun Belt East:  Appalachian State still has to play all three of the teams behind them in the rankings, but the Mountaineers look tough enough to take those games.  In fact, beating Georgia Southern and Georgia State would mean a win over Troy at the end of the season wouldn't even be necessary.
Sun Belt West:  Louisiana already beat Arkansas State, so their only real competition is UL Monroe.  They play the Indians during the final week, and that game might decide the division.