NCAA Football 2022 Week 10 results

 Several upsets and surprising results really shook up the Top 25!

Top 25 [Last week's position]

1.  OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (9-0) [1] : Their offense struggled a bit, but in a week like this, a double-digit win was good

2.  Georgia Bulldogs (9-0) [2] : Smashed the Volunteers

3.  Michigan Wolverines (9-0) [3] : Slow start, killer finish

4.  USC Trojans (8-1) [6] : Into the Top Four with a strong win

5.  TCU Horned Frogs (10-0) [8] : The only team with ten wins moves into the Top Five

6.  Oregon Ducks (9-1) [12] : Man, have they wiped away that embarrassing loss to Georgia!  Maybe they can teach the Vols something.

7.  UCLA Bruins (8-1) [11] : Conglomeration of Pac-12 in the Top Ten, but they top teams are yet to play each other

8.  Tennessee Volunteers (8-1) [4] : They were never really in the game against Georgia

9.  Penn State Nittany Lions (7-2) [13] : The Lions return to the Top Ten with an impressive win

10. Ole Miss Rebels (8-1) [10] : A bye week may have been the best thing for the Rebs

11. Utah Utes (7-2) [14] 

12. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-2) [5] : The Tide drop out of the Top Ten

13. Texas Longhorns (6-3) [18] : Another team successfully wiping away the memory of a tough loss, they send the Kansas State Wildcats packing

14.  LSU Tigers (7-2) [20] : A gutsy 2-point conversion in overtime propels them over Alabama and jumps them in the rankings

15. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-2) [9] : It looks like they suited up a high school team instead

16. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-3) [17]

17. Clemson Tigers (8-1) [7] : Owners of the biggest drop within the rankings, they were thoroughly demolished by the Irish

18. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1) [21]

19. Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2) [19]

20. Florida State Seminoles (6-3) [29]

21. Tulane Green Wave (8-1) [25]

22. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-3) [22]

23. Washington Huskies (7-2) [23]

24. UCF Golden Knights (7-2) [24]

25. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-3) [NR] : After an 0-2 start and a crushing defeat of Clemson, the Itish finally reach the Top 25 this season

On the cusp: Duke Blue Devils (6-3), Liberty Flames (8-1), NC State Wolfpack (7-2), Baylor Bears (6-3), San Jose State Spartans (6-2), Boise State Broncos (6-3), Washington State Cougars (5-4), Wisconsin Badgers (5-4)

Dropped off: Kansas State Wildcats [#15], Syracuse Orange [#16]

Upsets and Surprises

Man, we had quite a few, and most affected the Top 25.  I'll discuss one in the Big Ten in that part of the column.  The only other non-ranked upset was Georgia State's drubbing of Southern Miss.  Now let's examine some of the other upsets, and especially the implications they have:

• LSU over Alabama : That eliminated Alabama from playoff contention.  It also showed how to beat Alabama -- play full out in all four quarters.  Alabama struggled in two other games this season, but came back in fourth quarter comebacks when the opposing team slowed down.  LSU kept pounding away, and they won
• Notre Dame over Clemson:  There will not be an ACC team in the playoffs.  While North Carolina has a great record, they have not had impressive wins.  This loss will eliminate Clemson, even if they win out
• Georgia over Tennessee : Not an upset for me, as I picked Georgia, but it may leave Georgia as the only SEC team in contention for the playoffs.  Yes, Tennessee is a good team, but the last time they started off so well in the season, and got highly ranked, their first loss, which was also a bad one like this week's loss to Georgia was, threw them off, and they struggled the rest of the season.  If the Vols cannot right themselves after this game, they will fade, as they have some tough opponents left on their schedule.
• Texas over Kansas State : Also not an upset for me, but it may keep K State out of the Top 25 for the rest of the season
• Pitt over Syracuse : This is the second game where Syracuse's offense disappeared, so it looks like the Orange are fading.  I don't expect them back in the Top 25, either.

 Big Ten Report

The East division played as expected.  The West had weird results.  Iowa finally found an offense and destroyed Purdue.  That left the door open for Illinois to take a commanding lead, but they couldn't find any rhythm and let a defensively-devastated Spartan team, with mostly second-string players, push them around.  Illinois still leads the division, and a win over Purdue next week would give them tiebreaker leads over all of the other contenders, but it tightened the divisional race.  Wisconsin joined that race this week, too, as they showed up running all over the field, looking like the Badger teams of old.  There are four teams with 3-3 conference records behind the 4-2 Illini, so this race could go down to the wire.

MAC Attack

The MAC took care of their games early.  Buffalo's loss makes it a three-team tie for the division, with Ohio holding the edge.  Ball State trails the Rockets, who had a bye week, by only one game.  They still play each other, so Toledo can basically seal the division by beating the Cardinals.