NCAA College Football Power Rankings - 2024 Week 9

Mike's NCAA college football power rankings for the top 25 NCAA college football teams before Week 9 of the 2024 season. Which teams are the best contenders for the expanded playoff?

No. 1 goes down again. Another top-10 team is pushed to the limit at home. Another causes goalposts to find a watery grave for the second time in three years. It's just another weekend of college football!

These rankings will vary from the AP ones because I don't go off speculation. I go by what happened on the field only. They will stabilize as the season goes on, but the AP doesn't value the wins that BYU and Iowa State have as much as I do.

The rankings are starting to stabilize some. The SEC is hard to rank because of everyone beating up on each other. The Big Ten (18)? It is just watching this week.

(25) Duke (6-1) (NR)

Last week: W 23-16 vs. Florida State

I don't know what beating Northwestern, North Carolina, and Florida State is worth this year, but it looks cool.

(24) Army (7-0) (NR)

Last week: W 45-28 vs. East Carolina

Bryson Daily runs with all the grace of an armored tank. Oh ... he can throw, too.

Bryson Daily is the REAL deal. Should be in Heisman race. Period. pic.twitter.com/zMz1WO63OA

— College Football Alerts  (@CFBAlerts_) October 20, 2024

(23) Navy (6-0) ⇑2

Last week: W 51-17 vs. Charlotte

The win over Memphis could loom large for the Middies if they run the table. The Army-Navy game will likely be a tilt between undefeated teams.

(22) Washington State (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 42-10 vs. Hawaii

The Cougars needed this to feel good about their offense again after struggling against Fresno.

(21) Missouri (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 21-17 vs. Auburn

If Brady Cook doesn't return to the game in the third quarter, Missouri totally would have lost this game. Not a good look, Mizzou. Even a terrible Oklahoma offense beat Auburn on the road.

No more Brady Cook slander allowed from anyone again. We now lived through what it looks like without him.

What a legendary performance for one of the toughest dudes to ever wear that uniform. pic.twitter.com/GKRPA1L7F2

— Kris (@mizkris18) October 19, 2024

(20) Illinois (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 21-7 vs. Michigan

Beating Michigan doesn't mean what it used to. Sorry, Illinois. You caught the Wolverines after everyone else had already beaten them senseless. It's not your fault. I still recognize the historical significance of this for your program.

Illinois’s win breaks a 6-game losing streak to Michigan!

The Fighting Illini’s last win over the Wolverines came back on October 31, 2009 - Halloween! Like today, that game was also in Champaign, Illinois. #Illini pic.twitter.com/ElvAptUVwX

— StatsBrad (@StatsBrad) October 19, 2024

(19) Boise State (5-1) ⇓4

Last week: Bye

It's a bad time for a bye when your team doesn't have a big-time win to keep it afloat.

(18) SMU (6-1) ⇓1

Last week: W 40-10 at Stanford

If a herd of Mustangs tramples a Tree in a forest, does anyone notice? Hey, the AP didn't either...

(17) Pittsburgh (6-0) ⇓7

Last week: Bye

The signature wins are nonexistent now and other teams are playing stronger schedules. Another bye didn't help matters, either.

(16) Notre Dame (6-1) ⇔

Last week: W 31-13 at Georgia Tech

The NIU loss takes away almost all of the goodwill gained by beating the Aggies in College Station.

(15) Indiana (7-0) ⇑3

Last week: W 56-7 vs. Nebraska

Make no mistake about it. This is a solid Nebraska team (and defense) that the Hoosiers just embarrassed. This Indiana team is built differently.

(14) LSU (6-1) ⇑5

Last week: W 34-10 at Arkansas

Throttling the Hogs in Fayetteville in a rivalry game is making a statement ... especially when you consider that Tennessee lost in this stadium less than a month ago. Caden Durham is LSU's missing link.

#LSU RB Caden Durham remains the only player in the FBS this year w/ an 80-yard rush (86 vs. South Alabama) and a 70-yard reception (71 vs. South Alabama). Durham leads @LSUfootball and ranks No. 5 in the SEC in yards per carry w/ 6.16 (for RBs with at least 50 carries).

— Michael Bonnette (@LSUBonnette) October 22, 2024

(13) Kansas State (6-1) ⇑1

Last week: W 45-18 at West Virginia

Sure, the Mountaineers are down, but it's still not easy to waltz into Morgantown at night and treat them like a punching bag.

(12) Alabama (5-2) ⇓3

Last week: L 17-24 at (13) Tennessee

If it weren't for the state of Tennessee, the Tide would be ranked at the top. The win over Georgia is the only reason they are this high. I wonder if Tennessee schools are going to start hiding goalposts when Bama comes to town...

(11) Clemson (6-1) ⇑1

Last week: W 48-31 vs. Virginia

The Wahoos needed 21 points in the fourth quarter after Clemson called off the dogs to make it somewhat respectable. Clemson's only loss being to Georgia will carry it through a cupcake ACC schedule that doesn't include Miami or Notre Dame.

(10) Texas A&M (6-1) ⇑1

Last week: W 34-24 at Mississippi State

Yes, the Bulldogs are 1-6, but they're going to snipe somebody with Michael Van Buren Jr. at quarterback. This is not the same team that got mauled by Toledo (and Florida, for that matter). I still view this as a solid win for the Aggies. If you've watched Van Buren, you know what I'm talking about.

(9) Ohio State (5-1) ⇓3

Last week: Bye

The Buckeyes need a signature win and Nebraska won't be it, either.

(8) Tennessee (6-1) ⇑5

Last week: W 24-17 vs. (9) Alabama

That was a hard-fought win for the Vols after they were shut out in another half. The Tennessee offense is still trying to figure out how to score against better defenses. Dylan Sampson running at them and wearing them down is solid.

I do NOT care about fans storming the field or tearing down the goalposts!!!

We lost against bama for almost 2 decades. Enjoy it fans. Do whatever the hell you want

— Tennessee Jed (@BrewerVol) October 20, 2024

As far as the fans taking the goalposts down, what's so wrong with it? Yes, it's not as big as the 2022 win, but Alabama had been smoking cigars for 20 years at the beginning of the century. Tennessee earned it. If the Vols fans do it again in 2026, however...

(7) Iowa State (6-0) ⇓3

Last week: W 38-35 vs. Central Florida

UCF is mired in one of its worst seasons since pre-Scott Frost and the Cyclones let RJ Harvey run for nearly two Benjamins on them. The Cyclones were lucky to win this. The offense looked solid as usual, but Iowa State's defense should have dominated this offensive line.

Jacurri Brown made a huge difference. He was far more dynamic than K.J. Jefferson and the Cyclones weren't prepared for him. That opened up everything for Harvey and he was more than good enough to take it.

Still, a win is a win. We may very well look back on this in a month and realize that UCF became much better with the quarterback switch and go a little easier on the Cyclones. I'm not going to do it yet. We aren't there.

(6) Miami (FL) (7-0) ⇑2

Last week: W 52-45 at Louisville

The Virginia Tech and Cal wins look better. Winning in Louisville isn't that easy. I still don't know what to make of Miami, but it has proven that it can win close games. That counts for something.

(5) Penn State (6-0) ⇔

Last week: Bye

The Illinois win looks better. The USC win looks worse, especially considering the way Penn State struggled. Penn State may very well be construction paper whereas Michigan is tissue paper ... but paper tigers nonetheless.

(4) Texas (6-1) ⇓3

Last week: L 15-30 vs. (7) Georgia

You expected Texas to sink lower, huh? Why? Ohio State has beaten no one. Iowa State struggling with an average UCF team at home hurt its stock. Wins over Michigan and Oklahoma aren't as good as many thought they would be, but one was a true road game and the other is on a neutral field.

Other teams will start passing Texas as soon as (and if) they get those quality wins. For now, they just aren't there. It was clear who the best team on the field was on Saturday. Texas has some work to do.

(3) Georgia (6-1) ⇑4

Last week: W 30-15 at (1) Texas

Texas-Georgia first half analysis: pic.twitter.com/ocjANDEo9f

— Justin Wells (@justinwells2424) October 20, 2024

Georgia went into Austin and Texas didn't give it anything. The Bulldogs took it. What a defensive game from Georgia. It single-handedly tanked the draft stock of Quinn Ewers. When Arch Manning was going to come in for the storybook comeback and take the job, it proceeded to beat the hell out of him, too.

This is what everyone expected to see against Alabama. Michigan is looking like the paper tiger the minority (including yours truly) thought it would be. That was the signature win for Texas. Now what? Is Alabama better than Texas? Is Vanderbilt better than both?

I think the biggest takeaway here is that Georgia potentially has the best team in the country because that defense is nasty. Does it always play up to its potential? No. It's a team full of guys barely old enough to drink. What we saw from Georgia in a very hostile environment was a championship-caliber team.

I also want to say how gracious most Texas fans were in this loss. Would they be so gracious without an expanded playoff? We'll never know. What I've seen from most Texas people is that they got beat. They realize where they need to get better, and it's a good lesson. I'm not always that gracious when Oklahoma gets smoked. Props to most of the Texas fans.

Matthew McConaughey releases statement criticizing Texas fans for throwing trash vs. Georgia:

"Let's get real about the bottle bombing the field glitch we had. Not cool. Bogey move. Yeah, that call was BS, but we're better than that." https://t.co/w9qfjSDhki pic.twitter.com/goNunlHTL4

— On3 (@On3sports) October 21, 2024

(2) BYU (6-0) ⇑1

Last week: W 38-35 vs. Oklahoma State

The Pokes are a different team with Garret Rangel running the show, but getting pushed by the Cowboys at home isn't a good look. However, smashing Kansas State and beating SMU in Dallas are wins that keep looking better and better.

(1) Oregon (7-0) ⇑1

Last week: W 35-0 at Purdue

The Ohio State win is the best among undefeated teams. The Boise State win is more of a boon than we thought it was going to be.

Others Receiving Votes

• Syracuse
• Liberty
• Wisconsin
• Vanderbilt
• Colorado
• Mississippi

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