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College Football Rankings: Georgia, Cincinnati remain on top while Michigan State falls in RJ Young's Top 25
By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer
Editor’s note: Every Sunday morning during the college football season, RJ Young will release his updated Top 25 rankings.
While seven of the teams in the initial College Football Playoff rankings lost to unranked opponents Saturday, Purdue's victory over Michigan State was the biggest upset of them all.
Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker III did his part for the Spartans, with 23 carries for 146 rush yards and a TD. He did have an uncharacteristic fumble, though. And MSU QB Payton Thorne wasn’t bad. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 276 yards with two TDs and a pick, though there were some untimely drops.
So it wasn’t that MSU was bad as much as it was that the Boilermakers were good. They picked up 11 of 18 third downs and held the Spartans to six of 13.
Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell and wide receiver David Bell went off in the monster win in West Lafayette, Indiana . O’Connell completed 40 of 54 attempts for 536 passing yards with three TDs. Bell caught 11 of those passes for 217 yards.
This was Purdue’s second victory against a top-five opponent this season after knocking off then-No. 2 Iowa three weeks ago. It marked the first time in 61 years that the Boilermakers have beaten two AP top-five teams in the same season.
And then there’s this: The Purdue program has 17 wins all time against AP top-five opponents. That’s the most in the country. Since 1971, four unranked teams have defeated not one but two top-five teams in the same season: 1978 Missouri, 1983 Penn State, 2007 Illinois and 2021 Purdue.
The Boilermakers are outstanding at ruining your dream season.
But is 6-3 Purdue as good as 8-1 Michigan?
The College Football Playoff selection committee ranked Michigan No. 7 last Tuesday. Now that ranking looks even sillier. The Wolverines lost to Michigan State, which the CFP committee ranked No. 3. And the Spartans are no longer undefeated.
Michigan’s No. 7 ranking is an indictment of the CFP committee and what it thinks good football looks like. The committee's vision is incongruent and obtuse at best.
'We have a system that was flawed to begin with' - The 'Big Noon Kickoff' crew reacts to the first College Football Playoff rankings
Results need to matter more than my or your opinion, and that is how I create my rankings, using rationality and reason and the following criteria:
1. How many AP Top-25 teams (ranked at the time of the matchup) a team has beaten.
2. A premium is placed on being undefeated. Power 5 teams, more than likely, play tougher schedules than Group of 5 teams.
3. Being undefeated supersedes strength of schedule, with the belief that winning every game is more difficult than losing a game to a good football team.
4. Results, résumé and winning matter. When two teams have identical résumés, that's when the eye test becomes necessary.
Here are my Top 25 teams in the country for Week 10:
1. Georgia Bulldogs (9-0)
Defeated Missouri 43-6
Top-25 wins: four
2. Cincinnati Bearcats (9-0)
Defeated Tulsa 28-20
Top-25 wins: one
3. Oklahoma Sooners (9-0)
Idle
Top-25 wins: one
4. UTSA Roadrunners (9-0)
Defeated UTEP 44-23
Top-25 wins: zero
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1)
Defeated LSU 20-14
Top-25 wins: three
6. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-1)
Defeated West Virginia 24-3
Top-25 wins: three
7. Michigan State Spartans (8-1)
Lost to Purdue 40-29
Top-25 wins: two
8. Oregon Ducks (8-1)
Defeated Washington 26-16
Top-25 wins: one
9. Ohio State Buckeyes (8-1)
Defeated Nebraska 26-17
Top-25 wins: one
C.J. Stroud throws for 405 yards and two touchdowns in No. 5 Ohio State's 26-17 win over Nebraska
10. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1)
Defeated Navy 34-7
Top-25 wins: one
11. Houston Cougars (8-1)
Defeated South Florida 54-42
Top-25 wins: one
12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-1)
Lost to North Carolina 58-55
Top-25 wins: zero
13. Michigan Wolverines (8-1)
Defeated Indiana 29-7
Top-25 wins: zero
Michigan beats Indiana 29-7 behind 168 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Hassan Haskins
14. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (8-1)
Defeated Georgia Southern 28-8
Top-25 wins: zero
15. San Diego State Aztecs (8-1)
Defeated Hawaii 17-10
Top-25 wins: zero
Jack Browning runs in touchdown on fake field goal, San Diego State leads Hawaii, 14-7
16. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (8-1)
Defeated Georgia State 21-17
Top-25 wins: zero
17. Iowa Hawkeyes (7-2)
Defeated Northwestern 17-12
Top-25 wins: three
18. BYU Cougars (8-2)
Defeated Idaho State 59-14
Top-25 wins: two
19. Texas A&M Aggies (7-2)
Defeated 20-3 Auburn
Top-25 wins: two
20. Baylor Bears (7-2)
Lost to TCU 30-28
Top-25 wins: two
Chandler Morris dazzles with 531 total yards, three TDs in TCU's 30-28 win over No. 12 Baylor
21. Ole Miss Rebels (7-2)
Defeated Liberty 27-14
Top-25 wins: one
22. North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-2)
Defeated Florida State 28-14
Top-25 wins: one
23. Appalachian State Mountaineers (7-2)
Defeated Arkansas State 48-14
Top-25 wins: one
24. SMU Mustangs (7-2)
Lost to Memphis 28-25
Top-25 wins: zero
25. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3)
Defeated Maryland 31-14
Top-25 wins: two
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The No. 1 Ranked Show with RJ Young." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young, and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube. He is not on a StepMill.
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