As the college football season passes the halfway point, we're beginning to see the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders.
This week, we saw several pretenders get exposed and fall from the ranks of the unbeaten, including No. 3 USC and No. 9 Florida State. The Utes were blown out at USC, while the Seminoles lost on the final play of the game to a 2-5 Georgia Tech club.
As for the contenders, we're finally starting to see No. 1 Ohio State look like the dominant team we all know they are now that J.T. Barrett is the starting QB. They blew out Rutgers to improve to 8-0 and appear on their way to another berth in the College Football Playoff.
Here is the fully-updated AP Poll heading into Week 9:
(###) Number of first place votes
| 1 |  |
Ohio State (39)
Big Ten
Record: 8-0
|
PV Rank
1Points
1,466 |
| 2 |  |
Baylor (7)
Big 12
Record: 7-0
|
2
1,417
|
| 3 |  |
Clemson (6)
ACC
Record: 7-0
|
6
1,378
|
| 4 |  |
LSU (5)
SEC
Record: 7-0
|
5
1,344
|
| 5 |  |
TCU (3)
Big 12
Record: 7-0
|
4
1,327
|
| 6 |  |
Michigan State
Big Ten
Record: 8-0
|
7
1,250
|
| 7 |  |
Alabama (1)
SEC
Record: 7-1
|
8
1,163
|
| 8 |  |
Stanford
Pac-12
Record: 6-1
|
10
1,062
|
| 9 |  |
Notre Dame
Division I FBS Independents
Record: 6-1
|
11
997
|
| 10 |  |
Iowa
Big Ten
Record: 7-0
|
12
934
|
| 11 |  |
Florida
SEC
Record: 6-1
|
13
867
|
| 12 |  |
Oklahoma State
Big 12
Record: 7-0
|
14
864
|
| 13 |  |
Utah
Pac-12
Record: 6-1
|
3
838
|
| 14 |  |
Oklahoma
Big 12
Record: 6-1
|
17
697
|
| 15 |  |
Michigan
Big Ten
Record: 5-2
|
15
666
|
| 16 |  |
Memphis
The American
Record: 7-0
|
18
660
|
| 17 |  |
Florida State
ACC
Record: 6-1
|
9
571
|
| 18 |  |
Houston
The American
Record: 7-0
|
21
411
|
| 19 |  |
Mississippi
SEC
Record: 6-2
|
24
368
|
| 20 |  |
Toledo
Mid-American
Record: 7-0
|
19
365
|
| 21 |  |
Temple
The American
Record: 7-0
|
22
307
|
| 22 |  |
Duke
ACC
Record: 6-1
|
23
274
|
| 23 |  |
Pittsburgh
ACC
Record: 6-1
|
25
161
|
| 24 |  |
UCLA
Pac-12
Record: 5-2
|
28
110
|
| 25 |  |
Mississippi State
SEC
Record: 6-2
|
26
103
|