College Football Rankings: The Winners And Losers Of The Week 9 Polls

The best part of the college football polls every week is the discussion they bring. With that in mind, a rundown of the winners and losers from this week’s rankings.

Auburn is the big winner in the Week 9 polls, moving up to third in both major polls after a win over LSU, and making clear that they are the SEC’s leading candidate to make the BCS Championship Game. With Alabama and the SEC East champion potentially left on the schedule, it’s looking like a foregone conclusion that an undefeated Auburn would be the top-ranked team in the BCS standings.

Alabama also gets a win this week. With undefeated Missouri slotting in after the Crimson Tide despite a win over Oklahoma, it seems clear that the line of one-loss teams starts with ‘Bama, and that the defending champs will also have the opportunity to make a great run at another BCS title by winning out.

And between those two teams and the four other SEC teams in both major human polls, the conference, which is undeniably weaker than usual this season, still gets to call itself the finest conference in college football. That’s what pedigree will do, sometimes.

The biggest loser this week is Oklahoma. Falling out of the top 10 after a loss to Missouri seems a bit unfair for the Sooners, but Texas’ loss to Iowa State probably hurt voters’ perception of Oklahoma as a battle-tested team. which falls from the top five to out of the top 10 after losing at home to Texas. Oklahoma fans with dreams of a BCS Championship Game berth should now focus on the Big 12 championship that is still within the Sooners’ reach.

TCU also gets unfairly dismissed in the Week 9 polls, and it’s not their fault as usual. The Horned Frogs put together one of the more complete games by any team this season in a victory over Air Force, but Auburn beat a bigger-name opponent in a higher-profile game, and the Tigers got to play leapfrog with TCU as a result.

And of course, the coaches show up in the losers category, as ever. This week’s greatest sin is probably giving relatively untested Utah, which has no wins over currently ranked teams, the nod over Missouri, which has a win over a last week’s BCS No. 1. The Utes will have a chance to make a leap when they play TCU, but as of this moment, Missouri has a better resume.