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Only a few weeks ago, there was a top five matchup between Iowa and Penn State. Iowa won that game and lost their next two. Penn State has lost two games since that night in Iowa City. Both the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions have tumbled in the rankings.
Iowa fell completely out after getting dismantled by Wisconsin on Saturday, and Penn State is barely hanging on after a road loss to Ohio State.
Georgia remains No. 1 in the latest Newsweek top 20 after smashing rival Florida, 34-7. Cincinnati dropped one spot to No. 3 after struggling early against an inferior opponent for a second-straight week. The Bearcats needed a good second half to pull away from a one-win Tulane squad.
Alabama, though idle on Saturday, moved up a spot to No. 2. The Crimson Tide have the LSU Tigers coming to Tuscaloosa this week.
Michigan State beat in-state rival Michigan, 37-33, in an East Lansing thriller. The Spartans move up one spot to No. 4 and the Wolverines slip two spots to No. 8.
Oklahoma is No. 5, followed by No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Ohio State. Newsweek still remembers Oregon traveling almost all the way across the country and, without five defensive starters, beating Ohio State in Columbus.
Texas A&M stays pat at No. 9 and the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons enter the top 10 in the 10th spot.
Eight teams in last week's top 20 lost, and four of them fell out of the rankings. That means this week's top 20 has four new teams, including: Auburn, Houston, UTSA and BYU. Houston knocked off previously unbeaten SMU, Auburn won by 11 over Ole Miss and the UTSA Roadrunners stayed undefeated.
Here are the rankings for Week 10 — October 31, 2021
Rank | Team | Record | Previous | Next Game |
1 | Georgia | 8-0 | 1 | vs Missouri |
2 | Alabama | 7-1 | 3 | vs LSU |
3 | Cincinnati | 8-0 | 2 | vs Tulsa |
4 | Michigan State | 8-0 | 5 | at Purdue |
5 | Oklahoma | 9-0 | 4 | Nov. 13 at Baylor |
6 | Oregon | 7-1 | 7 | at Washington |
7 | Ohio State | 7-1 | 8 | at Nebraska |
8 | Michigan | 7-1 | 6 | vs Indiana |
9 | Texas A&M | 6-2 | 9 | vs Auburn |
10 | Wake Forest | 8-0 | 12 | at North Carolina |
11 | Oklahoma State | 7-1 | 13 | at West Virginia |
12 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | 14 | vs Navy |
13 | Auburn | 6-2 | NR | at Texas A&M |
14 | Baylor | 7-1 | 20 | at TCU |
15 | Houston | 7-1 | NR | at South Florida |
16 | UTSA | 8-0 | NR | at UTEP |
17 | Ole Miss | 6-2 | 11 | vs Liberty |
18 | Penn State | 5-3 | 15 | at Maryland |
19 | BYU | 7-2 | NR | vs Idaho State |
20 | SMU | 7-1 | 16 | at Memphis |
Dropped Out: No. 10 Iowa, No. 17 Pittsburgh, No. 18 Kentucky, No. 19 San Diego State
Here are the top games to watch this week:
(Tuesday) Eastern Michigan at Toledo
(Wednesday) Northern Illinois at Kent State
(Friday) Utah at Stanford
Saturday Games
Army at Air Force
Ohio State at Nebraska
Wake Forest at North Carolina
SMU at Memphis
Tulsa at Cincinnati
Auburn at Texas A&M
Oklahoma State at West Virginia
Michigan State at Purdue
Baylor at TCU
Navy at Notre Dame
Tennessee at Kentucky
LSU at Alabama
Indiana at Michigan
Texas at Iowa State
Oregon at Washington
Houston at South Florida
UTSA at UTEP
USC at Arizona State
The first College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed Tuesday night.
About the writer
Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories ... Read more