Ohio State didn’t take the field last week, but the Buckeyes still came out ahead in the playoff picture. A few results around the country made life easier for them, especially with USC looking flat in a loss at Wisconsin and Oregon taking another hit, this time at Illinois. Then came another big blow for the Ducks: Dan Lanning announced Dante Moore would be out for the season.
That matters because a couple of Ohio State’s toughest remaining games just got less daunting. The Buckeyes still have to handle business Saturday night in Los Angeles, but the ripple effects from Week 9 stretch well beyond their own schedule. Several games this week could reshape the College Football Playoff race, and a few of them carry real elimination stakes.
One of the most direct ones comes in Lubbock, where (22) Arizona meets (13) Texas Tech. This feels like a straight-up knockout fight in the Big 12.
With the way the top of that league is stacked, a two-loss conference team is probably not getting to Arlington, let alone into the CFP, unless it gets there by way of the championship game. Arizona and Texas Tech each have one conference loss, but a defeat here would be far more damaging for the Red Raiders.
Arizona still has Utah ahead, so the Wildcats might have a little more room to breathe. Texas Tech probably doesn’t.
The Big Ten has its own elimination game in (25) Wisconsin vs Iowa. Wisconsin is ranked again for the first time since week 2 of the 2023 season, while Iowa has slipped out of the rankings after starting the year there. Both teams are carrying two losses, and a third would wipe out their playoff hopes.
Then there’s the SEC’s biggest crossover-stage collision: (17) Florida vs (3) Georgia. For the first time, the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is being played indoors, another reminder of how much college football keeps changing.
The usual setting in Jacksonville is tied up in a massive renovation, and the new stadium there won’t be ready until the start of the 2028 season. Coaches have long complained that moving the game off campus takes away a major recruiting advantage, and this would’ve been a perfect moment to see it on campus.
Instead, the rivalry lands in Atlanta this year and Tampa next year.
The playoff stakes in that one shifted fast. Georgia looked as if it had nearly wrapped up a spot after winning in Tuscaloosa, but the Bulldogs followed that up with a shocking home loss to Auburn.
Before that, Georgia could have probably survived losses to Florida and Ole Miss. Now, it seems like they can afford only one of those.
Florida is in a much tighter spot: those blowout losses to Missouri and South Carolina leave the Gators needing to run the table.
A bit later, Minnesota visits (4) Indiana in a game that suddenly has real national texture after the Golden Gophers beat Iowa on a walk-off to claim Floyd of Rosedale. That win earned Minnesota enough respect for College GameDay to head to Bloomington, and if the Gophers pull the upset on the road, they can at least enter the playoff conversation. Their record still includes two ugly losses, but they also own that Iowa win, and after this trip they still have three ranked teams left in November.
Indiana, meanwhile, can’t really afford another stumble. A second loss could end its title defense.
The Hoosiers do have the talent to finish 11-1 and reach the CFP, but the offense has been hard to trust over the last three weeks. They also have just one win over a ranked opponent, and there are no ranked teams left on the schedule.
In Evanston, (20) Northwestern faces Oregon in a game that could tell us a lot about both teams. The Wildcats are off to their best start since 2020, and that’s real progress, but they still haven’t beaten much.
Their best win may be against a Penn State team that is below .500. The next month will tell the story: at Oregon, Iowa, at Ohio State, at Minnesota.
If Northwestern somehow comes through that stretch 3-1, it will host Illinois with a shot at the playoff.
Oregon, though, is now in a tougher place than it was a week ago. The Ducks still have the talent that made them a preseason title pick, but the season has gone off track.
Even with three losses, there was a path if they won out and got Dante Moore back. With Moore officially done for the season, that path is gone, and more losses feel likely.
The Big 12 also has another pressure point when (6) Utah travels to Cincinnati. Last week’s upset of Texas Tech threw the race into chaos, and now the Bearcats get a shot at the league’s last unbeaten.
After BYU and Texas Tech both lost, the conference is clearly hoping Utah keeps things under control here. The Big 12 wants multiple teams in the playoff for the first time, and it can’t afford many more surprises.
Cincinnati, though, could blow the whole thing up again. The Bearcats may not care about the league’s larger goal, because if they finish 10-2, their résumé would be strong enough to spark a real playoff discussion. That would mean wins over Texas Tech, Utah, Houston, and BYU - a run nobody would have seen coming.
And then there’s Ohio State’s own trip west to face (2) USC. This is where the Buckeyes’ season effectively restarts. Julian Sayin is no longer available after what appears to be a season-ending injury at Indiana, and after the bye week Ohio State heads to Los Angeles to meet USC for the first time as conference foes.
The Buckeyes still have a demanding schedule in front of them, and the playoff committee has made it clear before that it notices what a team looks like with a backup quarterback. Ohio State has to stay sharp against a USC team that should be fighting for its playoff life.
If the Trojans win out, they’re still in. If they lose here, their season could veer sharply off course.
Late Saturday night, Texas State visits (20) Boise State in a game that won’t draw much of a national audience because it kicks at 10 p.m. EST, but it carries plenty of weight in Boise. A Broncos win keeps them on pace for the playoff, and even with the loss at Oregon looking worse by the week, an 11-1 Boise State team that wins the PAC-12 in its first year as a member still looks like a playoff team.
Texas State has its own stake in it, though. The Bobcats have just one conference loss, and if they can win on the blue field, they can scramble the league race and create a new debate over who deserves that automatic playoff spot reserved for a non-power conference team.
In Other News...
Ohio State Could Revisit A Familiar Ole Miss Transfer Path
The transfer pipeline from Oxford to Columbus has already worked once for Ohio State, and it could be a path worth watching again if Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy decides his future is elsewhere. Quinshon Judkins made the jump from Ole Miss to Ohio State in 2023 and quickly became part of the Buckeyes productive backfield rotation, giving the program a clear example of how a proven SEC runner can fit into its system.
Lacys shoulder injury has only added more uncertainty around his next move, with speculation swirling about whether he could eventually enter the transfer portal or even look toward the NFL Draft. For Ohio State, the interest is obvious if he becomes available, but for now it remains just that, a possibility rather than a pursuit, with the Buckeyes and everyone else waiting to see how his situation unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Got A New Warning About USC Trip
USCs offense hit an unusual wall against Wisconsin, and that should at least sharpen Ohio States attention ahead of its trip west. In a loss that doubled as the lowest-scoring outing of the Lincoln Riley era, the Trojans were held to seven points and 241 total yards, with Wisconsin making a clear point of attacking the run game first and then getting after quarterback Jayden Maiava.
For Ohio State, the lesson is less about copying Wisconsin and more about seeing a workable blueprint. USC still has the pieces to stress a defense in a hurry, but when the running game gets bogged down and Maiava feels pressure, the whole operation can stall. That gives the Buckeyes a useful warning before they walk into the matchup, because stopping the early rhythm may matter just as much as dealing with the explosive plays everyone expects. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Heads To USC With Two Defensive Questions Lingering
Ohio States trip to USC is arriving with a familiar kind of October tension: a big road test, a short turnaround and a growing injury list after the Buckeyes win over Indiana. The latest concern on offense is Julian Sayin, whose injury appears likely to end his season, but the defensive side is carrying its own uncertainty as Ryan Day tries to sort out who will be available in Los Angeles.
Jay Timmons and Kenyatta Jackson are the names that now hang over the matchup, with Day offering only an update that leaves their status up in the air. For a Buckeyes team that is still trying to keep its focus on the next opponent, the timing matters because USC is the kind of game where every available body on defense matters, and Ohio State may not know its full plan until later in the week. [Read more 🡒]