Seven AP Top 25 teams lost on the weekend, with No. 2 Ohio State's blowout loss to USC headlining a chaotic Saturday before the first College Football Playoff rankings.
USC trashed No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday, exposing an offense that looked lost and a defense that barely showed up. It is a sharp turn for the Buckeyes, who enter the new rankings well outside the top ten after the loss.
The result was part of a wider Week 9 collapse, with seven AP Top 25 teams losing across the country. Wisconsin offered the week's strangest subplot: fresh off beating USC and climbing into the AP Poll at No. 25, the Badgers were then blown out by Iowa, 30-0.
Miami remains the lone unbeaten team that looks like a genuine national championship contender, with Georgia also climbing in the new poll. Utah and UCLA are the other undefeated teams left, though they still have to prove they belong in that same conversation. Injuries and a schedule now built around just one bye week have made roster health a bigger factor than usual, and the SEC remains tightly bunched, with half the conference within a game of reaching its championship game.
The shake-up arrives just before the first College Football Playoff rankings are released Tuesday night, which should sort out how much Saturday's chaos actually matters.