The 10 best college football games of Week 9: An SEC showdown for first place, surprise alerts and more

There's an exciting slate of games this weekend, including five ranked games, four of which feature double-digit spreads. (Is there any chance the favorites cover all of that or even win?) Plus a Friday night battle that could determine the Group of 5 in the College Football Playoff, as well as an undefeated team without its star quarterback and another undefeated team is an underdog against an opponent who is not on the rankings. And Coach Prime in #Big12AfterDark. A spooky time of year indeed.

Let's rank the top 10 games of Week 9, starting with honorable mentions and counting down.

Honorable Mention: Louisville at Boston College (Fr.), Nebraska at No. 4 Ohio State, Oklahoma at No. 18 Ole Miss, Tulane at North Texas, Texas Tech at TCU, Oregon State at Cal, Michigan State at Michigan, Kansas at Kansas State, No. 22 SMU at Duke.

(All point spreads come from BetMGM; Click here for live odds. Stream college football on Fubo. All kick-off times are Easter and Saturday unless otherwise stated.)

Hoosier Hysteria has taken over college football. A week after Fox's “Big Noon” treatment, ESPN's “College GameDay” heads to Bloomington. Indiana is one of the best stories of the season, but this game is the front-runner primarily because the Hoosiers are using Tayven Jackson in place of star quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who is out with a thumb injury. Rourke was spectacular — first in the FBS in QB rating, second in yards per attempt, top 15 in yards and touchdowns — although Indiana looked good enough to survive without him against Washington, which was wiped out by Iowa before leaving.

Line: Indiana -6.5

9. No. 17 Boise State (5-1) at UNLV (6-1), Fri., 10:30 p.m., Fubo, CBS Sports Network

Running back Ashton Jeanty has become a phenomenon in Boise and beyond as the Broncos look to clinch the Mountain West title and a playoff spot with those 9.9 yards per carry. But the Rebels, whose offense also puts up eye-popping numbers, have the same ambitions and are expecting a record crowd at Allegiant Stadium.

Line: Boise State -3.5

8. No. 20 Illinois (6-1) at No. 1 Oregon (7-0), 3:30 p.m., Fubo, CBS

Illinois beat three opponents that were ranked at the time the Illini played them (Kansas, Nebraska, Michigan) with a solid approach on offense and defense. The only time it failed was a 21-7 loss to Penn State, which is one of the reasons Oregon's margin is so high. Another reason is that after their big win over Ohio State, the Ducks picked up a 35-0 road win over Purdue on a short week. Oregon will try to avoid becoming the fourth team this season to fall from No. 1 in the AP Top 25.

Line: Oregon -21.5

7. Cincinnati (5-2) at Colorado (5-2), 10:15 p.m., Fubo, ESPN

This should be an entertaining quarterback duel between two unlikely Big 12 contenders. Colorado's Shedeur Sanders is a well-known star across the commercials and NFL Draft forums, and Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby is one of the more influential, under-the-radar transfers of the season. Both players rank in the top 15 in the FBS in passing yards and average more than 8 yards per pass attempt. The Bearcats have improved in coach Scott Satterfield's second season, and this is the Buffs' best success story under Deion Sanders.

Line: Colorado -6.5

6. No. 21 Missouri (6-1) and No. 15 Alabama (5-2), 3:30 p.m., Fubo, ABC

True to form for Missouri last week: quarterback Brady Cook left the game against Auburn, was taken to a nearby hospital for an MRI, then returned to the game in the second half to mount a double-digit comeback. Cook is doubtful to play on Saturday, which puts this game in the dumps a few times, but the main storylines still revolve around Alabama. After Bama's 24-17 road loss to Tennessee, Bama's second loss in three games, Finebaum's callers are circulating. The Tide have not lost three regular season games since 2010 and have not lost consecutive regular season games since 2007, Nick Saban's first year at the helm. This year's version of Alabama still has SEC and CFP hopes to play for, but another loss will change that.

Line: Alabama -16.5

5. No. 11 BYU (7-0) at UCF (3-4), 3:30 p.m., Fubo, ESPN

BYU is undefeated and on the cusp of entering the top 10 with an incredible last-second comeback against Oklahoma State. But UCF, which has lost four straight, is a slim favorite in this game. BYU actually has to travel two time zones, and the Knights apparently had Iowa State cornered last Saturday, rushing for 354 yards behind running back RJ Harvey and new starting quarterback Jacurri Brown. But UCF struggled to close out games, and BYU's defense was outstanding under head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive coordinator Jay Hill. The formula for the Cougars is to keep UCF's ground game in check – easier said than done – get a lead and force the Knights to throw the ball.

Line: UCF -2.5

4. No. 5 Texas (6-1) at No. 25 Vanderbilt (5-2), 4:15 p.m., Fubo, SEC Network

Imagine if this was a preseason ranked match. It's no longer a real game for the Longhorns, and after briefly sitting on the bench against Georgia, Quinn Ewers will be looking even more closely in his attempt to calm the quarterback controversy. Vandy has a tendency to give up yards on defense, but its plus-six turnover differential is tops in the SEC and it held Kentucky and Ball State under 15 points apiece in the last two games. In addition to the big win over Bama, Vanderbilt also led Missouri to double-OT, defeating Virginia Tech and UK. Quarterback Diego Pavia has already proven he can cause problems against more talented competition.

Line: Texas -18.5

3. No. 12 Notre Dame (6-1) vs. No. 24 Navy (6-0), Noon, Fubo, ABC

That should be closer than last year's season-opening 42-3 win against Notre Dame in Ireland. It's another duel at a neutral site, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, but it features a much-improved Navy squad. The Midshipmen rank seventh in the FBS with 7.3 yards per game and have more than one option offense under head coach Brian Newberry. Navy has never played an opponent as good as Notre Dame, but it beat a solid Memphis team and wasn't challenged by anyone else. On the other hand, that same Irish team lost to Northern Illinois, which should give the Mids a shot of confidence to pull off the upset.

Line: Notre Dame -13.5

2. No. 3 Penn State (6-0) at Wisconsin (5-2), 7:30 p.m., Fubo, NBC

All the Nittany Lions have managed to do is remain undefeated on the road with a top-15 defense, a top-10 offense, a top-25 win over Illinois and a big comeback against USC. Quarterback Drew Allar is completing more than 70 percent of his throws with more than 10 yards per attempt under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Penn State is good, maybe really good. But until proven otherwise, James Franklin's struggles in big games still hang over this program. (And unfortunately, Penn State has been making headlines for other reasons this week.) A win over Wisconsin on Saturday won't be enough to appease all the doubters, but the Badgers have quietly found a rhythm, winning three straight by a combined score of 117 won -16. None of them have faced teams of Penn State's caliber, and the Badgers were defeated at home by Alabama last month. But an improved Wisconsin is an interesting test for Penn State before visiting Ohio State next week.

Line: Penn State -6.5

1. No. 8 LSU (6-1) at No. 14 Texas A&M (6-1), 7:30 p.m., Fubo, ABC

Two teams that lost high-profile matchups in Week 1 and have steadily and quietly clawed their way back up the rankings. Texas A&M, which struggled with an injury to starting quarterback Conner Weigman early in the season, recently defeated Missouri. LSU earned a dramatic overtime win over Ole Miss a week later, and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier leads the SEC in touchdown passes with 18. Both teams have potential game-wreckers on defense in Nic Scourton for the Aggies and Whit Weeks for LSU, and the latter could end up winning the Bednarik Award.

I've seen a piece like this before@WeeksWhit 🤝 @Mathieu_Era pic.twitter.com/7CcEQrOpTm

– LSU Football (@LSUfootball) October 21, 2024

There are zero undefeated teams in the SEC, and these are the only two undefeated in conference play. The winner stands alone at the top of the league; The loser joins the legion of teams with a loss or two in tiebreaker hell.

Line: Texas A&M -1.5

(Photo of LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)