Week 9 of the season turned supremely entertaining and saw some conference leaders and College Football Playoff hopefuls pick up big victories.
Indiana, Georgia Tech, BYU and Texas Tech all won by double digits. BYU fell behind early to Iowa State but outscored the Cyclones 24-3 in the second half.
Saturday’s drama came from the SEC’s title contenders.
Ole Miss got its first win on the road against a ranked opponent in the Lane Kiffin era by beating Oklahoma 34-26. Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels built a 12-point lead over the Sooners at halftime only to see OU score 16 points in the third quarter to pull ahead. But Ole Miss’ defense locked in and shut out OU in the fourth quarter.
After a loss to Georgia last week, the Rebels needed to a win to stay in the race for the SEC title. The league has five teams with one or fewer conference losses.
Texas A&M, the SEC’s lone undefeated team, added another line to its impressive CFP credentials. Down 18-15 at halftime, A&M scored 35 points in the second half to rout LSU.
Here are our experts’ top 12 College Football Playoff picks:
Andrea Adelson: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia Tech 8. Miami 9. Oregon 10. BYU 11. Texas Tech 12. Navy
Kyle Bonagura: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Oregon 6. Georgia 7. Ole Miss 8. Georgia Tech 9. Miami 10. BYU 11. Texas Tech 12. South Florida
Bill Connelly: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Texas A&M 4. Georgia Tech 5. Alabama 6. Georgia 7. BYU 8. Oregon 9. Miami 10. Ole Miss 11. Texas Tech 12. Navy
David Hale: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia Tech 8. BYU 9. Miami 10. Vanderbilt 11. Oregon 12. Tulane
Eli Lederman: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia Tech 6. Georgia 7. Ole Miss 8. Oregon 9. Miami 10. BYU 11. Vanderbilt 12. Navy
Max Olson: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Oregon 7. Miami 8. Georgia Tech 9. BYU 10. Ole Miss 11. Texas Tech 12. Tulane
Adam Rittenberg: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Georgia Tech 7. Ole Miss 8. Miami 9. BYU 10. Oregon 11. Notre Dame 12. Tulane
Mark Schlabach: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia Tech 8. Miami 9. Oregon 10. BYU 11. Vanderbilt 12. Navy
Jake Trotter: 1. Ohio State 2. Indiana 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia Tech 8. Miami 9. Vanderbilt 10. BYU 11. Oregon 12. Memphis
Paolo Uggetti: 1. Indiana 2. Ohio State 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Oregon 6. Georgia Tech 7. Georgia 8. Ole Miss 9. Miami 10. BYU 11. Vanderbilt 12. Navy
Dave Wilson: 1. Indiana 2. Ole Miss 3. Texas A&M 4. Alabama 5. Georgia 6. Ole Miss 7. Georgia Tech 8. Miami 9. BYU 10. Oregon 11. Texas Tech 12. Navy
