Coaches Poll Top 25: Ohio State tumbles in Week 10 college football rankings after loss to USC

Week 9 didn’t bring many surprises, but the drama was no less exciting, and for the fourth week in a row we saw another top-two team fall.

Ohio State’s 30-18 loss to unranked USC was the biggest upset of the week and, unsurprisingly, the Buckeyes fell in the coaches’ poll on Sunday. The two-loss Buckeyes, who are still not out of the College Football Playoff race, fell eight spots from No. 2 to No. 10 in the latest poll. While everyone is focused on Ohio State’s offense with backup quarterback Luke Fahey, the real story is that the defense is giving up so many points.

USC moved up eight spots to 17th and boosted its playoff hopes.

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Miami remained at the top of the poll after its 38-35 victory at North Carolina, its first road victory as a No. 1 team since 2002. A monster showdown at No. 6 Notre Dame awaits the Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Georgia dominated Florida in Atlanta and moved from third to second place in the coaches’ poll after its 27-8 victory. The Gators were eliminated from the poll after placing 20th.

The most dramatic ending of the week didn’t change the poll. Minnesota and Indiana traded 60-yard field goals near the end of regulation – the first time in FBS history that two 60-yard field goals were converted – and the Hoosiers won in overtime, with backup quarterback Grant Wilson throwing a 25-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Becker. The Hoosiers’ offense struggled for most of October, averaging just 17.8 points over the last four games, but the wins continued (sans the loss to Ohio State), and they moved up one spot to No. 3 in the poll this week.

Indiana gets an open date before hosting Lincoln Riley’s USC in a game that could very well determine who advances to the CFP.

A week after falling nine spots, Texas Tech moved up one spot to 13th with a 34-26 home win over Arizona.

Elsewhere, the ACC took a big hit as SMU likely fell out of playoff contention, dropping from No. 16 to No. 24 this week following its loss at Syracuse.

New Mexico appeared in the poll, moving up four spots from the “other people receiving votes” category to debut at No. 25.

Coaches Survey

Others receive votes: South Carolina 91; Florida 81; UTSA76; Duke 76; Virginia Tech 53; Oregon 41; Minnesota 10; Oklahoma State 9; Freedom 6; North Texas 4; Wisconsin 3; Memphis 2; North Dakota State 1; Nebraska 1; Cincinnati1;