Georgia blew out Ole Miss and is poised to return to No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll after Miami lost on the road to Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs were previously No. 1 for one week in October but then lost to Auburn. The Hurricanes have spent the past three weeks atop the poll but will fall multiple spots after losing 31-24 in South Bend.
The loss will trigger a shakeup across the entire top 10. That begins with uncertainty after Georgia, where Utah could rise to No. 2 and UCLA to No. 3 after both remained unbeaten.
There could be as many as four SEC teams in the top 10 should Tennessee get a boost from routing Kentucky. At the very least, the conference will have Georgia, Alabama and Texas in the top seven.
Here’s how the top 10 of this week’s Coaches
Poll should look:
1. Georgia (8-1)
It was 28-0 at halftime and 42-7 in the end at Ole Miss that put a damper on the home crowd. It seems like Georgia has taken to hear the lessons learned during last month’s strange loss to Auburn. The Bulldogs are a deserving No. 1, and it will be hard to knock them out of the top spot.
2. Utah (9-0)
Utah should move ahead of Indiana after winning the Holy War. The gap between the two teams in last week's coaches poll was close heading into Saturday: Indiana had 1597 total points to the Utes’ 1590. While the Hoosiers were off, the Utes were landing an impressive conference win.
3. Indiana (8-1)
Indiana took a breather on Saturday after a dramatic run of games against Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan and Minnesota. Curt Cignetti has to decide on his starting quarterback when the Hoosiers host Southern California next weekend.
4. UCLA (9-0)
The Bruins were a trendy upset pick at the hands of Minnesota but remained unbeaten thanks to a pair of 75-yard touchdown passes in the fourth quarter from quarterback Ty Dieffenbach. That will lead to a one-spot climb in the poll but should still leave them short of Indiana.
5. Notre Dame (8-1)
This was a win the Fighting Irish had to have to stay in the playoff chase. By beating Miami, Notre Dame answered questions about its strength of schedule and painted itself as a real contender in the postseason. The Irish are in with wins against Boston College, SMU and Syracuse.
6. Miami (8-1)
Miami has to drop behind Notre Dame, which isn’t going to leapfrog over the top four. This would be the floor for the Hurricanes, especially with no other one-loss Power Four teams outside of Wake Forest and Texas Tech.
7. Alabama (7-2)
Alabama might have enough credibility at this point to even climb higher than seventh, even if that would mean bypassing Power Four teams with one loss. More importantly for the Tide, the 31-13 win at LSU puts them on a collision course for at least an at-large spot in the playoff.
8. Texas (7-2)
Arch Manning had one of his best starts in a 34-20 road win against Missouri. Beyond throwing for almost 300 yards and multiple scores, he was comfortable in the pocket and showed a command of the passing game that’s been sorely lacking not just in losses to Oklahoma and Florida but in many of the Longhorns’ wins, too.
9. Texas Tech (8-1)
Texas Tech is going to find its way back into the top 10 thanks entirely to losses by Kentucky, BYU and Ohio State. In the Red Raiders’ defense, they do have ranked wins against Houston and Arizona.
10. Tennessee (7-2)
A 34-6 win against Kentucky will open some eyes. Voters will see Tennessee’s second double-digit win against a ranked SEC team, joining a 26-10 win against Alabama, and also take note of its two losses, both by a field goal, to Texas and South Carolina. The Volunteers’ résumé is good, even if not every performance is beautiful.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football rankings poll projection: Who will be No. 1 after Week 10 upsets?
