Ohio State was the first team out in the initial College Football Playoff rankings but had ample opportunity to play its way into the bracket.
Instead, the Buckeyes played their way out — probably permanently — with the 41-28 beatdown Oregon put on them at home Saturday. The loss was so devastating that it left them with no viable path to the playoff unless they make an improbable run to the Big Ten championship game and win it.
While Oregon was moving
up in the Big Ten standings at the Horseshoe, Alabama was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, beating LSU 31-13 and clapping back at the many vocal dissenters of its No. 5 CFP ranking.
Earlier in the day, Utah and UCLA turned back challenges to stay unbeaten and Texas won its third straight game to keep its playoff hopes alive for another week.
The Week 10 main event had Miami, No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 and CFP rankings, against No. 4 Notre Dame (No. 11 CFP) on the road. Georgia, No. 2 in both rankings, visited No. 12 Mississippi (No. 10 CFP).
Ohio State and Oregon have failed to meet expectations after coming into the season ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the AP poll. Both have three losses now; the Ducks have the tiebreaker over Ohio State in the Big Ten race.
Down 14-3 early, Oregon scored 35 straight points after grabbing momentum with a fake punt that went for 30 yards.
Ohio State won five straight after its loss to Texas but dropped from No. 2 to No. 11 in the AP poll after it lost at Southern California last week. The Buckeyes opened at No. 12 in the CFP rankings Tuesday and now can expect to take big falls in both rankings.
With freshman Luke Fahey stepping in at quarterback for the injured Julian Sayin, they've lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since 2011 and consecutive games against unranked opponents for the first time since 1992.
The Big Ten would only have two teams safely in the playoff as of now: Indiana and UCLA.
Two-loss Alabama was put in prove-it mode when the CFP selection committee ranked the Crimson Tide at No. 5. Tennessee, with a win over Alabama, was ranked eight spots lower.
LSU was the final ranked opponent for Alabama, which finishes with a visit to Vanderbilt and home games against Chattanooga of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Iron Bowl against Auburn.
LSU's playoff hopes dimmed and are nearly gone. Coach Lane Kiffin's Tigers must win out and get lots of help, and even that might not be enough. They finish the regular season against Texas at home and play Tennessee and Arkansas on the road.
Utah, No. 3 in both the AP and CFP rankings, held off No. 7 BYI (No. 9 CFP) 28-20 for its second Top 25 win in three weeks. The Utes can get another next week at No. 24 Arizona.
No. 5 UCLA (No. 8 CFP) was in a tie game at Minnesota until pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 34-20 win.
No. 7 Texas (No. 10 CFP) was tied with No. 19 Missouri deep into the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 34-20 road victory.
The Utes earned their highest-ranked win since they knocked off No. 4 Southern California in the 2022 Pac-12 Conference championship game.
BYU owns a head-to-head win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame three weeks ago but is paying a heavy price for a bad loss at UCF. The Cougars have no more ranked opponents on their schedule.
UCLA improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1998 with its hard-earned win at Minnesota. Ty Dieffenbach, making his first road start in place of the injured Nico Iamaleava, threw 75-yard touchdown passes to Aidan Mizell on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.
The Bruins will have a challenging finish to the regular season against Illinois, Michigan and No. 18 Southern California.
Texas is 4-0 against ranked opponents and will play another next week at LSU. Missouri has three losses and its playoff hopes are on life support, though a road win over No. 2 Georgia and home wins over No. 8 Kentucky and Oklahoma could get the Tigers back in the mix.
Kentucky (7-1) was playing at No. 16 Tennessee (6-2). The Volunteers needed this one to burnish their CFP hopes and haven't lost to Kentucky in five meetings under Josh Heupel.
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