College Football Coaches Poll 2021: Top 25 Rankings for Week 10

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The Top Five in last week’s coaches poll escaped the weekend unscathed.

As for the rest of the Top 25, well, not so much.

Georgia remains the class of college football after a blowout win over Florida and is followed by Cincinnati, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Here is how the remainder of the Top 25 played out.

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan State
7. Oregon
8. Notre Dame
9. Wake Forest
10. Michigan
11. Oklahoma State
12. Texas A&M
13. Baylor
14. Auburn
15. Ole Miss
16. Iowa
17. Kentucky
18. UTSA
19. Houston
20. BYU
21. Coastal Carolina
22. NC State
23. Penn State
24. SMU
25. Pitt

Michigan State firmly established itself as a playoff contender with a 37-33 comeback win over rival Michigan. The Spartans trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before scoring 23 of the game’s final 26 points. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 197 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winning score with 5:08 remaining.

Walker has rushed for 1,194 yards and 14 touchdowns this season to put himself firmly in the Heisman race. 

“I don’t believe in self-imposed limitations,” Michigan State coach Mel Tucker told reporters. “I’ve said this before publicly, our goal is to win every game on our schedule. Whether it’s home or away or regardless of who it is, that’s our goal. Whether we can do that or not, only time will tell. What does success look like? I’ve been asked several times, success is us reaching our full potential as a football team.

“And so we have not hit our ceiling yet, we still have room for improvement and we have a tough schedule ahead.”

The Nov. 20 matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State is looking increasingly like a game that will determine the Big Ten’s CFP chances. The Buckeyes moved to 7-1 with a 33-24 win over Penn State on Saturday, while Iowa’s outside chance of making a run ended with a 27-7 loss to Wisconsin.

Potential SEC dark horses Ole Miss and Kentucky also saw their chances of making the CFP go down in upset losses. Ole Miss dropped a 31-20 trip to Auburn, while Kentucky lost by two touchdowns in Mississippi State.

Another Group of Five spoiler also went down, with SMU losing a 44-37 thriller to Houston. San Diego State saw its hopes of an undefeated season dashed with a 30-20 home loss to Fresno State.