"In recent years, Week 9 of the college football season has been good at shutting down fun upstart stories -- or at least severely wounding them. Think of unranked Wisconsin pummeling No. 9 Iowa, Mississippi State upsetting No. 12 Kentucky and Michigan State upending No. 6 Michigan in 2021. Or unranked Louisville upsetting No. 10 Wake Forest in 2022. Or Oregon blowing out No. 13 Utah in 2023 and No. 20 Illinois in 2024. Or Texas finishing off last season's Diego Pavia-and-Vanderbilt episode."
"Maybe that says foreboding things this week about Texas A&M, with its highest poll ranking in 30 years, playing a desperate LSU in Baton Rouge. Or an unbeaten BYU team playing at Iowa State. But how do the college football gods properly declutter this season? Who's the upstart that falls when No. 10 Vanderbilt hosts No. 15 Missouri? How does an ACC race with five to seven contenders, none of whom were the preseason favorites, get cleaned up?"
Week 9 often halts upstart college football stories and trims chaotic seasons before November. Recent examples include unranked Wisconsin over No. 9 Iowa, Mississippi State over No. 12 Kentucky, Michigan State over No. 6 Michigan in 2021, unranked Louisville over No. 10 Wake Forest in 2022, Oregon blowouts of No. 13 Utah in 2023 and No. 20 Illinois in 2024, and Texas ending last season’s Diego Pavia–Vanderbilt episode. Key matchups in Week 9 feature No. 10 Vanderbilt vs. No. 15 Missouri, Texas A&M at LSU in Tiger Stadium, unbeaten BYU at Iowa State, and an unsettled ACC race with multiple contenders.
Read at ESPN.com
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