2026 College Football Watch Guide – Week 9

We’ve made it to the final college football weekend with political ads. Rejoice, our long nightmare is nearly over until we get to do it all again in two years. As much as the Minnesota game sucked on its own merits, the relentless ads made every commercial break following an Iowa turnover unbearable. Six straight political ads in one commercial break? I must’ve lost count as I was busy deleting the five texts I got about a race that wasn’t even taking place in this state. Cleared the inbox out in time to see Drake Lindsey’s foot slip out of Bryce Hawthorne’s grasp and Luke Drzewiecki’s kick split the uprights.

The ads will end in time, but losing Floyd is going to hurt. Let’s look ahead to week 8 and what will hopefully be a palette cleanser for Hawkeye fans, if not for you political sickos.

Schedule graphics courtesy of Projection Sports by Tyler Markley.

View Link

The weekend kicks off with a huge game in the Big XII. #22 Arizona @ #13 Texas Tech has massive implications for the conference’s championship. The Wildcats and Red Raiders are 3rd and 4th in the Big XII, respectively. After this weekend, Tech’s toughest test will be #24 Oklahoma State, while Arizona will host #6 Utah in a couple of weeks. With the Holy War looming, either Utah or BYU will have a loss, opening the door to one of these two teams to make their move.

I’m ready to flush the Minnesota game down the drain and one of the best way to do that is a Hawkeye win in #25 Wisconsin @ Iowa. All of a sudden the Badgers look legitimate, finding themselves back in the AP top 25 for the first time since 2023. They certainly were impressive in their victory over USC last weekend, turning over the Trojans twice and holding them to 241 total yards and -17 rushing. A ranked win in Kinnick to keep the Heartland Trophy would be a great way to start Halloween. A Twix would be nice too.

Don’t look now but Florida is back in the AP top 25 after win over Texas, while Georgia used their bye week to recover from their loss to Auburn two weeks ago. #17 Florida @ #3 Georgia may be a good game, but it’s also a case study in the feedback loop of SEC teams in the rankings. It doesn’t matter that you got stomped two weeks in a row by three scores. Beat Texas by three and you’re instantly in the top 20. Lose to an unranked and okay Auburn team? You won’t even fall out of the top 5. And why is that? Meanwhile voters couldn’t wait to kick Iowa to the curb after their own unranked loss. To be fair, Iowa looked like rancid garbage but their margin of defeat was the same as Georgia’s. So expect Florida to get hammered and fall to #21.

On Monday, word came from Oregon coach Dan Lanning that quarterback Dante Moore will miss the rest of the season following his concussion on September 26. It’s another blow to a Ducks team already suffering through a disappointing season. But in #20 Northwestern @ Oregon, they’ll have an opportunity to bring some good news to the Beaver State. It’ll be tough. Wildcat quarterback Aiden Chiles has been spectacular, throwing for over 1600 yards, 12 touchdowns, and only one interception. Even so, as of Tuesday night, Oregon is favored by 3.5 according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cincinnati is the latest darling of college football after their upset over Texas Tech. They have no breathing room this week as they host one of the last unbeatens in the country. #6 Utah @ Cincinnati may also have some bearing on the Big XII championship as well, as the Utes are the conference frontrunners, but the Bearcats have an outside shot too. They have a tough road ahead; Cincinnati still has to travel to Houston and BYU before the year is out.

Clemson @ Florida State pits two has been ACC powers against each other to see who can get off the mat. Clemson fell to James Franklin’s Virginia Tech Hokies last week while the Seminoles will be trying to avoid dropping their third straight game. No, this game doesn’t have wider implications but its two programs battling to avoid obscurity, and two coaches fighting for their jobs, and that can be a recipe for excitement on its own.

Under normal circumstances, #1 Miami @ North Carolina wouldn’t get my attention, but the Hurricanes travel to hated Notre Dame next week. This could be a trap game for Miami if the Tar Heels can catch them looking ahead to next week.

#2 Ohio State @ USC is the Big Ten’s primetime showcase on NBC. The Buckeyes are coming off their bye and will be without Julian Sayin who injured his shoulder against Indiana. Ohio State is still one of the best teams in the country but losing your QB1 certainly leaves the Buckeyes’ future less certain. The Trojans, meanwhile, are coming off that shellacking in Madison. Lincoln Riley’s future in Los Angeles is looking less certain as well. An upset over Ohio State would give him more breathing room and keep USC’s playoff hopes on life support.