Jeremiah Smith isn’t sitting at the top of the Heisman odds board anymore, folks, not after Ohio State’s loss to USC absolutely complicated the Heisman Trophy betting market. Smith, who was at +300, fell out of that top spot, and honestly, the Buckeyes are living “life after Julian Sayin” at quarterback, and it’s making everything messy.
The Committee Just Remade the Rules, And Chaos Followed
The College Football Playoff Committee did something wild this week. You don’t gotta agree with their decision to completely shake up how they rank teams, but you gotta respect it. They ditched the old “copy-and-paste” national standings vibe and actually put some deeper thought into their first draft. This whole thing is just setting the stage for the biggest Saturday of the season. Remember Oregon-Ohio State, which looked like a massive headliner? Now, that game might only matter nationally for the Buckeyes, who already took their second L last Saturday. Talk about a downgrade! That modest upset from Week 9, where Ohio State fell, triggered more moves in the betting market than the casual shrug oddsmakers gave the first CFP ranking. Wild.
Heisman Hopes Shaken and Underdogs Roaring
Beyond the Buckeyes’ Heisman headache, the entire landscape is shifting. Darian Mensah is now the guy to watch for the Heisman, but his whole resume hinges on whether he can win *this* week. And get this: Indiana, who looked sketchier than ever under Curt Cignetti, actually moved up the Big Ten odds board and snagged a surprisingly high CFP ranking. They were 20-point favorites and didn’t get knocked off by Minnesota, which was apparently enough! They’re now +130 to win the Big Ten, after starting the season way back at +300. Texas Tech just beat Arizona, hanging tight behind Utah and BYU in the Big 12 standings as we roll towards “The Holy War.”
In the Group-of-Six, Louisiana Tech is practically in the Sun Belt Championship thanks to another big mid-week money-line upset, and Georgia Southern is on track to meet them there for back-to-back matchups.
But the shakers, man, these are the ones that got everyone talking. James Madison lost again, a week after falling to App State. They were the victim of the biggest upset, with 17-point underdog Troy topping JMU in overtime. The second-biggest upset? Iowa State edged Oklahoma State in the Big 12, leaving that conference with only three legit contenders. And for the Big Ten, can you believe this sentence? “The playoff hopes for Northwestern were shattered by Oregon.” Whoa.
Week 10: Where the Real Battles Begin
Good news is, Miami and Notre Dame both dodged those upset bullets to keep the vibes high heading into Week 10. We’ve got a half-dozen games this Saturday featuring clashes between 12 of the top 18 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings! We even broke down the betting value on these matchups before the Tuesday night rankings dropped.
The season’s really starting to take shape now, even if college football always comes down to a bounce or two and replay reviews. One game we gotta watch: No. 9 BYU at No. 3 Utah. The Utes are 5.5-point favorites with an over/under of 47.5. Yeah, the location’s different from last year, but the team profiles? Not much has changed from when BYU won by three, purely because Utah coughed up two turnovers to the Cougars’ zero. Nothing guarantees that happens again, moving from Provo to Salt Lake City, but Utah QB Devon Dampier has been slightly more turnover-prone than BYU’s Bear Bachmeier. Just sayin’.
This Saturday is going to be absolutely nuts. Keep an eye on that Utah-BYU showdown, because if Dampier gets loose with the ball, BYU could totally make it interesting again. We’re about to find out who’s for real in these crazy rankings!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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