| Rank | Team | Comments | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Alabama | Coming off a bye week, Alabama is ready to host the game of the century against the Tigers of LSU. | 1 |
| 2 |  | LSU | Like Alabama, LSU also had a week off leading into their huge contest with SEC and BCS title implications. | 2 |
| 3 |  | Oklahoma State | OSU beat Baylor in a one-way shootout last week and will move up the rankings if they can knock off Kansas State. | 3 |
| 4 |  | Stanford | It took triple overtime, but Stanford beat USC. Their last true road game of the season is up next in Corvallis. | 5 |
| 5 |  | Boise State | Boise State got a little rest before a relatively tough stretch that begins with a trip to UNLV before hosting TCU. | 4 |
| 6 |  | Oregon | The Oregon defense has not been that great and they will be tested this week when they travel to Washington. | 7 |
| 7 |  | Oklahoma | Oklahoma got their revenge against an outmatched Kansas State squad. Now TAMU is looking for its own revenge. | 8 |
| 8 |  | Arkansas | Vanderbilt gave Arkansas all they could handle and the Razorbacks better be ready for South Carolina. | 10 |
| 9 |  | Nebraska | Nebraska's defense finally looked good against Michigan State and they will be tested against Northwestern too. | 12 |
| 10 |  | Clemson | Clemson may have lost to Georgia Tech, but they are still in line to win the ACC Atlantic Division. | 6 |
| 11 |  | South Carolina | South Carolina needs to prove they belong in the second tier of the SEC and they can with a win at Arkansas. | 13 |
| 12 |  | Michigan | The Wolverines are right back in the Big Ten Leaders Division race with the MSU loss. A big game at Iowa is next. | 17 |
| 13 |  | Penn State | It was not pretty, again, but Penn State won game #409 for Joe Paterno. PSU gets a week off before the stretch. | 18 |
| 14 |  | Kansas State | Kansas State could not compete with Oklahoma and now they have to travel to Stillwater. | 14 |
| 15 |  | Houston | Case Keenum threw for nine touchdowns last week and six the week before that. Watch out UAB. | 20 |
| 16 |  | Michigan State | MSU's tough October ended on a sour note against Nebraska, but they should get back on track with Minnesota. | 9 |
| 17 |  | Arizona State | ASU is looking for good to win the Pac-12 South Division, but UCLA will look to make things interesting. | 21 |
| 18 |  | Wisconsin | Wisconsin lost another heartbreaker, this time at Ohio State. The Badgers get to go home and beat up on Purdue. | 11 |
| 19 |  | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech got the job done, but it was an ugly win against Duke. The Hokies get a week off to pull together. | 16 |
| 20 |  | Auburn | Auburn has been rather inconsistent this season, but they can beat anybody on any given day…or lose to anybody. | NR |
| 21 |  | West Virginia | West Virginia had to come from behind to behind to beat Rutgers and Louisville is a hot team right now. | 19 |
| 22 |  | Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech looked bad for a couple weeks, but then knocked off Clemson. If they are for real, GT could beat VT. | NR |
| 23 |  | Texas | Texas blanked Kansas last week and now will go against a Texas Tech offense that struggled against Iowa State. | 23 |
| 24 |  | Georgia | Georgia takes a game off against SEC foes to play a non-conference game against New Mexico State on Saturday. | 24 |
| 25 |  | Washington | Washington snuck past Arizona thanks to Chris Polk. If they want to be a contender, they will have to beat Oregon. | 25 |
Week 9 Football Top 25
Sat, 10/29/2011
