While there were no eye-popping upsets in Week 9, we saw a pair of Indiana schools outside the top 10 make a case for their inclusion in the College Football Playoff.
Indiana remained unbeaten with a convincing win over Washington, while Notre Dame emphatically handed Navy its first loss. Elsewhere, surprising Texas A&M emerged as the last SEC team without a loss in conference play, while Penn State and Ohio State each had a bit of a scare before securing wins over Wisconsin and Nebraska to set up a Week 10 showdown between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes.
What does it all mean for the College Football Playoff and the overall bowl picture? In the new, expanded 12-team playoff, the five highest-ranked conference champions will make the field along with the next seven highest-ranked teams.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be awarded first-round byes, with the other eight teams meeting at the campus sites of the Nos.