ESPN shakes up SP+ Top 25 Power Rankings after Week 10 college football slate

ESPN shook up its Top 25 SP+ power rankings following the Week 10 college football slate of games. Safe to say, there was a lot of movement based on the results we got over the weekend! In case you need a reminder, here is how ESPN’s SP+ works: “What is SP+? In a single sentence, it’s a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency that I originally created at Football Outsiders in 2008. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking, so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling — no good predictive system does.” $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage So without further ado, let’s dive into ESPN’s latest SP+ rankings, courtesy of Bill Connelly, following Week 10 of the season. We’ll start at No. 25 and work our way up the list. 25. Houston (7-2) – 14.1 (+1)24. Nebraska (5-4) – 14.4 (-6)23. New Mexico (8-1) – 14.4 (+9)22. Liberty (8-1) – 15.0 (+6)21. Arizona (7-2) – 15.420. Oklahoma State (6-3) – 15.5 (+7)19. USC (7-2) – 15.8 (+1)18. SMU (7-2) – 15.8 (+7)17. BYU (7-2) – 16.2 (-3)16. Iowa (7-2) – 16.4 (+3)15. Oregon (6-3) – 16.9 (-3)14. Louisville (6-3) – 17.7 (+8)13. Texas Tech (8-1) – 18.1 (-3)12. Wake Forest (8-1) – 20.0 (+4)11. UCLA (9-0) – 20.2 (+4) 10. Tennessee (7-2) – 20.5 (+1) The Vols moved up a spot in the ESPN SP+ rankings, putting them in the top 10. They are fresh off a win over Kentucky, 34-6, and are now 7-2 on the season, thinking about the College Football Playoff. Tennessee still has to play Texas A&M, LSU and Vanderbilt to conclude the season. Based on what they’ve done already, despite the lack of a great QB, they have been very impressive. 9. Utah (9-0) – 21.5 Utah earned one of the biggest, if not the biggest, win of the weekend when they defeated rival BYU at home. They stayed right at No. 9 in the ESPN SP+ rankings but have quite the resume with three games left. Still undefeated, the Utes are in a great position when it comes to the Big 12 Championship and the College Football Playoff. They have Arizona, TCU and West Virginia left on the schedule this month. 8. Alabama (7-2) – 22.7 Alabama stood pat in the ESPN SP+ rankings but are coming off their biggest win of the year, a 31-13 triumph over LSU on the road. Kalen DeBoer’s crew is poised to return to the College Football Playoff at this point, particularly with the remaining schedule and likely SEC title game appearance, a rematch vs. Georgia. Alabama has to play Vanderbilt, Chattanooga and Auburn the rest of the way. They are favored in all three matchups and a 10-2 looks very likely for the Crimson Tide by season’s end. 7. LSU (6-3) – 22.9 (-3) Despite losing to Alabama head to head, the ESPN SP+ metrics and rankings have the Tigers ahead of them this week. Still, they moved down three spots to the No. 7 ranking with three games remaining. Going into November, there was a lot of speculation that LSU could afford a third loss and make the CFP with their schedule. Maybe they still can with Texas, Tennessee and Arkansas remaining this month. 6. Texas (7-2) – 23.5 (+1) Speaking of Texas, the Longhorns moved up one spot in the ESPN SP+ rankings after their win over Missouri. Arch Manning played really well and if this is the Texas team we get the rest of the way, they are more than capable of making a run in the College Football Playoff. Texas has LSU this weekend before taking on Arkansas and Texas A&M to end the season. They should have a clear path to the playoff, but have to be careful about stubbing their toe. 5. Indiana (8-1) – 23.5 (+1) Indiana moved up the ESPN SP+ rankings even in a bye week, based on the other chaos too of course. While their passing game is way down compared to last year, this team is still nearly unbeatable with their defense and elite coaching. The game against USC will tell a lot this weekend as the Hoosiers will then finish with Washington and Purdue. But they’re in line for the Big Ten Championship and a third straight College Football Playoff appearance. 4. Ohio State (6-3) – 24.0 (-2) Even with a third loss that moved them down two spots, Ohio State is still within the top four of the ESPN SP+ rankings. Despite all that, they’ll need to win out and need a few teams within the Big Ten to make the conference title game. At this point, that’s the only way for the Buckeyes to make the College Football Playoff, presumably without QB Julian Sayin due to injury. It’s been a tough year in Columbus, but it’s not officially over yet. 3. Miami (8-1) – 24.0 (+2) Miami actually moved up two spots after losing to Notre Dame. But they’re still not ahead of the Irish in the ESPN SP+ rankings. The Hurricanes’ late rally fell short and they did it all without Malachi Toney. The question is, can they keep it up as they try to keep pace at the top of the CFP rankings, win the ACC and compete for a national title? The schedule says they can, but doing it without Toney at a high level will be a challenge. 2. Notre Dame (8-1) – 24.4 (+1) Speaking of Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish earned their biggest win over the season, edging Miami in the end, 31-24. They have a clear path to the College Football Playoff at this point and are up to No. 2 in the ESPN SP+ rankings with three games to play. It’s unclear if they’ll challenge Georgia for that No. 1 spot, but Notre Dame has to breathe a big sigh of relief beating Miami. If they keep it up, they could try and make an argument for a first round bye. 1. Georgia (8-1) – 31.3 Georgia blasted Ole Miss over the weekend and stayed at No. 1 in the ESPN SP+ rankings. At this point, it’s easy to pick the Bulldogs as the No. 1 team in the country, regardless of poll. As it stands, Kirby Smart and crew are the frontrunner to win the College Football Playoff. However, the remainder of their schedule is no cakewalk. They have Missouri, South Carolina and rival Georgia Tech.