Even coming into the 2023 college football season, the Week 8 matchup between Ohio State and Penn State was circled on the calendar. The Nittany Lions came into the year with hopes from James Franklin and the entire fan base that they could spoil the OSU/Michigan party atop the Big Ten. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, found themselves in a position to keep themselves in the College Football Playoff mix once again.
On Saturday, we saw that Penn State still has a ways to go to catch up. Marvin Harrison Jr. was, once again, impossible to cover and kept the Buckeyes offense moving, even with Kyle McCord still looking imperfect. But it was Jim Knowles' Ohio State defense that stepped up even bigger, completely shutting down Drew Allar and not allowing a third-down conversion until the final minute of play.
Ohio State picked up the win and further proved themselves as a national title contender. However, another hopeful in that regard, the Oklahoma Sooners, flirted with disaster. Brent Venables' team survived at home against UCF, but only thanks to a two-point conversion stop and recovered onside kick -- though the latter was more difficult than expected.
Given that both of these games involved big-time results from Top 10 teams in the college football rankings, we have to check our projections for the next Top 25.
College football rankings: Projected Top 25 after Ohio State downs Penn State, Oklahoma struggles
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Florida State Seminoles
- Washington Huskies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Texas Longhorns
- Oregon Ducks
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Oregon State Beavers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Utah Utes
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Duke Blue Devils
- Tennessee Volunteers
- USC Trojans
- LSU Tigers
- Missouri Tigers
- Louisville Cardinals
- Air Force Falcons
- Tulane Green Wave
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- UCLA Bruins
Oklahoma might have dropped if the result of the Ohio State-Penn State game had been different after that performance, but they ultimately stay put. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes could possibly jump ahead of Michigan or Georgia given that they now have two signature wins with this one and the victory over Notre Dame, but I don't see the voters going that route.
The college football rankings could change quite a bit moving forward throughout Saturday, though. Duke-Florida State, USC-Utah, Alabama-Tennessee and much more are still on the docket and could have a notable impact on the Top 25.
