College Football Week 9: Five teams on upset alert

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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These five teams are on upset alert heading into Week 9 of the college football season against pesky opponents.

It’s hard to believe we are already on the ninth edition on the weekly college football upset alert here. It seems like just yesterday the season was kicking off with a California vs. Hawaii game in Australia, but we are past the midway point of the year.

Teams are starting to either assume the positions of contender, pretender or bottom-dweller. Alabama, Michigan, Clemson and Washington have been the most consistent teams in the country up to this point. Each team reigns from a different conference and all are undefeated. Will this be the week one of them falls to an inferior opponent?

Big upsets have happened before and one, which I sadly did not predict, took place in Happy Valley Saturday night. The 4-2 Penn State Nittany Lions hosted the unbeaten Ohio State Buckeyes and, despite heading into the fourth quarter down 21-7, they came back to shock the country. The Nittany Lions’ big win vaulted them to No. 24 in the AP Poll.

That wasn’t the first time a top-five team fell victim to an upset this season as No. 3 Oklahoma opened the year with a loss to No. 15 Houston and then two weeks later the Sooners lost again to Ohio State. Florida State was ranked No. 2 at one points but Louisville blew the Seminoles’ doors off with a 63-20 win.

Upsets have been taking place this season, but now is the time when they take place at a record pace. The end of conference play is near and some underdogs are looking to ruin conference title contenders’ seasons.

Here are the five teams on upset alert in Week 9.

Oct 20, 2016; Blacksburg, VA, USA; Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Stacy Coley (3) catches a ball in the end zone but lands of bounds against Virginia Tech Hokies defensive back Chuck Clark (19) and cornerback Adonis Alexander (36) during the fourth quarter at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia Tech Hokies

5-2, at Pittsburgh

Virginia Tech has been one of the most improved teams in the ACC this season, but that doesn’t mean the Hokies aren’t immune to upsets. Back in the AP Top 25 yet again, this team needs to build some momentum by beating a tough team on the road like Pittsburgh.

The Hokies have had mixed results away from home in the ACC this season. In two games, Virginia Tech is 1-1 and has a huge 34-3 blowout of North Carolina and a 31-17 loss to Syracuse. That just doesn’t add up since those two teams are on opposite sides of the talent spectrum.

However, Virginia Tech just beat Miami by 21 points and that’s a pretty big boost just one week after losing to hapless Syracuse.

Pitt is no pushover, though. Pat Narduzzi took over the program last year and has done an excellent job building it back into one that’s relevant in the ACC. The Panthers have won three straight games after losing close road games against North Carolina and Oklahoma State.

This game is going to be much closer than people think and I’d almost be surprised if Pitt didn’t win, actually.

Oct 15, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators running back Lamical Perine (22) runs with the ball against the Missouri Tigers during the second half at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida Gators defeated the Missouri Tigers 40-14. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Florida Gators

5-1, vs. Georgia

Florida has had a strong start to the season and is looking to put its lone loss of the year, to Tennessee, behind it. The Gators will travel to Georgia this weekend for a big rivalry game against the Bulldogs.

Kirby Smart’s first season as the head coach of the Bulldogs hasn’t quite gone as planned, but you have to realize that this Georgia team was a Hail Mary away from beating the Tennessee Volunteers. If it weren’t for that Joshua Dobbs last-second toss, this team would be 5-2 and maybe even 6-1 seeing as it’d have momentum heading into the Vanderbilt game last week.

The Bulldogs might be starting a true freshman quarterback in Jacob Eason for this one, but he’s coming off the best game of his young career against the Commodores in a one-point defeat. He passed for 346 yards and a touchdown while completing 67 percent of his passes. He has the talent to get the job done against Florida.

While Georgia didn’t fare well against Vanderbilt, the Gators didn’t do much better, winning by just seven points, 13-6.

This game will likely go down to the wire as a typical SEC rivalry contest does and it will all come down to which quarterback is ready to step up and make plays. Georgia playing at home definitely gives the Bulldogs another advantage.

Oct 22, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers receiver Eli Stove (12) gets past Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back Jared Collins (29) and scores a touchdown during the first quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Auburn Tigers

5-2, vs. Georgia

Auburn has made one heck of a turnaround this season after starting the year just 1-2. When the Tigers lost the season opener to Clemson at home and then dropped another home contest to Texas A&M two weeks later, it looked like the end of the Gus Malzahn era would be coming sooner rather than later.

However, this team has made a massive improvement on both sides of the ball, not allowing more than 14 points in a game since the loss to the Aggies while winning four straight. There’s still hope for an SEC title and the Tigers might be looking ahead to a matchup with Alabama next month.

It’s possible that this team is overlooking the next four games on its schedule, starting with the 3-4 Ole Miss Rebels squad.

Ole Miss might be the best 3-4 team in the entire country, though. Heck, it would be tough to argue to the contrary. In fact, the Rebels have had a chance to beat Alabama and Florida State, but squandered big leads in the second half. The other two losses — LSU and Arkansas — were to ranked opponents as well.

Chad Kelly is the most talented quarterback the Tigers have faced since week one in Deshaun Watson, and they lost that game. He could lead the Rebels to a big upset at home.

Oct 22, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers running back Rushel Shell (7) runs the ball during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

West Virginia Mountaineers

6-0, at Oklahoma State

Who would have thought West Virginia would be one of two unbeaten teams in the Big 12 through eight weeks? Definitely not me, but the 2016 Mountaineers have proven to be one of the best teams in the nation with wins over BYU, Kansas State, Texas Tech and TCU over the past four weeks.

While they haven’t played a ranked team yet, the Mountaineers still have quality wins over those squads and it’s tough to hold a potent Texas Tech team to just 17 points — just ask Oklahoma. However, traveling to Stillwater isn’t easy as Oklahoma State is one of the most hostile environments in the Big 12.

Just one season ago, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were looking at a potential unbeaten season and eyeing a College Football Playoff berth. However, they haven’t had as much luck this year through seven weeks, posting a 5-2 record with losses to Baylor and Central Michigan.

The Cowboys have followed up their Baylor loss a month ago with three straight wins and that might just be the momentum they need to pull off a big upset like this against No. 10 West Virginia at home.

Mason Rudolph could have a big day through the air as West Virginia allows about 230 passing yards per game and the Boone Pickens Stadium crowd could work to the Cowboys’ favor.

Oct 22, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies wide receiver Dante Pettis (8) gets a hug from offensive lineman Trey Adams (72) after Pettis scored on a 41-yard touchdown catch against the Oregon State Beavers during the third quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Huskies

7-0, at (17) Utah

Washington has been one of the most impressive teams in college football this season, but even the best fall down sometimes. The Huskies have finally cracked the nation’s top four in the AP Poll after beating down Oregon State in Week 8.

The Huskies have had just one scare in conference play this season and it came at Arizona and they won in overtime, 35-28. Since then, they’ve been blowing opponents out of the water. In fact, they’ve won by 38, 49 and 24 points over the last three weeks, respectively, and two of those games were against Stanford and Oregon.

However, it will be interesting to see if Jake Browning will continue his Heisman campaign on the road against the No. 17 Utah Utes. The Utes’ only loss this year was a five-point road defeat against Cal and they have played well ever since, beating UCLA, Oregon State and Arizona.

This could be a potential Pac-12 title game preview and Utah will have the advantage of playing at home. Will the Huskies be able to overcome a hostile home crowd and take down the Utes or will Utah pull off the massive upset, shaking up the top-four for the second straight week?