Weekly Analysis 2026: post week 9 superlatives

The best game: Iowa State over Oklahoma State.

The coach I wish I was: UCLA’s Bob Chesney.

The coach I wouldn’t want to be: Nebraska’s Matt Rhule.

The team that impressed: Utah.

The defensive slugfest: Washington over Nebraska.

The offensive shootout: Miami over North Carolina.

The team that disappointed: Arizona.

The Heisman favorite: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith.

The best conference: SEC.

The worst conference: Big 12.

The best team: Miami.

The underrated coach: Illinois’ Bret Bielema.

The overrated coach: Ohio State’s Ryan Day.

The underrated player: Utah quarterback Devon Dampier.

The breakout performance: Iowa quarterback Hank Brown’s 222 pass yards and two touchdowns.

The biggest upset: USC over No. 2 Ohio State.

The upset no one seen coming: Syracuse over No. 20 SMU.

The team that wants to hit the reset button: California.

The blowout everyone predicted: SMU over California.

The underrated team: Missouri.

The overrated team: Florida.

The feel-good story: Colorado’s Coach Prime earning his first Big 12 win of the season.

The horror show: Nebraska’s third-straight loss after leading in the fourth quarter.

The must-see game in week 10: Miami at Notre Dame.

The team nobody’s talking about: Wake Forest.

The team with an elite offense: Ole Miss.

The team with an elite defense: Iowa.

The team that was desperate for a win: Baylor.

The surprising blowout: South Carolina over Oklahoma.

The surprising close game: Illinois over Maryland.

The best comeback game: Washington over Nebraska.

The narrow escape: Indiana over Minnesota.

The defense that got exposed: Ohio State

The coach with the most to prove: Oklahoma’s Brent Venables.

The dangerous Group of Five team: North Dakota State

Cool in the clutch: Washington quarterback Demond Williams.

Give that coach a raise: Utah’s Morgan Scalley.

Man, they’re good: Georgia.

Wow, they’re bad: Kansas State.