Week Nine College Football Winners and Losers

            With the first official playoff rankings of the season slated for release on Tuesday, many fans are speculating on who is in and who isn't. While the answer will be obvious to some, there are some fans who are uncertain about their team's standing after their performance this week. Who had a good week?

Winner: Penn State's Second Half: Riding high off of their big upset over the Buckeyes, what better way for the Nittany Lions than to score 45 points in the second half? Tied at the half at 21 all, Penn State pulled away from lowly Purdue thanks to Saquon Barkley's 207 yards and two touchdowns. The Nittany Lions's 62 points are the most scored by an opponent in Ross-Ade Stadium (constructed in 1924).
Winner: Washington: One of the biggest criticisms about the Huskies's playoff resume is that is consists mostly of cupcake teams. Well, Washington got a big win and on the road against a good team, no less. Thanks to Dante Pettis's 58-yard punt return for a touchdown with 3:25 left, the Huskies edged the Utah Utes 31-24 and beefened up that resume. To make matters better, both Baylor and West Virginia lost.
Winner: Auburn: All of the sudden, Auburn is coming in hot. The #15 Tigers are now 6-2 and have won five straight after scoring 13 fourth-quarter points to beat Ole Miss 40-29 in spite of Chad Kelly's 465 passing yards. Kamryn Pettway ran the ball 30 times for 236 yards and a touchdown. Could Auburn knock Alabama out of the unbeaten ranks?
Loser: Bubble Teams: #5 Louisville needed 18 points to come back and win against a mediocre Virginia team. #6 Ohio State's young offense looked flat against Northwestern. #7 Nebraska lost a close game to Wisconsin. The Big 12 was the Big 12. This week only solidified the cases for the current playoff four going down the stretch.
Loser: Big 12's Playoff Chances: R.I.P. to the Big 12's playoff hopes. Their chances of possibly landing a playoff spot ended up in smoke this week when both Baylor and West Virginia went down. The Mountaineers got their asses kicked in Stillwater 37-20 while the Bears lost a nailbiter in Austin 35-34.
Loser: Florida State: With nothing to really play for besides a chance for a bowl game and to possibly play playoff spoiler, A week after Penn State upset #2 Ohio State on ABC's Saturday Night Football, Florida State had a reeling #3 Clemson team on the ropes. They failed to answer with their final drive that included a costly offensive holding penalty as they lost to the Tigers 37-34. Deondre Francois being sacked on the final two plays doesn't help matters, either.

Other Winners: Wyoming, Sam Darnold and the USC Trojans, Donnel Pumphrey, Oklahoma
Other Losers: Navy, NC State, Even More Playoff Shake-Ups, Tennessee

My Playoff Four:

1. Alabama
2. Michigan 
3. Clemson
4. Washington