The biggest story in college football this weekend was news that happened off the field, and that was Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence testing positive for COVID-19. Lawrence missed his team's home game against Boston College, and top-ranked Clemson struggled.
Boston College rolled out to an 18-point lead, only to see Clemson score 24 unanswered points for a 34-28 win. Clemson remains at the top of this week's Newsweek top 20 rankings, and they travel this week to face No. 4 Notre Dame, which remained undefeated after a road win over Georgia Tech. Clemson has already announced that Lawrence will not travel to Notre Dame, which could lead to perhaps the first major upset of the season.
Alabama stomped Mississippi State, 41-0, on Saturday to hold tight at No. 2, and Ohio State went on the road to beat Penn State and hold down the No. 3 spot.
Oklahoma State lost at home to Texas, 41-34, in overtime. The Cowboys dropped eight spots to No. 14 in this week's rankings. They now travel to face a tough Kansas State squad, which fell from the rankings after a loss at West Virginia.
Cincinnati leaped to No. 5 this week after pummeling AAC nemesis Memphis, 49-10. Wisconsin held tight at No. 6 after not playing because of a COVID cancellation. Texas A&M moved up to No. 7 after an impressive home win over Arkansas, who fell out of the rankings.
BYU, Miami and Georgia round out the Newsweek top 10. Georgia will play No.11 Florida this Saturday in Jacksonville for the game traditionally known as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party."
Another top 25 game this week will be Friday night when No. 8 BYU travels to Idaho to face the No. 13 Boise State Broncos.
Michigan fell hard from the rankings this week after a home loss to in-state foe Michigan State. Two Big Ten teams entered the rankings this week with Indiana at No. 12 and Northwestern at No. 20. Both teams are 2-0 in Big Ten play so far. Indiana will host a Michigan team looking to bounce back.
Oklahoma reentered the top 20 after smashing Texas Tech, 62-28, in Lubbock.
Newsweek Top 20
Most teams have kicked off their seasons, and the Pac-12 and MAC finally get started this week. Here are the rankings after games from the Oct. 29-31 weekend. When other leagues begin play, they will be inserted into the rankings, accordingly.
| 1 | Clemson | 7-0 | Sat. at #4 Notre Dame |
| 2 | Alabama | 6-0 | Nov. 14 at LSU |
| 3 | Ohio State | 2-0 | Sat. vs Rutgers |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 6-0 | Sat. vs #1 Clemson |
| 5 | Cincinnati | 5-0 | Sat. vs Houston |
| 6 | Wisconsin | 1-0 | Sat. vs Purdue |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | Sat. at South Carolina |
| 8 | BYU | 7-0 | Fri. at #13 Boise State |
| 9 | Miami (Fla.) | 4-1 | Fri. at N.C. State |
| 10 | Georgia | 4-1 | Sat. vs #11 Florida |
| 11 | Florida | 3-1 | Sat. vs #10 Georgia |
| 12 | Indiana | 2-0 | Sat. vs Michigan |
| 13 | Boise State | 2-0 | Fri. vs #8 BYU |
| 14 | Oklahoma State | 4-1 | Sat. at Kansas State |
| 15 | Army | 6-1 | Sat. vs Air Force |
| 16 | Iowa State | 4-2 | Sat. vs Baylor |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 4-2 | Sat. vs Kansas |
| 18 | Coastal Carolina | 6-0 | Sat. vs South Alabama |
| 19 | Marshall | 5-0 | Sat. vs UMass |
| 20 | Northwestern | 2-0 | Sat. vs Nebraska |
Dropped out: No. 12 Michigan, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 15 Kansas State, No. 16 North Carolina
Where is College GameDay this week?
ESPN's popular GameDay road show will be in South Bend, Indiana this Saturday for the game between the top-ranked Clemson Tigers and fourth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The game will kickoff Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Heisman Frontrunners
Here are the Newsweek Heisman rankings after Week 9 of the season. After the Pac-12 starts its season, their players will then be considered. Note: Lawrence still leads the pack despite not playing last week or this week because of COVID-19.
- Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
- Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
- DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
- Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
- Mac Jones, QB, Alabama
Updated College Football Playoff Prediction (Only conferences currently playing games are considered—it could adjust at a later date)
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Cincinnati
Games to Watch This Week (Times ET)
Wednesday, November 4
4 MAC games on ESPN networks and 2 more on ESPN+
Friday, November 6
7:30 p.m. Miami (Fla.) at N.C. State, ESPN
9:45 p.m. BYU at Boise State, FS1
Saturday, October 31
11:30 a.m. Air Force at Army, CBS
12:00 p.m. Michigan at Indiana, FS1
12:00 p.m. Arizona State at USC, FOX
12:00 p.m. Michigan State at Iowa, ESPN
12:00 p.m. West Virginia at Texas, ABC
3:30 p.m. Florida vs Georgia, CBS
3:30 p.m. Purdue at Wisconsin, ABC
3:30 p.m. Houstin at Cincinnati, ESPN
4:00 p.m. Oklahoma State at Kansas State, FOX
4:00 p.m. Arizona at Utah, ESPNU
7:00 p.m. Texas A&M at South Carolina, ESPN
7:30 p.m. Clemson at Notre Dame, NBC
7:30 p.m. Rutgers at Ohio State, Big Ten Network
7:30 p.m. Stanford at Oregon, ABC
10:30 p.m. Washington at California, ESPN
10:30 p.m. Washington State at Oregon State, FS1
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories ... Read more
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