Halloween Saturday: 21 Ranked Teams Have Fallen in Three Weeks, and Miami and Ohio State Take Road Tests

ESPN's Week 9 preview counts 21 ranked teams beaten over the last three weeks, more than half of them by unranked opponents, with a top-two team losing to an unranked team each week.

The AP poll shows it. BYU, No. 2 a week earlier, fell to No. 8 in the Oct. 25 poll, Texas Tech dropped from No. 8 to No. 13 and Ole Miss from No. 7 to No. 12. Texas jumped from No. 19 to No. 11 and Utah from No. 10 to No. 6. Miami (7-0) is No. 1 with 59 first-place votes, followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Indiana and Notre Dame.

The biggest tests

No. 1 Miami at North Carolina, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC. ESPN's preview notes that Miami has played only one opponent in the top 40 of its SP+ ratings so far.

No. 2 Ohio State at USC, 7:30 p.m., NBC. Quarterback Julian Sayin is out indefinitely with an arm injury, ESPN reports, and the Buckeyes will turn to freshman Luke Fahey or sophomore Tavien St. Clair. USC managed seven points against Wisconsin.

No. 6 Utah (7-0) at Cincinnati, 3:45 p.m., ESPN. The Bearcats beat Texas Tech a week ago and are strong at home this season, per ESPN's preview.

No. 22 Arizona at No. 13 Texas Tech, noon, ESPN. Both teams are 6-1.

No. 20 Northwestern at Oregon, 3:30 p.m., Peacock. Chip Kelly, Oregon's former head coach, now runs a Northwestern offense that ESPN's preview describes as resurgent.

Minnesota at No. 4 Indiana, 3:30 p.m., CBS. ESPN's preview says Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover is dealing with an injury to his throwing arm.

The playoff clock

The College Football Playoff committee releases its first top 25 Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 7 to 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. NCAA.com lists six rankings shows this season, with the last on Sunday, Dec. 6.

Cover photo: Florida and Ole Miss defenders meet in Gainesville on Sept. 26. Photo by Chris Spears, GatorBait Media.

Sources: ESPN (Week 9 preview, AP poll and scoreboard); NCAA.com (CFP rankings schedule).