Vibes Up/Vibes Down: Week 9

We begin this week with a maroon and white team in the SEC. Both of them, in fact. 

VIBES UP

1. Texas A&M: They're officially in uncharted territory in Aggieland. A&M didn't just score its first win in Baton Rouge since 1994, they utterly humiliated LSU in the process. For the maroon-clad that made the trip to Baton Rouge, clearing out Tiger Stadium with the War Hymn was worth the price of admission, and the years of heartbreak that came before it. A&M is now above a 90 percent chance to make the Playoff, but they're going to want more. National pundits are picking the Aggies to win the national title and, as the carousel picks up, prominent voices are calling for schools with openings to get "their own Mike Elko." And best of all? You know Elko himself is not going to be moved one inch by all of A&M's success.

2. Vanderbilt: How good is Vanderbilt? A quiet day from Diego Pavia and co. is still enough to knock off a top-15 team. At 7-1 for the first time since 1941, Vanderbilt is enjoying its highest ranking (No. 9) since climbing to No. 7 in 1937, and the '37 Commodores squad is getting nervous. As the only SEC team with a winning record historically over Texas (until last year, all VU-UT games occurred prior to 1929), Clark Lea's team is planning on earning its first ever win in Austin.

3. Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech isn't just 8-0 for the first time since 1966, they're 8-0 and getting better. The Yellow Jackets ripped off 7.99 yards per play in their 41-16 demolition of Syracuse (their most against a Power 4 opponent since 2023), and Haynes King enjoyed the best passing day of his career, hitting 25-of-31 for 304 yards with three touchdowns and no picks. Now, Brent Key's team gets to face a floundering NC State squad (more on them below), and best of all for their fans, they get to do it at night. The 6:30 p.m. kick will be Georgia Tech's first night game since Week 1.

4. Cincinnati: Two years ago, Cincinnati went 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big 12. Last year, they were 5-7. Today, they're 7-1, tied for first place in the Big 12, ranked No. 17 in the AP poll, and the higher-ranked team for a College GameDay game. 

5. Navy
6. North Texas: Navy is 7-0 for the first time since 1978, while North Texas is 7-1 for the first time since '77 (which included a win via forfeit). UNT's push for GameDay did not come to fruition, but ESPN2 viewers (noon ET Saturday) will be treated to two of the best offenses in college football. Navy leads college football by a country mile in rushing at more than 318 yards per game, led by quarterback Blake Horvath, who ranks second in the country at 8.85 yards per touch. North Texas leads the nation in scoring at more than 46 points per game, and quarterback Drew Mestemaker is up to fourth in passing, fresh off an AAC-record 608 yards at Charlotte on Friday night. 

7. Iowa: One of our own predicted these Hawkeyes to make the College Football Playoff back in August, and they are still in the hunt as the calendar flips to November. The Hawkeyes are 6-2, but those losses came by five points to No. 2 Indiana and by three on the road at Iowa State. The CFP committee is likely to view those setbacks far less harshly than the AP voters, who did not rank Iowa on Saturday. The Hawkeyes have two weeks to prepare for a massive opportunity against No. 6 Oregon in Iowa City. Either USC or Nebraska are likely to be ranked when the Hawkeyes play them, too. And if all that is not enough to get Kirk Ferentz's team into the CFP, they still beat historic Big Ten rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota by a combined 78-3; its the second straight year Iowa has won the Floyd of Rosedale and the Heartland Trophy, and the fourth time since 2020. Beat Nebraska, and Iowa will retain its title as the Bully of the B1G West Block (not to be confused with the B1G West Coast). 

8. Ole Miss: The only reason Ole Miss isn't higher is due to the noise surrounding Lane Kiffin's future. The good news, though? The Ole Miss team can keep Lane tied to his desk with golden handcuffs. Thanks to that Oklahoma win, the Rebels must now avoid slipping up against South Carolina, The Citadel, Florida and Mississippi State to finish 11-1, with perhaps an SEC Championship 

9. Indiana: You know things are good when a 56-6 whipping of a Big Ten program (allegedly) barely makes a blip on the national radar. The Hoosiers had all the points they needed to win the game at the 14:03 mark of the first quarter. 

VIBES DOWN

1. Mississippi State: Mississippi State was in poor shape when Jeff Lebby took over. The 2025 Bulldogs would undoubtedly beat the 2024 Bulldogs, who would've beaten the 2023 outfit. All of that is true. None of it makes Saturday better. This team is too good to be 0-4 in SEC play, and it's not too much to ask for Bulldog Nation to wait until Lebby's 13th game (and counting) to win a SEC game. If Lebby and co. don't find a way to get their team off the mat and win Saturday at Arkansas (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network), a second straight 0-8 SEC season is a real possibility.

2. Baylor: Look up "average" in the dictionary and you'll find a photo of this Baylor team. They're fifth in the country in passing offense, but 120th in scoring defense. After a 41-20 loss at Cincinnati on Saturday, the Bears are 4-4 on the season and 35-34 under Dave Aranda. That loss also prompted Mike Craven of Dave Campbell's Texas Football to write this.

3. Kansas: Kansas entered the Sunflower Showdown against rival K-State as the favorite. They left as losers, for the 17th straight time, including all five under Lance Leipold. But KU didn't lose, they were embarrassed -- 42-17, in a stadium they're spending nearly half a billion dollars to modernize... and to eventually beat K-State in. “I’m embarrassed, right now,” Leipold said afterward. “We need to play better than that."

4. NC State: How much longer is NC State going to tolerate being average? Losing at Notre Dame is nothing to hang your head about -- although, in just your second visit to college football's holy ground, you'd love to be more competitive than 36-7 -- but the Wolfpack took last week off, and then apparently took this week off, too, losing 53-34 at Pitt. Since Sept. 11, the only game this team has won came at the expense of Campbell. They're not going to be favored to win their next two either -- home against Georgia Tech, at Miami -- which would drop the Wolfpack to 4-6. NC State could rebound and still make a bowl game, closing with Florida State at home on a Friday night and at North Carolina, but is that really the standard now? Dave Doeren has kept the Wolfpack consistently competitive, but not much more. In 13 seasons, NC State has never played for the ACC Championship and finished in the AP Top 25 three times, never higher than 20th. Avoiding valleys is good -- NC State has only missed one bowl game since 2014 -- but where are the peaks?

5. South Florida: South Florida was utterly dominant in AAC play, until they weren't. The Bulls won their first three league games by 28, 29, and 35 points, and led Memphis by 14 entering the fourth quarter. One 17-0 frame later, the Bulls will need to win at 7-0 Navy and root for Tulane to beat Memphis to avoid missing the conference title game -- and the College Football Playoff -- altogether.