Week 10 Delivers 7 Ranked Matchups as Utah Tops No. 9 BYU 28-20

Q: Can UCLA translate their historic unbeaten start and explosive offensive rallies into a guaranteed first-round playoff bye this season?

No. UCLA has put itself firmly in the playoff race, but a first-round bye is far from guaranteed. The Bruins’ 9-0 start is historic — their first since 1998 — and the Minnesota win reinforced why they are dangerous. They showed late-game explosiveness with Ty Dieffenbach hitting Aidan Mizell for two 75-yard fourth-quarter touchdowns, and their defense remains one of the country’s best in scoring defense, takeaways and turnover margin. That combination gives UCLA a credible path to the top four. The problem is where the committee already placed them. In the first CFP rankings, UCLA was only No. 8 despite being unbeaten, behind Utah and several one- and two-loss teams. That is a clear signal the committee likes the Bruins but is not yet sold on their résumé. The criticism has centered on schedule strength and a lack of multiple marquee wins, even though UCLA owns a quality road win at Oregon and just added another solid conference victory. So the route to a bye is straightforward but demanding: keep winning and likely win the Big Ten. UCLA still has Illinois, Michigan and USC left in the regular season, and those games should give it chances to improve its standing. If the Bruins finish 12-0 and then add a conference title, they would be very difficult to deny a top-four seed. If they lose once, a bye becomes much shakier. If they lose twice, it is almost certainly gone. Right now, UCLA looks like a strong playoff team. A bye remains possible, not promised.

Q: Will Arizona's last-second field goal survival against TCU be enough to propel them to a coveted Big 12 championship title?

No. Arizona’s last-second win over TCU was important, but by itself it is not enough to make the Wildcats a Big 12 title favorite. The victory clearly mattered. Arizona stayed alive in the conference race by escaping 29-28 on Michael Salgado-Medina’s 37-yard field goal after recovering an onside pooch kick. It moved the Wildcats to seven wins, extended their home winning streak, and preserved their path into the Big 12 championship conversation. But the larger conference picture is much tougher. Arizona already took a damaging loss at Texas Tech, 34-26, and also has a head-to-head defeat to BYU in its profile. In a league with no round robin, those losses are significant because the Big 12 sends the two best conference winning percentages to the title game, with complicated tiebreakers after that. Arizona is still behind stronger-positioned contenders such as Utah and Texas Tech, and BYU also remains relevant despite its setbacks. That means the Wildcats likely need more than survival against TCU. They probably need to beat top competitors still on the schedule, especially Utah, and avoid another slip while also getting help elsewhere in the standings. The searched projections underscore that point: Arizona remained only one contender in a crowded field, not a front-runner. So the TCU win kept Arizona’s championship hopes alive, but it did not propel the Wildcats into control of the race. It was a rescue, not a breakthrough.

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 7

Week 10 brought seven Top 25-vs.-Top 25 games, with No. 3 Utah beating No. 9 BYU 28-20 in one of the first marquee finals.
Texas added another ranked result, as No. 7 Texas defeated No. 18 Missouri 34-20 while No. 8 UCLA handled Minnesota 34-20.
Arizona supplied the tightest ranked finish so far, with No. 22 Arizona edging TCU 29-28.
Several headline matchups were still on the board, including No. 1 Miami vs. No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 10 Ole Miss, and No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 14 LSU.
The schedule was billed as the season's most anticipated Saturday, with ranked teams across the Top 25 in action throughout the day.