With 15 seconds to play in South Bend, it looked certain that Notre Dame would move into the Top 5 and Ohio State would slip in the college football rankings.
Then on third-and-19, Kyle McCord found Emeka Egbuka for a 21-yard gain to put the Buckeyes at the one yard line and Chip Trayanum punched in the winning touchdown with one second to go.
Ohio State emerged with an unlikely 17-14 victory and more than enough right to jump back over USC and into the Top 5 themselves.
After the events of the evening window, the Top 25 is sure to experience some shuffling.
College football rankings: Projected Top 25 after Ohio State stuns Notre Dame at the death, LSU survives Arkansas
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Florida State Seminoles
- Texas Longhorns
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Washington Huskies
- Oregon Ducks
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Utah Utes
- LSU Tigers
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Washington State Cougars
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Duke Blue Devils
- Miami Hurricanes
- Oregon State Beavers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Florida Gators
- Missouri Tigers
- Fresno State Bulldogs
- Kansas State Wildcats
The evening window was full of ranked matchups. Penn State toppled Iowa to drop the Hawkeyes out of our projected rankings. Meanwhile, LSU survived Arkansas with a late kick to avoid a tumble of their own.
The Nittany Lions could certainly rise if USC finds itself in trouble with ASU in a late night matchup.
The day started with Florida State getting a win over Clemson in South Carolina, boosting them over Texas and back into the No. 3 spot.
Oregon made a devastating statement against Colorado, so the Buffaloes fall back to earth and out of the Top 25.
Alabama outpaced Ole Miss in a ranked matchup. Utah and UCLA played an even more defensive struggle in Pac-12 play with the Utes winning 14-7 without Cam Rising still.
Elsewhere in the Top 25, Michigan took care of business against Rutgers, Oklahoma toughed out a win over Cincinnati, Duke rolled through UConn, Miami blasted Temple and Tennessee trounced UTSA.
Florida had more on their hands than expected against Charlotte but got out with a relatively comfortable 22-7 win.