Scott Hamilton is the sports columnist for the Post and Courier. Previous stops include SportsBusiness Journal, Golfweek and the Winston-Salem Journal. No, he doesn't ice skate and he's never eaten a s'more. But he once sat next to a rabbit on a train.
Post and Courier sports columnist Scott Hamilton is one of 65 voters in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll. Here's how his ballot shook out after Week 9:
Halloween Edition
Thriller: Alabama avoided slipping from the No. 4 spot by doing what it needed to do in order to escape South Carolina with a 29-22 win. The Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0 SEC) have won seven straight since that weird season-opening loss at Florida State, including a string of four ranked opponents leading up to its matchup with the Gamecocks.
A loss would've resulted in Alabama falling probably around 15 spots in these rankings; instead it maintains some prime real estate heading into an open week. The Crimson Tide return to action on Nov. 8 against LSU.
Bump in the night: The very top of these rankings remained the same, though there was some movement throughout.
Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) looked good, though not great in its 21-7 win at Wisconsin (2-6, 0-5 Big Ten). That was enough to create some space for Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) and Ole Miss (7-1, 4-1 SEC) to leapfrog the Ducks to occupy Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.
Hair-raising: Virginia needed what it had to do to escape hapless North Carolina 17-16 in overtime. It was the second straight game during which the Cavaliers (7-0, 4-0 ACC) were double-digit favorites only to barely win. But a win is a win, so Virginia remained 16th.
Speaking of wins, the Tar Heels (2-5, 0-3 ACC) have yet to get a Power Four victory under Bill Belichick. UNC is 0-5 in such games.
Fangs: Indiana didn't play around with UCLA. The Hoosiers (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) jumped out to a 35-3 first-half lead en route to a 56-6 win.
It was another example of Indiana doing what it tends to do under coach Curt Cignetti -- beating the brains out of teams its expected to dominate. According to ESPN Bet, the Hoosiers were favored by 27.5 points against the Bruins (3-5, 3-2 Big Ten).
Brewing: In case nobody has noticed, Cincinnati (7-1, 5-0 Big 12) has reeled off seven straight wins since starting 2025 with a loss to Nebraska. The Bearcats remain tied with BYU for the Big 12 lead by beating Baylor (4-4, 2-3 Big 12) 41-20.
The Cougars (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) were tied with Iowa State (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) before pulling away for a comfortable 41-27 win. It was a good day for BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier. In addition to having one of the best names in college football, the freshman passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 49 yards and another score.
Walking dead: Texas is lingering around these rankings despite appearing not to have a pulse at times.
In what has been an up-and-down season, the Longhorns actually moved up from 19th to 17th by beating a pesky Mississippi State (4-4, 0-4 SEC) team 45-38 in overtime. Texas (6-2, 3-1 SEC) trailed by 17 points entering the fourth quarter before rallying.
Longhorns' quarterback Arch Manning was 29-of-46 passing for 346 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Some of the bloom came off that rose, however, when Manning left the game following the first play in overtime after taking a shot to his head. There was no update to his status after the game.
The Invisible Man: Georgia Tech (8-0, 5-0 ACC) quarterback Haynes King was 13th in Heisman Trophy odds entering Week 9. The bookmakers might now want to reconsider things.
The senior was 25-of-31 passing for 304 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 91 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries during the Yellow Jackets' 41-16 win over Syracuse.
Ghastly: It was a rough day for LSU's Garrett Nussmeier during the Tigers' 49-25 loss to Texas A&M. The senior quarterback was 22-for-35 passing for 168 yards, one touchdown and an anemic 54.0 quarterback rating. To compound matters, he was also sacked seven times by the Aggies (8-0, 5-0 SEC). It was LSU's (5-3, 2-3 SEC) third loss in its last four games.
Ghosts: Four teams -- South Florida, Arizona State, Illinois and LSU -- each lost and are no longer in these rankings.
Witchcraft: The SEC continues to have the most teams in these rankings, though dropping from 10 to nine with LSU falling out. The Big Ten and Big 12 each have five, followed by four from the ACC. Memphis of the American Conference is the lone Group of Six team.
Notre Dame (5-2) had the week off and, as usual, remains the only independent.
Hamilton's rankings (last week):
1. Ohio State (1)
2. Indiana (2)
3. Texas A&M (3)
4. Alabama (4)
5. Georgia (6)
6. Ole Miss (7)
7. Oregon (5)
8. Vanderbilt (8)
9. Georgia Tech (9)
10. Miami (10)
11. BYU (13)
12. Notre Dame (11)
13. Tennessee (15)
14. Texas Tech (17)
15. Cincinnati (21)
16. Virginia (16)
17. Texas (19)
18. Louisville (20)
19. Oklahoma (12)
20. Missouri (14)
21. Michigan (22)
22. Houston (NR)
23. Memphis (NR)
24. Utah (NR)
25. Southern Cal (NR)