As week 9 comes to a close, the final shake out of the Border Eight starts to come into view.
Starting in the Big 10, Illinois continued their undefeated divisional streak as they beat Nebraska on the road 26-9.
Northwestern lost yet another game to Iowa 33-13. The Wildcats have gone over two months without a win.
In the SEC, Tennessee got their fifth ranked win over no. 19 Kentucky 44-6. The will go into their matchup with Georgia ranked no 1 in the College Football Playoff poll while Georgia will be no 1 in the AP (Associated Press) poll.
Arkansas got their second straight win over Auburn 41-27. This is the first time Arkansas has beaten Auburn since 2015, and the first time they have won at Auburn since 2012.
The Vanderbilt Commadores had a bye week as they prepare to take on South Carolina next week.
In the ACC, Louisville routed no 10 Wake Forest 48-21 after picking off Sam Hartman three times. This is the Cardinals biggest win in six years when they beat no 2 Florida State 63-20.
In the Big 12, Iowa State lost yet another conference game to Oklahoma 27-13. Iowa State is the only team still winless in conference play.
Kansas scored zero points because they had a bye week to prepare for Oklahoma State next week. Oklahoma State also scored zero points, but that is because the twenty-second ranked Kansas State Wildcats stomped the Cowboys 48-0. This loss dropped the Cowboys from no 9 to no 18 in the AP poll.
The only Border Eight team in the MAC had a bye as NIU gets ready to host Central Michigan.
In the C-USA, Western Kentucky got blown out by 10-point underdog North Texas 40-13.
Their rival MTSU on the other hand, pulled off a small upset over UTEP 24-13 as a 2.5 point underdog.
Down in the Sun Belt, Arkansas State got blown out by South Alabama 31-3. This knocks the Red wolves out of both bowl eligibility and the conference championship running.
Finally, in the AAC, Memphis had a bye week while Tulsa lost a close game to SMU 45-34.
Border Eight Standings:
(Rank) (Team) (Overall Record) (Record against other Border Eight Teams)
- Tennessee (8-0) (1-0)
- Illinois (7-1) (2-0)
- Kansas State (6-2) (3-0)
- Oklahoma State (6-2) (0-1)
- Oklahoma (5-3) (3-1)
- Kentucky (5-3) (1-1)
- Kansas (5-3) (1-1)
- Louisville (5-3) (0-0)
- Arkansas (5-3) (0-0)
- Western Kentucky (5-4) (1-0)
- Memphis (4-4) (1-0)
- Iowa (4-4) (1-2)
- MTSU (4-4) (0-1)
- Tulsa (3-5) (1-0)
- Iowa State (3-5) (1-3)
- Vanderbilt (3-5) (1-0)
- Nebraska (3-5) (0-3)
- Northern Illinois (2-6) (0-3)
- Arkansas State (2-7) (0-1)
- Northwestern (1-7) (1-1)