How spooky will Halloween get for the top teams in college football?

Week 9 of the college football season crescendos on Oct. 31. Though there are just two games between teams ranked in the AP Top 25, don't rule out the potential for a scary upset or two.

Here are this week's games to watch.

No. 22 Arizona at No. 13 Texas Tech

If you're overlooking Arizona in the Big 12 title race, you won't be doing that any longer if the Wildcats win on Saturday. We'll make sure to give them their due.

Arizona is the lowest-ranked one-loss power conference team in the AP Top 25 entering Week 9. The Wildcats are three spots behind SMU and right behind Northwestern and have a convincing case to be ahead of both. SMU's loss came to a Louisville team that's now 4-3. Arizona lost to No. 8 BYU.

The Wildcats' best win also looks even better after Week 8. Arizona stomped Cincinnati — the team that just beat Texas Tech — at home by 27 points.

QB Noah Fifita leads an offense that's putting up 36 points a game and nearly 7 yards a play. WR Isaiah Mizell has almost 500 receiving yards and five touchdowns despite just 27 catches. The three-headed rushing attack is consistent, if not spectacular, and Arizona's defense is allowing opponents to rush for barely over 3 yards a carry.

Texas Tech, meanwhile, is looking at some serious offensive adjustments for quarterback Will Hammond. He hasn't thrown more than one TD in a game so far this season and coach Joey McGuire said Monday that Tech is looking to simplify the pass game for Hammond by shrinking the area of the field he needs to read.

Can that make the passing game more explosive? The offense has relied a bunch on running back J'Koby Williams. He leads the team with 619 rushing yards and has the second-most catches.

No. 17 Florida at No. 3 Georgia

Entering Week 7, this was a game that looked like it was tilting heavily in Georgia's favor. Then the Bulldogs lost at home to Auburn, Florida took down Texas on the road and now we're looking at a game where no outcome would be a surprise.

Florida does enter with some questions at quarterback. Both Tramell Jones Jr. and Aaron Philo were listed as questionable on Wednesday night's injury report. Jones started in place of Philo in the win over the Longhorns.

Georgia, meanwhile, has defensive back KJ Bolden and running back Chauncey Bowens as questionable. Bowens missed the loss to Auburn.

The Bulldogs' offense has been one of the most efficient in the nation. It averages 6 yards a carry on the ground via a menagerie of running backs and QB Gunner Stockton, who had his first rough game of the season against the Tigers. After throwing just one interception through Georgia's first five games, Stockton has thrown three over the last two. And his fumble set up Auburn's winning points.

After getting gashed by Missouri's run game in a blowout loss to start the month, Florida's defense has been far better against the run against both South Carolina and Texas. Mizzou rushed for 220 yards; Florida has allowed 219 yards on 67 carries since. If that improvement is real, the Gators will have a real chance no matter who is at quarterback.

No. 6 Utah at Cincinnati

Texas Tech went to Cincinnati as an undefeated team and left with its first loss of the season. Can the Bearcats make it two in a row against the Utes?

Utah is the last undefeated team standing in the Big 12 after the losses by the Red Raiders and BYU a week ago. Utah took down Houston 21-13 at home after holding the Cougars scoreless in the fourth quarter.

The rushing attack that everyone thought former coach Kyle Whittingham would bring to Ann Arbor along with offensive coordinator Jason Beck has stayed in Salt Lake City. Utah is averaging over 220 rushing yards a game with RB Wayshawn Parker leading the way. QB Devon Dampier has rushed for 348 yards and five touchdowns while completing 69% of his passes for 1,616 yards and 15 TDs.

Cincinnati RB Cole Tabb broke open the game against Texas Tech and has been the most explosive rusher in the country this season. After rushing 16 times for 173 yards and a TD against the Red Raiders, Tabb has rushed for 621 yards and nine touchdowns on just 65 carries. He's a big play waiting to happen.

Tabb has rushed for over 100 yards in three of his last four games despite not getting more than 16 carries in any of those games. The former Stanford player's 12 total touchdowns are tied for fifth among all running backs.

Clemson at Florida State

Look, we realize this isn't the marquee game that it could have been. But with just two ranked matchups in Week 9, there was an opportunity to focus on a game between unranked teams this weekend.

And this could be a program-defining game for both schools.

A win for Florida State could go a long way for Mike Norvell's future. The school is set to embark on a search for a new athletic director soon as Norvell's status continues to be tenuous. The Seminoles are 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. Even with Florida looming at the end of the season, the schedule is still favorable for bowl eligibility despite a loss. But is 6-6 really acceptable in Tallahassee?

Clemson's hopes of rebounding from a rough 2025 and competing for the ACC title all-but disappeared with a 20-16 loss to Virginia Tech. QB Christopher Vizzina opened the season as the starter, but gave way to true freshman Tait Reynolds in Week 2 and suffered an injury to his non-throwing arm in the game.

Reynolds, meanwhile, has now thrown 180 passes over seven games. Just one — one — has been a touchdown pass. That's a TD rate of 0.6%.

How is that even possible?

Clemson ranks 111th out of 138 teams in points per game. Florida State, meanwhile, is allowing nearly 28 points per game and ranks 104th in scoring defense. Maybe the Seminoles are the salve that Clemson's offense needs.

No. 2 Ohio State at USC

Is Saturday night the Riley referendum in Los Angeles?

After a brutal loss at Wisconsin where USC had negative rushing yards for the first time since a 37-14 loss to Texas in 2018, the Trojans host an Ohio State team that will start either Luke Fahey or Tavien St. Clair at quarterback following Julian Sayin's right shoulder injury against Indiana.

Fahey and St. Clair have thrown a combined 22 passes in their college careers. Yes, this is still a supremely talented Ohio State roster. But if USC can't beat the Buckeyes with a quarterback making his first career start, how does this USC program in its current form have any hope of ascending to the top of the Big Ten?

It may not matter that Lincoln Riley said USC was the place he wanted to be earlier this week. If the Trojans lose a second straight game and fall to 6-3 with a trip to No. 4 Indiana looming on Nov. 14, any hope of sniffing the College Football Playoff is out the window and the Trojans could be staring down the barrel of a 7-5 season with No. 7 UCLA lined up to end November.

Riley was hired after Clay Helton was fired two games into the 2021 season. Helton still has more 10-win seasons (2) than Riley (1) with the Trojans. And if USC loses Saturday night, Riley's win percentage as USC's coach will be .661 in 62 games. The Trojans had a win percentage of .657 in 70 games under Helton.

Other games to watch

No. 25 Wisconsin at Iowa (-3.5) (Noon ET, Fox): If you're a fan of high-scoring football games, feel free to skip the remaining words in this paragraph. The over/under for this one is set at 36.5, Iowa will be without top running back Kamari Moulton for the rest of the season and Wisconsin has held its opponents to just 47 points over its four Big Ten games.

Minnesota at No. 4 Indiana (-20.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): The total for this game isn't much higher at 41.5. Oddsmakers are not fond of Minnesota's offense figuring out a way to regularly score against an Indiana defense that is allowing just 12 points per game. The Hoosiers will want to get QB Josh Hoover on track after his ugly performance against Michigan. Just how much of that had to do with the shoulder injury he appeared to suffer in the second half against Ohio State?

No. 20 Northwestern at Oregon (-3.5) (3:30 p.m. ET, Peacock): There's a serious Big Ten flavor to this category as the league has a sneakily pivotal weekend on tap. The Ducks won't have Dante Moore on Saturday, or the rest of the season, as he recovers from the concussion he suffered against USC. There are injuries along the offensive line, too. Can Northwestern take advantage and stay in the Big Ten race?

South Carolina at Oklahoma (-4.5) (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network): The Gamecocks have the chance to really right the ship and get back to .500 in conference play with a third straight win. The winner of this one will be 5-3 overall and the Sooners are going to try to keep this one as low-scoring as possible. South Carolina has scored at least 27 points in four of its last five games. Oklahoma has scored 27 points just once since a 51-0 win over UTEP in Week 1.

No. 1 Miami (-14) at North Carolina (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC): Can Bill Belichick figure out a way to slow down Miami's offense? No one else has so far this season. Darian Mensah is still completing more than 80% of his passes as both he and Malachi Toney are firmly among the Heisman Trophy favorites. North Carolina had the chance to enter this game on a three-game win streak, but lost 31-30 at home to Syracuse — which was 0-4 in conference play — in Week 8.

Source: Yahoo Sports