The road has suddenly opened up for Notre Dame and Texas as two of the hottest teams in the country now are two of the hottest teams in the Power Rankings. Texas moved up 10 spots to No. 6 after surviving Oklahoma. Notre Dame moved from No. 6 to No. 5. More than that, it's what it means for those two programs to be in the hunt. Texas posted its biggest win in nine years, while Notre Dame cleared a significant hurdle winning at Virginia Tech. The only true road games left in the second half for the Irish are at Northwestern and at USC, and only two of its remaining opponents have winning records: Syracuse and USC.

That's not to leave out the Gators from this conversation, though new No. 11 Florida still has to get past rival No. 3 Georgia in the SEC East alone. The Gators just won their second straight game against a ranked opponent and third straight in conference after falling to Kentucky earlier this season. Saturday's victory over LSU was the first against a top-five opponent in three years. Just like Texas, UF made a 10-spot rise in this week's Power Rankings.

Let's take a look at the rest of this week's Power Rankings.

Biggest Movers
10 Texas
9 LSU
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
Rcrd
1 Alabama This week, Nick Saban intends to rant about those annoying hipster beards and why so many nose rings on Starbucks baristas. Elsewhere, the Alabama machine drones on scoring at least 45 points (vs. Arkansas) for the sixth consecutive game. -- 12-2
2 Ohio State Dwayne Haskins threw six touchdown passes against Indiana. "I'm not going to lie, were probably still tired from last week [against Penn State]," Haskins said. If 49-26 is tired, what do the Bucks look like at full strength? -- 11-2
3 Georgia Does it matter the Dawgs haven't beaten a currently ranked team yet? Before you answer, all that is about to change. Georgia's next four games -- LSU, Florida, Kentucky and Auburn -- are all against ranked opponents. 1 13-1
4 Clemson Trevor Lawrence returned to strafe Wake Forest. More than that, the Tigers ran for 471 yards! Welcome back to College Football Playoff consideration in the Power Rankings, Clemson. 1 9-4
5 Notre Dame Not as flashy as Oklahoma. Not as good defensively as Michigan (which is No. 1 in the country). But the Irish are suddenly as complete a team as there is in the country. An undefeated season looms. 1 10-3
6 Texas If you play above average defense in the Big 12, you can win. Texas is doing just that despite giving up 45 points, the most since Tom Herman's first game in Austin 19 games ago. 10 12-2
7 West Virginia Will Grier threw for four touchdowns but also turned it over four times (three interceptions). After a win over Kansas, the Mountaineers are firmly established as a Big 12 contender with TCU, Texas and Oklahoma still to come. 2 9-4
8 Washington You knew it was coming. UCLA was going to knock off somebody. It wasn't Washington, but it was close. The Bruins were able to nick the nation's top scoring defense for 24. That's the most since the Fiesta Bowl loss to Penn State. 2 14-1
9 UCF With the first CFP Rankings now 23 days away, consider a program that hasn't lost since 2016. Win No. 18 in a row came by four touchdowns. 2 6-7
10 Oklahoma The Sooners have nothing to be ashamed after an epic Red River Showdown. Their goals are all in front of them. What makes it so juicy is a possible rematch with Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. 3 10-3
11 Florida If the Longhorns are back, why not the Gators? They exposed a struggling LSU offense to thrust themselves into the SEC East discussion. Is Kelly Bryant watching? 10 5-7
12 LSU You knew there'd be a day like this. The defense couldn't carry the team forever. Joe Burrow contributed to a depressing Florida loss with a late pick six. Gators got five sacks and 11 tackles for loss. How do you react, Tigers? 9 10-3
13 Miami (FL) The ACC Coastal has a clear leader after an inspiring win over Florida State. Down 27-7, the Canes scored the next 21 points to win at home in this rivalry for the first time since 2004. Mark Richt says it felt better than last year's destruction of Notre Dame. -- 7-6
14 Penn State Bye. Every game from here on out is basically a must win after blowing lead late against Ohio State. A wounded Michigan State comes to town. 1 10-3
15 Colorado The legend of Laviska Shenault grows. The nation's. No. 1 receiver (yards per game) accounted for four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving) against Arizona State. The only undefeated Pac-12 team is 5-0 for the first time since 1998. 2 4-8
16 Michigan Weather delayed the inevitable, Michigan trouncing Maryland. Shea Patterson threw for a season-high 282 yards. We'll find out about the Harbaughs in the next three games -- Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State. 2 15-0
17 Auburn Wow, that sort of came out of nowhere. The Tigers gave up 349 rushing yards to Mississippi State, the most since 2015. Not a good look for the nation's No. 8 run D. Check social media. Gus Malzahn begins to face criticism. 9 6-7
18 Kentucky The Texas A&M overtime loss on the road is nothing of which to be ashamed. Disappointed? Yes (only 153 yards in total offense, missed field goal in overtime), but not ashamed. 6 7-6
19 Wisconsin Jonathan Taylor just keeps grinding. In an easy win over Nebraska, Taylor ran for 221 yards and three touchdowns. He's on track to run for more than 2,200 yards. The Badgers have to get better with a big trip to Michigan coming up. -- 7-6
20 Oregon Bye. The Pac-12 North may be decided with Washington coming to town this week. The Huskies have won two in a row in the series for the first time since 2003. -- 12-2
21 NC State Time to give the Wolfpack their due. After a 28-23 win over Boston College, NC State is Clemson's biggest challenger in the ACC Atlantic. Tigers have as bye week before hosting the Pack. NR 9-4
22 South Florida Jordan Cronkite ran for 302 yards, and the Bulls started 5-0 for the second straight year with a win over UMass. Remember Blake Barnett? He is second in the AAC with 18 touchdown passes. -- 7-6
23 Texas A&M The Aggies move back into the Power Rankings with a gutty win over Kentucky. Jimbo Fisher gets his first win over a ranked team at Texas A&M. NR 7-6
24 Cincinnati There are only seven six-win teams in the country. Incredibly, the Bearcats are one of them after a win over Tulane. Cincinnati is bowl-eligible halfway through the regular season. Last bowl: 2015. NR 3-9
25 Hawaii Nick Rolovich needs to get some national coach of the year mention. The Rainbow Warriors moved to 6-1 after JoJo Ward caught the game-winning touchdown with 1:26 to go against Wyoming. -- 5-8

Dropped out of rankings: Boise State, Michigan State