The Post’s college football rankings and Heisman watch following Week 9.

It had been a relatively quiet season for Brock Bowers before Saturday. Against Florida, the dynamic tight end reminded everyone how explosive he can, catching five passes for a career-high 154 yards and a score. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the Volunteers, in their best season since 1998, Saturday in Athens, Ga.: Win at Georgia and the playoff is almost a lock. Lose, and the SEC East crown is gone, and the playoff becomes precarious. 

As I predicted last week, Ohio State did get some game pressure from Penn State, a deficit in the fourth quarter for the first time this season, and the Buckeyes responded with 28 straight points to end any potential drama. 

Jim Harbaugh suddenly feels underrated after all that talk of him underachieving prior to last year. Michigan has won 20 of its last 22 games, and looks capable of knocking off Ohio State on Thanksgiving weekend and returning to the playoff. 

The Tigers’ path to an undefeated season has to go through South Bend, Ind., in prime time on Saturday, likely their toughest remaining test until the ACC Championship game. Notre Dame has won five of its last six games, and is coming off a 41-24 demolition of Syracuse. 

LSU has scored 10 points in its last three home games against Alabama, and hasn’t beaten the Crimson Tide in Death Valley since 2010. The Tigers will almost certainly be reminded about the ugly recent history in the rivalry a few hundred times this week. 

Get ready to see TCU lower than expected in the first College Football Playoff committee rankings on Tuesday. The Horned Frogs don’t have a significant non-conference win and they have played a lot of close games in the Big 12, a conference that typically gets slighted by the committee. 

There isn’t a hotter team in the country, at least from an offensive standpoint, than the Ducks. During their seven-game win streak, they are averaging 48 points per game, emerging as the clear class of the Pac-12. 

This is really starting to look like a Lincoln Riley team, robust offensively, but defensively inept. USC has allowed 80 points and 1,105 yards in its last two games. 

Lane Kiffin has the Rebels headed to their second straight double-digit-win season. Guess how many times that happened before his arrival. Once, in 1959-60. 

Dropped out: Oklahoma State (6-2) 

Second nationally in rushing touchdowns with 14, Corum went over 1,000 yards in just his eighth game this week, already surpassing his career-high of 952 yards set last year. 

The rising contender has thrown for at least 200 yards and two touchdowns in every game this season, consistency that will go a long way with the voters. 

Stroud has set the bar so high, his 354-yard, one-touchdown performance against Penn State felt underwhelming. 

It’s easy to forget: Williams is only 19 years old, this is his first full season as a starter, and he is among the very best in the game, with 24 touchdown passes, a 64.7 completion percentage and just one interception. 

He’s still our pick to win the award, but that can change in the next two weeks as Alabama visits LSU and Ole Miss in must-win games to keep its playoff hopes alive.