TicketIQ Top 25 Week 9 Update

A few more unbeatens went down this week in college football as Missouri and Texas Tech were handed their first losses of the year. There are only eight undefeated teams left including Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State, Baylor, Miami, Fresno State and Northern Illinois. UCLA could not handle the stellar play of Bryon Marshall, suffering their second loss of the season to Oregon. Meanwhile, Duke pulled off a big ACC win on the road at #14 Virginia Tech picking off Logan Thomas four times. Lastly, Ohio State handed Penn State it’s worst loss since 1899 and still have not lost in the Urban Meyer era.

The Tide took care of business this week cruising past Tennessee 45-10. Alabama now heads into a bye week before a big matchup in Tuscaloosa against #13 LSU. Although they continue to hold the #1 spot in the BCS standings, ‘Bama has only played one team in the top ten all season. The Iron Bowl will be a good test for the Crimson Tide who finishes the season at #11 Auburn. Alabama football tickets moved up a spot to #7 in our TicketIQ Top 25 rankings. However, there was a decrease in average ticket price by one percent to $160. Expect the Tide to stay in the top ten as they chase yet another national championship.

Oregon was able to keep their perfect season in tact as they defeated #12 UCLA this past Saturday. Byron Marshall, who had over 130 yards on the ground with 3 TD’s, led the Ducks. Oregon football tickets stayed at #6 in our rankings this week with an average ticket price of $176, a one percent decrease from Week 8. Oregon has been in the top ten largely due to their undefeated record and the increasing attention around QB Marcus Mariota. Although the team has this week off, the Ducks’ perfect record will be strongly tested as they prepare for a top five showdown at #5 Stanford after the bye. If they can get past the Cardinal unscathed, the remaining schedule should be very favorable to Oregon.

From one undefeated to another. Ohio State has started where they left off last season. The Buckeyes demolished Penn State this past weekend and have smooth sailing until they visit Ann Arbor after Thanksgiving. Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde have balanced the offense for the Buckeyes to average the 5th most points per game in the FBS. Ohio State football tickets continue to thrive and stay at the #3 spot in the TicketIQ Top 25 rankings. They only have one more home game at the ‘Shoe against Indiana. Prices will continue to be sky high as long as there is not a slipup against unranked teams of the Big Ten.

The Tigers bounced back from their loss against Ole Miss with an easy win against Furman. LSU has a bye week, setting up a monster SEC showdown against #1 Alabama. It was not too long ago since the Tide defeated the Tigers in the Superdome at the 2012 BCS National Championship. One would imagine that game would be on the minds of some LSU players come next Saturday. LSU football tickets did not change in average ticket price of $158 but did gain a spot in our rankings to #8. Prices should continue to rise through next week because of the ‘Bama matchup. LSU also hosts #12 Texas A&M two weeks after.

Auburn has had a bounce-back year after finishing 3-9 last season. Gus Malzahn has led the team to a strong 7-1 start with the Tigers’ only loss of the year coming last month to LSU. This weekend Auburn travels to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. The big game on the remaining schedule is the Iron Bowl. Auburn will host #1 Alabama in what could be a crucial game before the SEC Championship. Auburn football tickets jumped three spots in the TicketIQ Top 25 rankings to #10 but only rose one percent to $144 average ticket price. The allure of the Iron Bowl is a big reason to expect prices to keep going up until the season comes to a close.

After the bye week, the Michigan Wolverines will prepare to travel north to play fellow in-state rival Michigan State. The Spartans and Wolverines have only lost one game each this year and are ranked #22 and #21 respectively. Michigan football tickets continue to stay at the top of our rankings at #1 with an average ticket price of $223, a four percent decrease from last week. Michigan has a big showdown coming up at the end of the season against #4 Ohio State. The game should garner a lot of attention considering the rivalry between the teams and Ohio State’s undefeated record thus far. Prepare for Michigan tickets to keep the top spot as that game approaches.