This week pretty much took college football as we knew it and blew it up. You can thank Oregon State, Ole Miss and Michigan for that.
1. Oklahoma (3) – The Sooners were the only team in the top 4 not to totally vomit on itself, and that is good enough to give it this top spot. Enjoy it Sooners.
2. Alabama (8) – The Tide makes a massive jump up, but that tends to happen when you go on the road and destroy the No. 2 team. Nick Saban has it rolling.
3. LSU (6) – Yeah, it wasn’t the most impressive win over Mississippi State. But it, coupled with the Auburn win last week, jumps the defending champs up a few notches.
4. Missouri (5) – I guess I could have kept Mizzou above LSU, but I don’t like jumping people too high during bye weeks. Call me a freak or whatever.
5. Texas (7) – The Horns made a mockery of Arkansas and are quietly moving up the rankings. The Red River Shootout in a couple weeks could be epic.
6. Penn State (13) – The Nittany Lions move up a ton, half because of the losses of other top teams and half because they finally played a team (Illinois) with a pulse and won. Oh yeah, the Oregon State win a few weeks back gained significance too.
7. Texas Tech (8) – Red Raiders move up just cause. They still haven’t played anyone yet. We’ll see how long they stay up here.
8. Georgia (2) – I basically switched them out with Alabama. I was tempted to put them lower, but losing to Alabama isn’t nearly as bad as losing to some of the teams other high-ranked teams fell to.
9. USC (1) – That Oregon State game was bad and quite frankly, the Trojans are fortunate that Florida and Wisconsin had similar brain farts, or this would be worse.
10. Ohio State (11) – I’ve been slow to move the Buckeyes up, partially because I’m self-correcting where I ranked them after the USC loss. I can’t rank them ahead of USC by
any means, but Terrelle Pryor looked good against the Gophers.
11. BYU (12) – Creeping up the polls. The Cougars still have the nation’s longest win streak, but they had a bye. And you know what that means.
12. Florida (4) – Of all the losses this weekend, the Gators falling to Ole Miss might have been the most shocking. At least Georgia was playing a top 10 team and USC and Wisconsin were on the road. Florida has no such excuses.
13. South Florida (14) – Another team that’s quietly keeping its nose clean and winning. If they continue that, the Bulls will be a factor in the national title race.
14. Auburn (15) – The Tigers won. I guess that’s good. Still, Auburn isn’t losing style points and will be passed if they continue to scuffle on offense.
15. Utah (18) – The Utes continued to roll by beating Weber State. But better than that, they got a big prestige bump by Michigan’s win over Wisconsin. Makes the season-opening win look better.
16. Kansas (17) – The Jayhawks got a week off to sort through the carnage around them. With four Big 12 teams in the top 7, plenty of opportunities for the Jayhawks to erase the South Florida loss.
17. Wisconsin (9) – The Badgers will be kicking themselves all year for their collapse against Michigan. Being up 19-0 at halftime and losing is definitely a kick to the head.
18. Vanderbilt (20) – Don’t look, but the Commodores are actually leading the SEC East right now. If they beat Auburn next week, which isn’t a pipe dream, look out.
19. Boise State (21) – The Broncos were on a bye, but they are where they always seem to be at this time of the year, undefeated and slowly climbing the polls.
20. Oregon (22) – After losing at home to Boise State, the Ducks were peeved. They made Washington State pay with a 63-14 beatdown. Ouch.
21. Virginia Tech (23) – The Hokies got a nice win tonight, winning at Nebraska. I don’t care how down the Huskers are, that’s never an easy place to get a W.
22. Fresno State (NR) – UCLA certainly didn’t lie down against the Bulldogs. But Fresno came down and got a big victory, for morale and recruiting.
23. Oklahoma State (NR) – The Cowboys’ spread offense is putting up points at a ridiculous clip. Sure, they are playing terrible teams, but wins are wins. Ask USC.
24. Wake Forest (16) – It’s weird. I moved every ranked team that lost 8 spots except for Georgia. Not sure if Wake had a letdown game, but you can’t overlook Navy.
25. Northwestern (NR) – More undefeated smart people. After a comeback road victory at Iowa, the Wildcats move to 5-0 for the first time since 1962. That’s good enough to make it on here.
On the cusp: Connecticut, Kentucky, California.
Dropped out: No. 19 Clemson (lost to Maryland), No. 24 Illinois (lost to Penn State), No. 25 East Carolina (lost to Houston)
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