Top 3 stay the same this week, but everything else is a huge jumble right now, as you’ll see below.

1. Florida (1) – Boring win over Vanderbilt, which is the way it should be.
2. Alabama (2) – Beating a good LSU team, even with perhaps some replay official help, keeps Tide here.
3. Texas (3) – Jordan Shipley goes off in random November game with Central Florida.
4. TCU (6) – The Horned Frogs are straight rolling people right now.
5. Boise State (4) – Close call with Louisiana Tech, plus Oregon loss, drops Broncos a spot.
6. Cincinnati (7) – Actually was tested this week by UConn. Schedule gets tougher from here on out.
7. Georgia Tech (10) – Winning in OT against Wake Forest shoots Jackets up, as they were a rare one-loss team to hold serve.
8. Pittsburgh (13) – The big winners this week, as romping Syracuse puts Panthers in top 10.
9. Oregon (5) – Don’t fall too much because a) a bunch of other teams lost and b) Stanford isn’t bad.
10. USC (12) – An ugly win over Arizona State, but good enough to get back in top 10.
11. Houston (14) – Pulled one out by the skin of their teeth against Tulsa.
12. Miami (Fla) (15) – Brutalized Virginia to make a jump.
13. Ohio State (16) – Big win at Penn State has almost erased memories of Purdue.
14. LSU (9) – Handled themselves well against Alabama. This may be too far down to be honest.
15. Utah (17) – Utes keep winning to continue collison course against TCU.
16. Iowa (8) – The Hawkeyes finally got burned in a close game and lost their QB to boot.
17. Oklahoma State (18) – Cowboys best of the non-Longhorn teams in the Big 12 at this point.
18. BYU (19) – Threw up a 52-0 beating on Wyoming.
19. Arizona (21) – Wildcats keep quietly winning and moving up, but schedule is going to get real tough real quick.
20. Penn State (11) – Looked completely overmatched against Ohio State at home.
21. Virginia Tech (24) – Hokies got revenge against East Carolina in ugly win.
22. Wisconsin (25) – A little more dramatic than needed to be, but Wisconsin took down Indiana.
23. Clemson (NR) – Tigers have nice little four-game win streak going.
24. South Florida (NR) – A bit of a self-correction from last week here.
25. Oregon State (NR) – Beavers go into Berkeley and knock Cal around to break into rankings.

Receiving consideration: West Virginia, Stanford, Texas Tech
Dropped out: No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 23 California

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Oregon makes a huge jump after destroying USC in one of the more impressive performances I’ve seen in a while.

1. Florida (1) – Finally looked like the dominating Gator team from last year.
2. Alabama (2) – Very tempted to put Texas here, but I’ll give Alabama a chance to redeem its spot against LSU this week.
3. Texas (3) – Has looked very good the last two weeks since beating Oklahoma.
4. Boise State (6) – Get a bump up thanks to Oregon’s performance. That September win looks bigger by the day.
5. Oregon (13) – Any time you beat USC by 27, you are going to shoot up the rankings.
6. TCU (5) – Loses a spot, but due more to what others did well.
7. Cincinnati (7) – Bearcats cruising along in the Big East.
8. Iowa (8) – Hawkeyes looked awful for 3 quarters against Indiana, then won by 18. Weird.
9. LSU (9) – Big showdown with Alabama looms.
10. Georgia Tech (10) – Put up 56 points on Vandy.
11. Penn State (12) – Put away Northwestern late.
12. USC (4) – The Trojans have to hate the Pacific Northwest right now.
13. Pittsburgh (15) – Panthers are quietly surging up the polls.
14. Houston (16) – Cougars gain 750 yards of offense to win 50-43 shootout over Southern Miss.
15. Miami (Fla) (17) – Escaped Wake Forest by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin.
16. Ohio State (19) – Buckeyes win laugher over New Mexico State.
17. Utah (20) – Utes scrape one out against Wyoming.
18. Oklahoma State (11) – Cowboys got blasted by Texas and quite frankly, I may have them too high.
19. BYU (22) – Moved up 3 spots in a bye week. Must be nice.
20. Oklahoma (23) – Sooners complete sweep of Kansas schools.
21. Arizona (25) – Wildcats could be a sleeper in the Pac-10.
22. Notre Dame (NR) – Irish keep winning and finally get back in the top 25.
23. California (NR) – Last-second FG gets Cal win at Arizona State.
24. Virginia Tech (14) – Two straight losses has Va. Tech holding on for dear life.
25. Wisconsin (NR) – 37-0 thrashing of Purdue gives Badgers spot.

Receiving consideration: Mississippi, Texas Tech, West Virginia
Dropped out: No. 18 Mississippi, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 24 West Virginia

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A little late on this after getting back from Arizona. Nothing too crazy this week.

1) Florida (1) – Not pretty, but still undefeated. And the Gators were prettier than No. 2.
2) Alabama (2) – Huge sigh of relief from the Tide after ekeing one out over Tennessee.
3) Texas (3) – Looked as good as they have all season in rolling Missouri 41-7.
4) USC (4) – Passed part one of the Oregon double-dip this week. Part two should be tougher.
5) TCU (6) – Their destruction of BYU moves them into the top 5. Previous victim Clemson’s win over Miami helps too.
6) Boise State (5) – Sucks to win 54-9 and still move down. Such is life in the WAC.
7) Cincinnati (7) – Just imagine if Boise hadn’t won by 45. Cincy would definitely be in their spot.
8) Iowa (8) – Hawkeyes pull off last-second win at Michigan State to remain undefeated.
9) LSU (10) – Looked good against a fading Auburn team. Kind of quietly lurking in the shadows.
10) Georgia Tech (12) – Yellowjackets roll on to a spot in the top 10. Watching them run the triple-option is a thing of beauty.
11) Oklahoma State (11) – Big test comes this week with Texas rolling into town.
12) Penn State (13) – Made surprisingly easy work of Michigan for first win in Ann Arbor in 13 years.
13) Oregon (16) – Still probably have the Ducks rated too low, but a win over USC will definitely fix that. I promise.
14) Virginia Tech (14) – Had a bye. Not much else to say here really.
15) Pittsburgh (17) – Panthers continue to surge, though their schedule will get tougher in the last month of the season.
16) Houston (18) – Kept winning, which is all you can really do when you are a Conference USA team.
17) Miami (Fla) (9) – Overtime loss to Clemson sends Hurricanes downward.
18) Mississippi (20) – Best output of season thus far in win over Arkansas.
19) Ohio State (21) – Whipped Minnesota in nice bounce-back from upset loss to Purdue.
20) Utah (22) – Had to go overtime to topple Air Force.
21) South Carolina (23) – Ugly win over Vanderbilt, but a win is a win as they say.
22) BYU (15) – I didn’t drop them farther because I think TCU is legit.
23) Oklahoma (NR) – Nice impressive win at Kansas gets the Sooners back in the poll after a brief hiatus.
24) West Virginia (NR) – No real signature win, but having six of them gets WVU a spot.
25) Arizona (NR) – Almost put Central Michigan here, but the Wildcats beat Central in the season opener. Hence Zona making the cut.

Receiving consideration: Central Michigan, Notre Dame, California
Dropped out: No. 19 Texas Tech, No. 24 Nebraska, No. 25 South Florida

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I finally did it, bumping up Alabama and dropping Texas. I was tempted to put the Tide one higher than I actually did.

1. Florida (1) – Only reasons they are holding this position is because they are the defending national champs and because they haven’t lost. That’s about it.
2. Alabama (3) – Playing better than anyone in the nation right now. And it doesn’t seem close.
3. Texas (2) – Barely beating an Oklahoma team without Sam Bradford isn’t enough to avoid the drop.
4. USC (7) – Coming back around on the Trojans as they have three darn good road wins now.
5. Boise State (5) – It will be hard for Boise to move much higher than this. They need to beat teams like Tulsa by more than 7 at the very least.
6. TCU (6) – Nice smackdown of Colorado State leaves Horned Frogs undefeated.
7. Cincinnati (9) – With their road wins, the Bearcats probably have the most upside of teams 5-7.
8. Iowa (10) – Another tough road test conquered for the Hawkeyes. Got another one at Michigan State upcoming.
9. Miami (Fla) (11) – Canes are the second-best one-loss team behind USC.
10. LSU (12) – Got a nice bump up despite being on a bye. Must be nice.
11. Oklahoma State (13) – Cowboys are doing a good job of grinding despite not being at full strength.
12. Georgia Tech (19) – Yellowjackets opened some eyes this week by running over Virginia Tech. Big jump for Ga. Tech.
13. Penn State (14) – Probably had their best win of the season to date against Minnesota. Says more about their schedule so far though than anything else.
14. Virginia Tech (4) – Walked right into an ambush at Ga. Tech. Guess we got carried away with the Hokies a bit.
15. BYU (15) – Won a tougher-than-expected game with San Diego State
16. Oregon (18) – I’m starting to self-correct a bit on the Ducks. Its clear that they are part of the “Sweet 16”
17. Pittsburgh (NR) – And this is where the rankings get goofy. If it was possible to leave No. 17 blank and leave the Panthers at, say, No. 20, I’d do it.
18. Houston (24) – Get a bump based more on what teams they’ve beaten in the past have done more than anything else.
19. Texas Tech (NR) – Sizable upset win at Nebraska puts Red Raiders in top 20 – and helps Houston get its bump.
20. Mississippi (23) – Definitely a bump up based more on teams losing than what the Rebels did against UAB.
21. Ohio State (8) – Buckeyes take a huge tumble after dumping one against 1-5 Purdue.
22. Utah (25) – The Utes kill UNLV to get a little bit of a move up.
23. South Carolina (20) – Gamecocks hung with Alabama for the most part, so I’m not trashing them.
24. Nebraska (21) – Probably should have these guys dropped lower, but there aren’t many candidate to put ahead of them.
25. South Florida (22) – Losing to Cincinnati is no insult.

Receiving consideration: Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan
Dropped out: No. 16 Kansas, No. 17 Oklahoma

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Nothing too revolutionary here. LSU takes a bit of a dive, that’s about it.

1. Florida (1) – Winning at LSU at night is no joke.
2. Texas (2) – Very close to putting Alabama here. Not sure why I didn’t to be honest.
3. Alabama (3) – Crimson Tide is straight rolling right now.
4. Virginia Tech (6) – Big win after Boston College gives Hokies a bump. Really playing good football right now.
5. Boise State (5) – Have tricky game at Tulsa Wednesday.
6. TCU (7) – Not pretty, but got a tough road win at Air Force in hostile conditions.
7. USC (8) – Win at Notre Dame and USC has a good shot to be back in the top 5.
8. Ohio State (9) – Two pick-6s make Terrelle Pryor’s job against Wisconsin easier.
9. Cincinnati (10) – Game Thursday at South Florida may be toughest remaining test.
10. Iowa (11) – Survived against Michigan to stay undefeated.
11. Miami (Fla) (12) – Canes get well-deserved breather against Florida A&M
12. LSU (4) – This is a much more appropriate place for LSU to be ranked.
13. Oklahoma State (13) – Gutsy win over Texas A&M without Dez Bryant or Kendall Hunter. It’ll be hard to maintain this though.
14. Penn State (15) – Got basically a bye week against Eastern Illinois
15. BYU (16) – Really don’t get how Florida State killed this team.
16. Kansas (18) – A self-correcting measure of sorts. Gets props for staying unbeaten.
17. Oklahoma (17) – Kansas jumped the Sooners, but a win over Texas would jump them back up.
18. Oregon (19) – Looking like a dark horse in the Pac-10 race.
19. Georgia Tech (20) – Survived a shootout with Florida State Saturday night.
20. South Carolina (21) – Gamecocks win fourth straight by edging Kentucky.
21. Nebraska (24) – The Huskers pulled one out of the fire against Missouri.
22. South Florida (NR) – Shoot into the rankings despite not playing. Have huge opportunity to move up this week.
23. Mississippi (14) – Not sure I should rank these guys, but there aren’t a lot of good options this low.
24. Houston (NR) – Winning at Mississippi State gets Cougars reranked.
25. Utah (NR) – Utes fill out the rankings because someone has to.

Under consideration: Notre Dame, Auburn

Dropped out: No. 22 Auburn, No. 23 Missouri, No. 25 Georgia

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Houston gave up 58 points to UTEP in a loss, which is an automatic exclusion from my poll.

1. Florida (1) – Tebow’s status is big with a trip to LSU looming
2. Texas (2) – Had a bye this week and have another one next week called Colorado.
3. Alabama (3) – Tide is rolling. Nice road test coming up against Ole Miss.
4. LSU (4) – Validated their ranking a bit by winning at Georgia. Can finish the job against Florida.
5. Boise State (5) – I should drop them for playing UC Davis in October. But I won’t.
6. Virginia Tech (6) – A bit of a letdown against Duke, but nothing big. Miami’s win over Oklahoma makes Hokies look good.
7. TCU (8) – Kept the Golden Skillet (yes, that’s a real trophy) by beating SMU. Congrats fellas.
8. USC (12) – Bit of a self-correction ranking. Had SC behind Ohio State, but beating the Buckeyes, plus killing Cal at Cal, necessitates that I put the Trojans ahead of Ohio State.
9. Ohio State (9) – Looked pretty good against Indiana. Won’t get tested much in the Big Ten.
10. Cincinnati (11) – Bearcats still undefeated and looking like a national-title darkhorse
11. Iowa (13) – I wouldn’t put too much stock into their 3-point win over Arkansas State. The Hawkeyes are good and won’t be flat with Michigan coming to town.
12. Miami (Fla.) (16) – Won back some props by beating Oklahoma. Schedule eases up quite a bit.
13. Oklahoma State (14) – Had a bye. Not much else to say here really.
14. Mississippi (15) – I feel as if I may be overranking the Rebels. How they do against Alabama will determine if I’m right.
15. Penn State (17) – Ho hum win over a bad Illinois team. Needed it, but not too impressive.
16. BYU (19) – They get back ahead of Oklahoma.
17. Oklahoma (7) – Sam Bradford injury or not, no one expected the Sooners to have two losses at this point.
18. Kansas (20) – Undefeated but somewhat untested.
19. Oregon (22) – Followed up blowout of Cal with blowout of Washington St. It’s safe to say that the first-week drama is forgotten.
20. Georgia Tech (24) – Beating Mississippi State isn’t necessarily worthy of a four-jump spot, but circumstances caused it.
21. South Carolina (25) – Same thing as Georgia Tech, but even more so considering the Gamecocks beat S.C. State.
22. Auburn (NR) – Tigers are surprisingly 5-0 and even though Tennessee isn’t good, a win in Knoxville is.
23. Missouri (NR) – On the cusp of being ranked these last few weeks, Tigers can prove their mettle Thursday against Nebraska.
24. Nebraska (NR) – This team played Virginia Tech tough, but hasn’t beat anyone of note. Can change that Thursday.
25. Georgia (18) – Barely hanging on to its ranking, but wins over South Carolina and Arizona State are good enough to do that for now.

Receiving consideration: South Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan
Dropped out: No. 10 Houston, No. 21 Michigan, No. 23 California

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After the top 3, college football rankings this year seem to be a crapshoot. I might actually start picking teams out of a hat if the upsets continue. Huge dropoff after the top 3.

1. Florida (1) – Killed Kentucky, but Tim Tebow almost got killed in the process. His status is definitely worth monitoring.
2. Texas (2) – Longhorns scored 47 in the first half against UTEP. That’s enough to remain No. 2.
3. Alabama (3) – Tide defense subdued a high-flying Arkansas team. This team has probably been the most consistent to date.
4. LSU (7) – If there was a way to leave slots 4-6 blank, I would. But LSU, despite almost losing to Mississippi State, moves up by default.
5. Boise State (8) – Highest rating ever for the Broncos. Their win over Oregon all of a sudden looks a lot better.
6. Virginia Tech (12) – Impressed with win over Miami. Wins over Miami and Nebraska, plus loss to Alabama, best of one-loss crowd.
7. Oklahoma (9) – Move up during a bye week. Have a huge test this weekend at Miami.
8. TCU (13) – Got their second win on the road in the ACC in the last three weeks. Might have one of the best defenses in the nation.
9. Ohio State (10) – Second straight shutout after losing to USC. Still need to show more offensively though.
10. Houston (14) – Win over Texas Tech, the second over a Big 12 team, move Cougars into top 10.
11. Cincinnati (17) – Bearcats are an impressive 4-0. I put them behind Houston because I like the Cougars’ wins a little bit more.
12. USC (15) – Pretty ho-hum shutout for the Trojans. Game against Cal suddenly a survival one for both teams.
13. Iowa (NR) – Huge debut in the poll for the Hawkeyes, which is deserved after winning at Penn State.
14. Oklahoma State (18) – Everyone else’s pain was Okie State’s gain. Houston winning helped as well.
15. Mississippi (5) – Of the top 10 teams to lose, Ole Miss’ was the most excusable. Should be OK.
16. Miami (Fla.) (11) – Hurricanes take a little bit of a dive after Va. Tech loss. Can’t take away Florida State and Georgia Tech wins though.
17. Penn State (6) – Easy non-conference schedule didn’t exactly prep the Nittany Lions for Big Ten play, a fact that Iowa exposed.
18. Georgia (20) – Not pretty, but the Bulldogs pulled it out against Arizona State.
19. BYU (21) – Bounced back nicely against Colorado State.
20. Kansas (22) – Jayhawks survived a tough home game with an underrated Southern Miss squad.
21. Michigan (23) – Wolverines stay undefeated…barely…by beating Indiana. Defensive problems need to be addressed though.
22. Oregon (NR) – Broke back in the rankings in a huge way by beating Cal. Boise State issues look to be in past.
23. California (4) – Bears absolutely plummet in the rankings after a 42-3 stinkbomb against the Ducks.
24. Georgia Tech (24) – Yellow Jackets get back on tracking by whipping North Carolina.
25. South Carolina (NR) – Thursday night victory over Ole Miss gets Gamecocks in poll.

Receiving consideration: Missouri, South Florida, Nebraska.
Dropped out: No. 16 North Carolina, No. 19 Florida State, No. 25 Missouri.

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My top 25, with a ton of movement. Really crazy week.

1. Florida (1) – It wasn’t the woodshed beating that was predicted, but beating Tennessee five years in a row is nothing to scoff at.
2. Texas (2) – The Longhorns get revenge on Texas Tech, though not Michael Crabtree.
3. Alabama (4) – The Crimson Tide have probably been the most consistently stellar team through the first three weeks.
4. California (7) – A road win and five Jahvid Best touchdowns mean a big bump for the Bears
5. Mississippi (5) – Ole Miss trucked SE Louisiana, as it was supposed to
6. Penn State (6) – Nits beating the heck out of bad teams. Hard to really make a good judgement of them right now.
7. LSU (9) – All of a sudden, the Tigers’ close win over Washington two weeks ago doesn’t look so bad.
8. Boise State (10) – Got the win over Fresno State, but the run defense needs work.9.. 9. Oklahoma (12) – After the way Landry Jones has played the last two weeks, I’m confident to say that Oklahoma would drill BYU in a rematch.
10. Ohio State (11) – Buckeyes got much-needed rout over Toledo.
11. Miami (Fla.) (21) – Hurricanes looked awesome against Ga. Tech. Have another toughie coming up against Va. Tech.
12. Virginia Tech (14) – Pulled one out late against Nebraska. Now it has to host red-hot Miami.
13. TCU (15) – Have a tough test next week at Clemson
14. Houston (17) – Off week prevented any sort of a possible letdown
15. USC (3) – Same stuff, different year. The offense looks to be an area of concern.
16. North Carolina (18) – Beating East Carolina is harder than you would expect.
17. Cincinnati (24) – Bearcats take a jump after big win at Oregon State.
18. Oklahoma State (19) – Not great in their win over Rice.
19. Florida State (NR) – Made a huge statement at BYU – and boosted the street cred of rival Miami in the interim
20. Georgia (22) – The offense has been awesome the past two weeks. The defense? Well, the offense has scored 93 points.
21. BYU (8) – Their BCS-busting aspirations are completely busted.
22. Kansas (23) – Beat Duke. No, it wasn’t the Final Four.
23. Michigan (25) – Ran for 380 yards in a rout of Eastern Michigan, but defense could be a sore spot in the conference schedule.
24. Georgia Tech (13) – Jackets tumble after being rolled by Miami.
25. Missouri (NR) – At 3-0, apparently there is life after Chase Daniel.

Receiving consideration: Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Utah
Dropped out: 16. Utah, No. 20. Nebraska

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Another week, another top 5 team from Oklahoma goes down. That plus a couple of debuts – one likely and one out of left field. Previous ranking in parantheses

1. Florida (1) – Another week, another killing of an overmatched team. Should have more fun against Tennessee.
2. Texas (2) – Little sluggish in the first half against Wyoming. Could have been looking ahead to the revenge game Thursday against Texas Tech.
3. USC (3) – Wasn’t pretty, but any time you can go to Ohio State and win at night with a freshman QB, you’ve done something good.
4. Alabama (4) – The Tide offense looks more explosive than it did a year ago.
5. Penn State (8) – Pretty big dropoff from 4 to 5. Penn State looks good, but most people do against Akron and Syracuse.
6. Mississippi (7) – Got jumped because they didn’t play.
7. California (9) – 111 points in two weeks is pretty darn good. Definitely a darkhorse national title team.
8. BYU (11) – No letdown against Tulane. If the Cougars beat Florida State this week, look out.
9. LSU (10) – Defense looked better against Vandy than it did against Washington, which is key.
10. Boise State (12) – No letdown for the Broncos against Miami (Ohio)
11. Ohio State (6) – Not going to kill the Buckeyes for losing to USC. However, they need to figure out how to use Terrelle Pryor correctly.
12. Oklahoma (13) – Won 64-0 against Idaho State. At the very least, got Landry Jones some confidence.
13. Georgia Tech (14) – Got scary for a second, but the Jackets won a big game against Clemson. Another test looms Thursday against Miami.
14. Virginia Tech (15) – Nice bounceback blowout against Marshall.
15. TCU (16) – The Horned Frogs got a lopsided win at Virginia. Then again, so did William and Mary.
16. Utah (17) – Utes pull away from San Jose State for their nation’s best 15th-straight game.
17. Houston (NR) – Cougars shoot up out of nowhere with big win at Oklahoma State.
18. North Carolina (18) – Ugly 2-point win over UConn keeps Tar Heels stable.
19. Oklahoma State (5) – Cowboys take a huge tumble after losing to the Cougars. So much for the big win over Georgia.
20. Nebraska (20) – Huskers win second straight rout. We’ll learn a lot this weekend at Virginia Tech.
21. Miami (Fla) (25) – Sort of a self-correction. I sold Miami a little short after their win over Florida State.
22. Georgia (21) – Got a must-win against South Carolina and scored some points, but I’m still skeptical of this team.
23. Kansas (22) – Jayhawks rolled in a potentially-tricky game against UTEP. Now Duke in what would be a great basketball game.
24. Cincinnati (23) – Bearcats humiliate another team. Can get some street cred with a win at Oregon State.
25. Michigan (NR) – From 3-9 to ranked in two weeks. The young Wolverines got a big win against Notre Dame.

Also receiving consideration: Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Missouri

Dropped out: No. 19 Notre Dame, No. 24 Oregon State

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My first stab at the college Top 25. Not a big fan of the preseason poll thing, which is a good thing considering what happened to Oklahoma.

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma State
6. Ohio State
7. Mississippi
8. Penn State
9. California
10. LSU
11. BYU
12. Boise State
13. Oklahoma
14. Georgia Tech
15. Virginia Tech
16. TCU
17. Utah
18. North Carolina
19. Notre Dame
20. Nebraska
21. Georgia
22. Kansas
23. Cincinnati
24. Oregon State
25. Miami (Fla)

Also receiving consideration: Michigan State, Florida State, Missouri

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