Welcome back all & a Happy Halloween as we get ready for another weekend of NCAA football action! To say this past weekend was an eventful one in the world of college football would be an understatement. For the first time this season, all 25 teams juggled positions in the rankings. No one kept the same spot as last week, with the most significant movement happening right at the very top of the rankings where Alabama and Clemson had been locked into the top two spots all season long.
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As we are now getting into the real meat & potatoes of the season so to speak, it's time to take into account each team's overall body of work, strength of schedule, and quality wins to this point when deciding who belongs where, not just where a team happened to start the season. As the voters in the AP & Coaches polls had already done a couple weeks ago (by moving previously #1 Clemson down), this week presents the first significant changes at the top.
Alabama has been outstanding all season long, and even without star QB Tua Tagovailoa this past week, they absolutely thrashed a listless Arkansas squad, racing out to a 41-0 halftime lead in a 48-7 beatdown. They have crushed everyone, but have yet to beat anyone of any real note. Road victories over Texas A&M and South Carolina are nice, but certainly don't do much for an overall resume to this point. With 0 wins against the top 25 for the Tide, and LSU picking up their second win against a Top TEN team this past weekend, it is time to move the Tigers up to #1. They also own an impressive non-conference win at Texas. Throw-in their 42-28 victory over Florida a couple weeks ago, and Saturday's 23-20 hard-fought victory over Auburn, and it all adds up to LSU jumping two spots to #1. The Crimson Tide slide down a spot to #2 as we are headed for one heck of a game between these two on November 9th that will go a long, long way in shaping not only the SEC West landscape, but college football playoff as a whole.
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LSU's jump to 1 is not the only big movement at the top of the rankings as Ohio State slid up a spot to join Alabama in a tie at #2. The Buckeyes hosted previously #12 Wisconsin in a big-time showdown in the Big TEN, and after a close slugfest in the first half, pulled away for a 38-7 domination. In one of the most impressive victories for any team out there to date, OSU shutdown the Badgers' vaunted rushing attack and put up 38 points on one of the top defenses in the country. The Buckeyes have staked their claim as one of the top teams in the country, meanwhile, the Badgers dropped three spots to #15 as they look to get back on track in the Big TEN West.
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Rounding out the top 5 are the Clemson Tigers, who finally dropped from their season-long perch at #2, to #4 this week. The Tigers are really good, but it has become increasingly difficult to keep them ahead of both LSU and Ohio State, due to how bad the ACC has been in general. Clemson's best win continues to be a home non-conference victory over Texas A&M, and at some point, it would be great to see this team actually get tested, but the Tigers' remaining schedule doesn't present much for challenges. They bludgeoned Boston College 59-7 this past Saturday, but that doesn't say much - the Eagles were routed by Kansas at home early in the season. For now, Clemson is entrenched at 4.
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Nipping at the Tigers' heels, however, are the Penn State Nittany Lions, who also improved to 8-0 following their 28-7 victory at Michigan State. November 9th looms as a big date for PSU as well, as they will travel to Minneapolis to take on the unbeaten Minnesota Golden Gophers. Doing it behind a dominant defense, Penn State took advantage of another stumble by a highly-ranked team
Previously #5 Oklahoma went into the "Little Apple" to take on Kansas State from Manhattan, Kansas, and proceeded to take one on the chin. The final score might of read 48-41 K-State, but the Wildcats dominated the Sooners for most of the ballgame, leading by 25 in the 4th quarter. After falling behind OU 17-7 in the 1st quarter, the Wildcats outscored the Sooners by a whopping 41-6 margin over the next 2 1/2 quarters. An 11-0 finish for Oklahoma in garbage time helped close up the final margin, but make no mistake, it was a thorough pasting administered by KSU. Jalen Hurts once again put up massive numbers for the Sooners, but it didn't matter much in this one as Oklahoma's D was shredded all day long. The Sooners drop 6 spots this week and land at #11. Meanwhile, Kansas State jumps into the top 25 at #22.
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Moving along, the Florida Gators were idle and moved up a spot to 6, and are followed by Oregon at #7. The Ducks survived an absolute thriller with Washington State on Saturday night, getting a short field goal to win it as time expired, 37-35. The victory sent them up 3 spots to 7 this week. They are followed by fellow Pac-12 foe Utah, who also improved to 7-1 after dominating what had been a decent Cal squad, 35-0. The Utes seem to have put the early-season hiccup at USC well behind them and are playing some of the best football in the country over the past couple of weeks. They jumped up 5 spots this week and into the #8 spot.
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Rounding out the top 10 are the Georgia Bulldogs up two spots to #9 after having the week off, and the Auburn Tigers at #10. The Tigers might have two losses - but it's difficult to really penalize them too much for losing at Florida, and then by 3 at LSU this past week. Auburn is easily the best two-loss team in the country at this point, and their defense is for real. For now, they stay just ahead of Oklahoma in this week's top 25.
Following the Sooners are a trio of unbeaten teams that are all inching their way toward cracking the top 10. The trio is led by the 8-0 SMU Mustangs, who rose a pair of spots to #12 this week after sneaking past Houston 34-31. Right behind the Mustangs at 13, are the Baylor Bears, up two spots as well after being idle this past week, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers also find themselves up a pair of spots after absolutely aniliating Maryland, 52-10. P.J. Fleck's crew are 'rowing' their way toward the top 10 at the moment, and await the massive showdown with Penn State on November 9th.
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Rolling along, in one of the marque matchups of the weekend, the Michigan Wolverines stomped Notre Dame in a shocker in Ann Arbor. The previously #9 Fighting Irish were beaten badly all night long in a 45-14 pasting that exposed several weaknesses. It was a much-needed victory for the Wolverines and shot them up three spots to #16. Not sure I understand the rationale of the AP & Coaches polls, however, who both have Michigan a few spots higher than Wisconsin. They both have identical 6-2 records and UW pounded the Wolverines when they met earlier in the season. For that reasoning the Badgers stay ahead of both Michigan & ND. The Irish were the big tumblers of the week after they dropped 11 spots down to #20.
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Cincinnati, Iowa, and Boise State all moved up to #s 17, 18, and 19, respectively. The Bearcats and Broncos were both idle, while the Hawkeyes took care of Northwestern easily in a 20-0 shutout.
Rounding out an eventful top 25 this week are Appalachian State at #21 - the Mountaineers remained unbeaten with a rout of South Alabama - previously discussed Kansas State at 22, fresh off their upset of Oklahoma, Wake Forest, up a spot to #23, and the other two newcomers to the top 25. A pair of American Athletic Conference teams round out the rankings this week with Memphis back in at #24 after a couple of week hiatus, and UCF, who started the season ranked in the top 15, back in at #25, fresh off their impressive 63-21 pasting of Temple on the road. Texas, Iowa State, and Arizona State dropped from the rankings.
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As always, there are several quality teams just outside of the top 25, led by a quartet of 1-loss teams in San Diego State, Louisiana Tech, UAB, and Navy. After a busy week of reshuffling from top to bottom, without further ado, this week's updated College Football Ultimate Top 25:
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College Football Ultimate Top 25
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1 LSU (8-0)
2 OHIO STATE (8-0)
2 ALABAMA (8-0)
4 CLEMSON (8-0)
5 PENN STATE (8-0)
6 FLORIDA (7-1)
7 OREGON (7-1)
8 UTAH (7-1)
9 GEORGIA (6-1)
10 AUBURN (6-2)
11 OKLAHOMA (7-1)
12 SMU (8-0)
13 BAYLOR (7-0)
14 MINNESOTA (8-0)
15 WISCONSIN (6-2)
16 MICHIGAN (6-2)
17 CINCINNATI (6-1)
18 IOWA (6-2)
19 BOISE STATE (6-1)
20 NOTRE DAME (5-2)
21 APPALACHIAN STATE (7-0)
22 KANSAS STATE (5-2)*
23 WAKE FOREST (6-1)
24 MEMPHIS (7-1)*
25 UCF (6-2)*
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*-New to the rankings this week
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Dropped Out:
17 Texas, 22 Iowa State, 25 Arizona State
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Next:
San Diego State (7-1), Louisiana Tech (7-1), UAB (6-1), Navy (6-1), TCU (4-3), Texas (5-3), Texas A&M (5-3), Virginia Tech (5-2), Air Force (6-2), Wyoming (6-2), Indiana (6-2)
We have another huge weekend of NCAA football ahead of us. Notre Dame looks to pick up the pieces at home against Virginia Tech, Kansas State looks to keep it going as they visit in-state rival Kansas, #9 Georgia visits #6 Florida in the matchup of the week. The winner will have the inside track to capturing the SEC East, and keep their CFP hopes alive. Utah visits Washington in a huge Pac-12 matchup, and #12 SMU visits #24 Memphis in what should be an excellent game in the AAC. After this past week, the season is really starting to heat up, and the playoff picture is becoming clearer, but there is plenty to still be decided. Be sure to check back again next week - will it be a 4th consecutive week that a top 10 team falls? As always, thank you all for the support!
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