Ohio State and Texas A&M both fell on the road in week 8, but those were not the most shocking losses from a ranked team. SMU smacked Houston, sending them out of the AP top 25. Do they stay in my top 25 rankings? Where do the Buckeyes and Aggies fall? Here is my updated top 25 rankings, compared to the AP Poll.
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Washington
- Louisville
- Nebraska
- West Virginia
- Baylor
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Boise State
- Wisconsin
- Florida State
- Utah
- Auburn
- Western Michigan
- Tennessee
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- North Carolina
- Navy
- Colorado
- LSU
- Penn State
- Virginia Tech
Only two teams – Auburn (+6) and West Virginia (+3) – climbed more than 2 spots from last week’s poll. The only teams who dropped but stayed in the rankings are Ohio State (-7) and Texas A&M (-4). LSU, Penn State, and Virginia Tech jumped into the top 25, while Houston, Arkansas, and Miami dropped out.
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My top 5 matches the AP top 5. Nebraska (#6, #7 AP), West Virginia (#7, #10 AP) and Baylor (#8, #8 AP) enter this week’s rankings higher than Ohio State (#9, #6 AP) and Texas A&M (#10, #9 AP). I have WVU over Baylor because, up to this point, the Mountaineers have been more impressive with what they have done on their schedule. An impressive road win vs Texas Tech (in which the explosive Red Raiders’ offense was held to 17 points) and a strong showing vs TCU (34-10 W) gives them the nod over the Bears’ single noteworthy win (35-24 vs Oklahoma State).
Boise State (#11, #13 AP), Wisconsin (#12, #11 AP), Florida State (#13, #12 AP) and Utah (#14, #17 AP) stayed pretty much the same in my poll, with the exception being an undefeated Broncos squad jumping the Badgers, who have two losses. Auburn (#15, #15 AP) made a huge leap after obliterating (then ranked) Arkansas 56-3. Western Michigan (#16, #20 AP) and Tennessee (#17, #18 AP) stayed put. Florida (#18, #14 AP) and Oklahoma (#19, #16 AP) continue to be slightly overrated in the AP Poll. North Carolina (#20, #21 AP), Navy (#21, #22 AP) and Colorado (#22, #23 AP) inched up in the rankings. LSU (#23, #19 AP), Penn State (#24, #24 AP) and Virginia Tech (#25, #25 AP) round out my top 25.
Do you agree with my rankings? While you think about it, here are the best games to watch in week 9:
West Virginia @ Oklahoma State – 11:00 AM on FOX
Florida vs Georgia – 2:30 PM on CBS
Baylor @ Texas – 2:30 PM on ABC
Washington @ Utah – 2:30 PM on FS1
Nebraska @ Wisconsin – 6:00 PM on ESPN
Clemson @ Florida State – 7:00 PM on ABC
