Alabama showed its’ dominance, Ohio State and Clemson survived close games, and West Virginia turned heads in a surprising road blowout win. After all that has happened in week seven, how does the college football landscape look? Here is my updated top 25 rankings, compared to the AP Poll.
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Washington
- Texas A&M
- Louisville
- Nebraska
- Baylor
- West Virginia
- Houston
- Wisconsin
- Boise State
- Florida State
- Utah
- Western Michigan
- Tennessee
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- Auburn
- North Carolina
- Navy
- Colorado
- Miami
There were not a lot of jumps from last week’s poll and this week’s poll, as Western Michigan (+4) and Arkansas (+4) climbed the highest. Miami (-9) and Tennessee (-6) dropped the most among teams that stayed in my top 25. North Carolina and Colorado jumped back into the top 25, while Virginia Tech and Ole Miss fell out.
My top 9 matches the AP top 9. I have West Virginia (#12 AP) at #10, while the AP has Wisconsin (#12, #10) followed by Houston (#11, #11 AP); I feel that WVU’s dominant win in Lubbock was much more impressive than Houston’s near-loss vs Tulsa, and Wisconsin did lose, despite it being by only 7 to Ohio State. Boise State (#13, #14 AP) and Florida State (#14, #13 AP) are flipped; at this point in the season, Boise is undefeated and the Seminoles have two losses. Utah (#15, #19 AP) sneaks into the top 15.
Western Michigan (#16, #20) continues to fly under the radar with a fantastic coach – PJ Fleck – at the helm. Tennessee (#17, #18 AP) is trending down while Arkansas (#18, #17 AP) is trending up. I feel that Florida (#19, #15 AP) is still slightly overrated (SEC bias), but they continue to improve on the season. Similarly, Oklahoma (#20, #16 AP) seems a little high in the AP; however, the Sooners have gotten past their rough start and earned a big win vs Kansas State. Auburn (#21, #21 AP), North Carolina (#22, #22 AP), Navy (#23, #24 AP), Colorado (#24, NR AP) and Miami (#25, NR AP) round out the top 25. The AP continues to prop up the SEC, keeping a 3-3 Ole Miss team in their rankings (#23), as well as sliding in LSU (#25).
Do you agree with my rankings? While you digest it, take a look at the top games in week eight:
Wisconsin @ Iowa – 11:00 AM on ESPN
TCU @ West Virginia – 2:30 PM on ABC
Texas A&M @ Alabama – 2:30 PM on CBS
Arkansas @ Auburn – 5:00 PM on ESPN
Ohio State @ Penn State – 7:00 PM on ABC
Ole Miss @ LSU – 8:00 PM on ESPN
