Another weekend of college football is officially in the books. This past weekend, there was a bit of a shake up in the Associated Press Top 25, thanks to a couple of big losses. This weekend on paper looks like it will be a quiet week for each ranked team with a couple of potential upsets that may be worth keeping an eye on. With that said, let’s take a look at this week’s AP Top 25 poll:
- Alabama (43)
- Clemson (18)
- Penn State
- Georgia
- Washington
- TCU
- Wisconsin
- Washington State
- Ohio State
- Auburn
- Miami
- Oklahoma
- USC
- Oklahoma State
- Virginia Tech
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- South Florida
- San Diego State
- NC State
- Michigan State
- UCF
- Stanford
- Texas Tech
- Navy
*()=First Place Votes
Where is UNC?
UNC endured yet another loss this past weekend at the hands of Notre Dame. It is likely safe to say that UNC will not be seeing the top 25 at any point this season, and instead the name of the game is to figure out what can be salvaged from this year’s team in order to maybe paint a picture for a brighter, albeit distant future.
The good news is: the defense has been standing their ground, all things considered. While stats may not paint a pretty picture, this defense has managed to make some plays that would give a solid offense enough to work with to win games. Unfortunately, the offense right now is a shell of itself. Chazz Surratt is struggling, there are guys playing wide receiver that many may or may not have heard of depending on one’s knowledge of the depth chart, and the run game has been rather stagnant. We shall see if Larry Fedora can help them get back on track against Virginia this weekend.
Biggest Losers
- Louisville found out the hard way that NC State is for real this year. The two teams battled it out at Carter-Finley Stadium where Louisville’s 4th quarter comeback was ruined by a pick six with roughly two minutes to go in the game. The poll voters made sure to punish the Cardinals for the loss, as they are out of the top 25 after only receiving 25 voter points.
- Another team that found out how good their conference rival was this past weekend is the Michigan Wolverines, who lost to Michigan State 14-10. Despite dropping ten spots in the top 25, they still find themselves ranked ahead of the Spartans. We’ll see if the voters’ generosity pays off, as Michigan faces Indiana this weekend before they take on #3 Penn State next weekend.
- The biggest upset of the week came from the game between Oklahoma and Iowa State. The Sooners entered the game as 31-point favorites, which is coincidently the same amount of points they scored in their 38-31 loss to the Cyclones. It also could be that Oklahoma should share half of their biggest loss crown with Iowa State, given that the poll voters didn’t think the upset was worthy enough to earn more than 5 voter points.
Biggest Winners
- Notre Dame jumped up seven spots following their 33-10 victory over UNC. Despite a scoreless first quarter for both teams, the Irish eventually got the ball moving and the points began to pile up. Chazz Surratt continued to struggle in the passing game, only managing to come up with 179 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Notre Dame will have a tough task Saturday, as their bitter rival USC comes to town in hopes of giving the Irish their second loss of the season.
- There were enough teams that fell out of the bottom of the top 25, allowing Texas Tech, Stanford, and Navy to make their way in. West Virginia, Florida, and Utah all lost this past weekend, and so we will see if any of these teams can reclaim their spots or if the new trio will manage to hang on in the standings.
On the Outside Looking in
- Georgia Tech is right outside of the top 25 despite not playing this past weekend, and this weekend could be their chance to prove they belong among the rankings. They will travel to Florida to face off against #11 Miami, who is currently 4-0 for the season.
- West Virginia has been in and out of the top 25 throughout the season, and it wouldn’t be surprising for them to find their way back in again. They will face #24 Texas Tech this weekend, and one would imagine that the winner of this game will be the team that will win their spot in the rankings next week.
- Louisville had quite the setback in their loss against NC State. Expect them to bounce back this weekend when they take on Boston College, which will be followed by a trip to Tallahassee to take on a struggling Florida State team.
Top 25 Conference Breakdown
- ACC: 4 teams
- American: 3 teams
- Big Ten: 5 teams
- Big 12: 4 teams
- Pac-12: 4 teams
- SEC: 3 teams
- Mountain West: 1 team
- Independent: 1 Team
Top 25 Games this Week
There are no top 25 games for week seven.
Upset Alert
- West Virginia will host #24 Texas Tech in what is essentially a pick ‘em game, as the line is set at -3.5 in favor of the Mountaineers.
- #25 Navy will travel to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to take on Memphis. The Tigers are currently -3.5 point favorites due to home field advantage.
- Following a big win against Michigan, #21 Michigan State will take on Minnesota Saturday night. The Spartans are -4.0 point favorites, despite the fact that they just took down a top 10 opponent.