This weekend was a fairly quiet one compared to the standard set by the 2021 season so far. That’s saying something considering that three top 15 teams lost, one of which came in a game that went nine overtimes.
Oklahoma State, Coastal Carolina, and Penn State, they of the 9 OT debacle, all fell this weekend, causing a minor shakeup in the rankings. However, it had the potential to get even weirder. Oklahoma didn’t score until the third quarter against Kansas of all teams. Tennessee hung with Alabama until the fourth quarter. UCLA had a chance late to knock off Oregon. Wake Forest and Army put up a combined 126 points before the Demon Deacons eventually prevailed. Some ranked team from Raleigh lost to Miami.
North Carolina wasn’t involved in all of the potential chaos as they had the week off. Now that another college football weekend is in the books, let’s check in on the new sets of rankings.
AP Top 25
- Georgia Bulldogs (63 first place votes)
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Michigan Wolverines
- Oregon Ducks
- Michigan State Spartans
- Iowa Hawkeyes
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Baylor Bears
- Pitt Panthers
- Auburn Tigers
- SMU Mustangs
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- San Diego Aztecs
- Iowa State Cyclones
- UTSA Roadrunners
- Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
- BYU Cougars
Where is UNC?
Last week after the win over Miami, the Tar Heels were both unranked and voteless. Not surprisingly, it’s a similar story after the bye week. Carolina is probably a couple wins away from consideration, but a win over now #11 Notre Dame would help.
Biggest Winners
It’s become pretty clear that Clemson is a very average team this year, but beating them sure helped out Pitt. The Panthers cemented themselves as the ACC Coastal favorite by beating them over the weekend, and also moved up six spots in the poll, the most of anyone this week.
Biggest Losers
After losing the crazy nine overtime game to Illinois, Penn State fell 13 spots, and it’s mildly shocking that it wasn’t more than that. Coastal Carolina has been one of the best stories of the past two seasons, but they took a big drop after losing to Appalachian State mid-week. The Chanticleers hung onto a spot, but they down at #24 now.
Conference Breakdown
- SEC: 6
- Big Ten: 5
- Big 12: 4
- AAC: 2
- ACC: 2
- Independent: 2
- Conference USA: 1
- Mountain West: 1
- Pac-12: 1
- Sun Belt: 1
Marquee Matchups This Week
- #6 Michigan (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) at #8 Michigan State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) - Saturday at 12 PM ET on FOX
- #10 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC) at #18 Auburn (5-2, 2-1 SEC) - Saturday at 7 PM ET on ESPN
- #20 Penn State (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) at #5 Ohio State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) - Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on ABC
Coaches Poll
- Georgia (64 first place votes)
- Cincinnati
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Iowa
- Notre Dame
- Kentucky
- Wake Forest
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma State
- SMU
- Penn State
- Baylor
- Pitt
- San Diego State
- Auburn
- UTSA
- Iowa State
- Coastal Carolina
- NC State