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AP Top 25 Poll - Week Six

Spoiler alert: UNC didn’t make the cut

By Brandon Anderson
NCAA Football: North Carolina at Georgia Tech Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

UNC suffered their worst loss of the season so far this past weekend against Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels are now 1-4, and at this point in the year every win going forward will be more about pride than anything (though they still aren’t mathematically eliminated from being bowl eligible). With that said, here is this week’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll:

  1. Alabama (52)
  2. Clemson (8)
  3. Oklahoma (1)
  4. Penn State
  5. Georgia
  6. Washington
  7. Michigan
  8. TCU
  9. Wisconsin
  10. Ohio State
  11. Washington State
  12. Auburn
  13. Miami
  14. USC
  15. Oklahoma State
  16. Virginia Tech
  17. Louisville
  18. South Florida
  19. San Diego State
  20. Utah
  21. Notre Dame
  22. Florida (Tied for 21st)
  23. West Virginia
  24. NC State
  25. UCF

*()=First Place Votes

Where is UNC?

Biggest Losers

  • USC had the biggest drop in this week’s rankings thanks to a 27-30 loss they suffered at the hands of Washington State. The Trojans managed to tie up the game on a two-yard run by Sam Darnold, only to have WSU march right back down the field and make a 32-yard field goal with 1:40 min to go. On USC’s final drive of the game Jahad Woods forced Darnold to fumble to complete the upset.
  • Virginia Tech had the unfortunate pleasure of finding out just how good Clemson is this year. In a game that was maybe more unfair than the score indicated, the Hokies struggled to get a whole lot going against the Tigers — a team that at this rate we can anticipate watching in the CFB playoffs should things continue to go their way.
  • Saying that the SEC suffered the third biggest loss is strange at best, but is true all the same. Mississippi State and LSU both were knocked out of the top 25, leaving four SEC schools remaining in the mix. Perhaps even more interesting is that neither of these schools even received votes in this week’s poll, so we will see if either team can redeem themselves.

Biggest Winners

  • Washington State ran into their first true test in the PAC-12 this season and managed to come out of Pasadena with a victory. They are one spot shy of the top ten, but they just might be able to change that this weekend against Oregon.
  • We are forever left to wonder what would have happened if UCF played Georgia Tech as planned, but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. Regardless, the Knights have managed to handle every opponent in front of them fairly easily so far this season. It doesn’t get much harder for them anytime soon until they play the Navy near the end of this month.

On the Outside Looking in

When looking at teams that are on the outside looking in this week, one would need binoculars just to see the emblems for these schools on the side of their helmets. Unlike previous weeks this season, there is nobody even close to the 25th ranked team in votes. Oregon is the closest with 19 votes, while Florida State is next in line with 15 votes. Despite the low number of votes both teams received, they each have a chance to potentially crack the top 25 with wins this weekend as they both face top 15 opponents.

Top 25 Conference Breakdown

  • ACC: 5 teams
  • American: 2 teams
  • Big Ten: 4 teams
  • Big 12: 4 teams
  • Pac-12: 4 teams
  • SEC: 4 teams
  • Mountain West: 1 team
  • Independent: 1 Team

Top 25 Games this Week

  • On Thursday, #17 Louisville will travel to Raleigh to face off against #24 NC State at 8pm/est on ESPN.
  • On Saturday #23 WV will take on #8 TCU at 3:30pm/est.

Upset Alert

  • Recently unranked LSU will be travelling to the swamp to play #21 Florida, who is only favored to win by 3.5 points.
  • #13 Miami will face off against in-state rival FSU as the 3 point favorites. Should the Seminoles figure out a way to build off of their win against Wake Forest, this could be an upset in the making.
  • #11 Washington State vs. Oregon is essentially a pick ‘em game as far as Vegas is concerned. It is hard not to understand why: Oregon is one of those teams that should never be slept on. Don’t be surprised if the Ducks manage to find a way to come out on top.
  • Stanford so far this year is learning that without struggle there is no progress. Coming off of wins against UCLA and Arizona State, they just might be in the progress phase of the season. Vegas thinks so as well, as they have them as a 6 point favorite over #20 Utah.

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