clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

College Football AP Poll: Week 8

Massive shakeups in the rankings after a weekend of upsets

By Christian Schneider
NCAA Football: Georgia at Louisiana State Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The madness of college football is now fully upon us, as the most game-changing weekend of the season so far produced a string of upsets and just might have shattered several schools’ dreams of a College Football Playoff. Here is the Week 8 Top 25:

AP Top 25

  1. Alabama
  2. Ohio State
  3. Clemson
  4. Notre Dame
  5. LSU
  6. Michigan
  7. Texas
  8. Georgia
  9. Oklahoma
  10. UCF
  11. Florida
  12. Oregon
  13. West Virginia
  14. Kentucky
  15. Washington
  16. NC State
  17. Texas A&M
  18. Penn State
  19. Iowa
  20. Cincinnati
  21. South Florida
  22. Mississippi State
  23. Wisconsin
  24. Michigan State
  25. Washington State

Where is UNC?

“There are rich teams and there are poor teams...then there’s 50 feet of crap...then there’s us.”

-Billy Beane, “Moneyball” (2011)

Biggest Losers

  • Georgia, West Virginia, Washington, and Penn State were the four Top 10 victims last weekend, losses that spelled doom for the Playoff hopes of every one of them except Georgia (who can still win out and then capture the SEC Tournament Championship). All four teams dropped at least six spots and the Nittany Lions, with their second consecutive defeat, nearly dropped out of the Top 20.

Biggest Winners

  • LSU just put itself back into the National Championship discussion with a dominant home win over #2 Georgia. The Tigers rose all the way to #5 in the rankings and will have the chance to rise higher with #22 Mississippi State up next. Then Alabama comes to town.
  • Right behind the Tigers are the Michigan Wolverines, who made a strong statement in their dominant victory over #15 Wisconsin on Saturday. The Wolverines gave Jim Harbaugh one of the best wins of his tenure and are riding high heading into their rivalry game against perennial thorn in their side Michigan State.

On the Outside Looking In

Stanford and USC, both mainstays on the Top 25 in the early weeks of the season, are the two leading vote getters outside the rankings. Right along with them are San Diego State and Boone’s very own Appalachian State.

Conference Breakdown

AAC - 3

ACC - 2

Big 10 - 6

Big 12 - 3

Independent - 1

Pac 12 - 3

SEC - 7

Top 25 Games This Week

#3 Clemson vs. #16 NC State on 10/20 at 3:30 pm ET

#5 LSU vs. #22 Mississippi on 10/20 at 7:00 pm ET

#6 Michigan @ #24 Michigan State 10/20 at 12:00 pm ET

#12 Oregon @ #25 Washington State 10/20 at 7:30 pm ET

More From Tar Heel Blog