2018 AP & Coaches Polls

[Irish YJ]

Alabama and Clemson stay at #1 and #2. We stay at #4. Michigan leapfrogs us into #3.

I'm not happy 'bout it.

EDIT: I also disagree with it since we beat NW by 10, despite the shit show we just watched and Fishigan beat them by 3. Again, not happy 'bout it. It's just a sad prediction.

agree

 

[stlnd01]

Alabama and Clemson stay at #1 and #2. We stay at #4. Michigan leapfrogs us into #3.

I'm not happy 'bout it.

EDIT: I also disagree with it since we beat NW by 10, despite the shit show we just watched and Fishigan beat them by 3. Again, not happy 'bout it.

It's just a sad prediction.

Also we beat Michigan.

 

[irishtrooper]

No way we aren’t 3rd this week. Y’all have PTRD (post traumatic rankings disorder).

 

[irishtrooper]

Committee needs to be embarrassed putting LSU at 3 by having 1 very good win (not as good as ours) and HAVING A LOSS!

 

[Irish YJ]

No way we aren’t 3rd this week. Y’all have PTRD (post traumatic rankings disorder).

we should have been 3rd last week...

 

[irishtrooper]

we should have been 3rd last week...

Totally agree, as I typically do with your opinions. I’m just not (as) sold on UCF as you though

 

[irishnd31]

we should have been 3rd last week...

But, but, but they’re in the SEC and they’re all really good tho and I know this because ESPN said so. Committee will move Georgia to #3 and we will remain at 4. Game plan for Alabama BK.

 

[texbender]

agree

I'm with ya.

UM surging and looks like a team you don't want to play.

Not sure we scare anybody.

 

[Irish YJ]

I'm with ya.

UM surging and looks like a team you don't want to play.

Not sure we scare anybody.

we scare FSU.... that's about all right now.

 

[ulukinatme]

I would hope we move up to #3 with LSU losing, but I almost expect this Committee to move Michigan ahead of us despite the head to head win.

 

[IrishFaninTX]

I would hope we move up to #3 with LSU losing, but I almost expect this Committee to move Michigan ahead of us despite the head to head win.

And our 1 common opponent we beat by more than they did. We don't know how we would do against PSU. They didn't do so great against MSU.

 

[Crazy Balki]

#3 for sure.

scUM shouldn't get a ton of credit for waxing Penn State. They are not a good team, and their one calling card this season has been McSorley, and he was hurt for this game.

 

[BGIF]

AP TOP 25 (Ranking as of 10/28/18)

With 11/3/18 Results & Updated Records

10 Top 25 Teams Lose.
Only 1 Team In Top 10 Loses
Syracuse will jump up as 7 ranked teams in "the teens" lose

1. Alabama 9-0 W 29-0 LSU
2. Clemson 9-0 W 77-16 Louisville
3. Notre Dame 9-0 W 31-21 NW
4. LSU 7-2 L 29-0 Alabama
5. Michigan 8-1 W 42-7 PSU
6. Georgia 8-1 W 34-17 Kentucky
7. Oklahoma 8-1 W 51-46 Texas Tech
8. Ohio State 8-1 W 36-31 Nebraska
9. UCF 8-0 W 52-40 Temple
10. Washington State 8-1 W 19-13 CAL
11. Kentucky 7-2 L UGA 34-17
12. West Virginia 7-1 W 42-41 Texas
13. Florida 6-3 L 37-18 Missouri
14. Penn State 6-3 L 42-7 Michigan
15. Texas 6-3 L 42-41 West Virginia
16. Utah 6-3 L 38-20 ASU
17. Houston 7-2 L 45-31 SMU
18. Utah State 8-1 Winning 3Q 56-11 Hawaii
19. Iowa 6-3 L 38-36 Purdue
20. Fresno State 8-1 W 48-3 UNLV
21. Mississippi State 6-3 W 45-3 Louisiana Tech
22. Syracuse 7-2 W 41-24 Wake Forest
23. Virginia 6-3 L 23-13 Pittsburgh
24. Boston College 7-2 W 31-21 Virginia Tech
25. Texas A&M 5-4 L 28-24 Auburn

Others Receiving Votes:
Washington 7-3 W 27-23 Stanford
Northwestern 5-4 L 31-21 Notre Dame
Georgia Southern 7-2 L 40-31 Texas State
Michigan State 6-3 W 24-3 Maryland
Cincinnati 8-1 W 42-0 Navy
Iowa State 5-3 W 27-3 KU
South Florida 7-2 W 45-15 Tulane
Stanford 5-4 L 27-23 Washington
Oklahoma State 5-4 L 35-31 Baylor
UAB 8-1 W 52-3 USTA
Oregon 6-3 W 42-21 UCLA
Wisconsin 6-3 W 31-17 Rutgers
Auburn 7-3 W 28-24 #25 A&M
San Diego State 7-2 W 31-23 New Mexico
Army West Point 7-2 W 17-14 Air Force
NC State 6-2 W 47-28 FSU
California 5-4 L 19-13 #8 WSU
Buffalo 8-1 W 51-42 Miami OH

 

[BGIF]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tomorrows-top-25-today-west-virginia-set-to-make-a-big-move-in-the-college-football-rankings/

Tomorrow's Top 25 Today: West Virginia set to make a big move in the college football rankings
Projecting the new AP Top 25 college football rankings after a fun Week 10
Chip Patterson 1h ago

...

Here's how we think the new AP Top 25 will look on Sunday:

1. Alabama (Last week -- 1): SEC on CBS lead analyst Gary Danielson mentioned it on the broadcast, and I think it's worth repeating: Alabama is playing with the arrogance of old Florida State, Miami and USC teams. It's earned its swagger in spades and thrives off not just winning but dominating every aspect of every game.

2. Clemson (2): Even taking into consideration that Louisville is the worst team in the ACC, the impressive way that Clemson beat the Cardinals could convince at least a couple of voters to move their first-place vote from the Tide to the Tigers. No one seems confident that Clemson has reached Alabama's level yet, but it appears to be moving in that direction at the right time of the year.

3. Notre Dame (3): Survival is the name of the game for Notre Dame, and a 31-21 win at Northwestern counts as a survival win. Ian Book finally settled down after halftime and totaled three second half touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) to help the Irish pull away late.

4. Michigan (5): Don Brown's defenses at Michigan have consistently ranked among the best in the country, but this year's group is playing at a ridiculously high level and could carry the Wolverines to a Big Ten title. It was a day of statement wins among the top six and Michigan had quite the win with a 42-7 win against Penn State that was never in doubt thanks to that lights-out defense.

5. Georgia (6): The Bulldogs clinched the SEC East and gave voters even more of a reason to think this is a national championship-contending team. The Bulldogs aren't quite to Alabama's level yet, but a good showing from their physical ground game has guaranteed they'll get a shot at the Tide in Atlanta.

6. Oklahoma (7): Outlasting Texas Tech in a 51-46 shootout keeps the Sooners in the playoff conversation, and this game probably best exemplifies the good and bad when considering where Oklahoma stacks up against its peers as one of the best teams in the country. If the primary argument against OU being in the playoff is tied to the defense, Saturday night's win didn't do much to silence those critics.

7. West Virginia (13): Dana Holgorsen told reporters he felt good putting "the fate of the game" in Will Grier's hands, and the Mountaineers' star quarterback delivered in the clutch moments of the most impressive win of the week. West Virginia is now on top in the Big 12 standings with Oklahoma visiting on a Friday night at the end of the month. Grier and the West Virginia offense might have gotten pushed around in its loss to Iowa State, but they showed tremendous toughness outlasting Texas on its home turf.

8. LSU (4): The big debate will be whether LSU drops below Oklahoma and West Virginia. The Tigers had a very good argument as the best one-loss team in the country, but the voters aren't going to be able to justify the Georgia win as a reason to keep a two-loss team in the top five.

9. Ohio State (8): Escaping with a close win against Nebraska is not the most encouraging result after an off week that was presumably going to fix some of the issues that plagued the Buckeyes in the loss at Purdue. Ohio State's profile still leans heavily on its early season results, but until there's a second loss it's tough to see any further moves down in the polls.

10. UCF (9): McKenzie Milton's return keeps UCF's ceiling for 2018 high, but the close call against Temple kick starts what's going to be the toughest stretch of the season for the Knights.

11. Washington State (10): Now 8-1 for the first time in 16 years, Washington State could see its stock rise after a last-minute 19-13 win against unranked Cal. The selection committee was higher on the Cougars than the AP voters had been, so if there is any major move up I'd guess it's more a reaction to the committee than a reaction to Saturday night's win.

12. Kentucky (11): It was just a matter of time before the Wildcats found themselves in an early deficit, and once the Bulldogs went on top early, it was going to be an uphill battle for Kentucky to respond. Don't expect the voters to penalize the Wildcats too much, and losses by Florida, Penn State and others will ultimately cap how far they can fall.

13. Syracuse (22): A 41-24 win at Wake Forest has pushed Syracuse from an "upset alert" team to a legitimate top-15 foe worthy of consideration for a top bowl game at the end of the season. The Orange, now 7-2 and only behind Clemson in the ACC standings, will face off against Notre Dame in Yankee Stadium in two weeks.

14. Utah State (18): The Aggies are in Honolulu this week, playing late against Hawaii.

15. Fresno State (20): An early blocked punt set the stage for a totally dominant performance at UNLV for the Bulldogs, now 8-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

16. Boston College (24): Steve Addazio recorded his third win against Virginia Tech in six meetings as Boston College's coach, and getting it done in Lane Stadium only adds to the confidence the Eagles will get from this win. Up next: Clemson comes to Chestnut Hill for a primetime game with College Football Playoff implications.

17. Florida (13): A win over LSU keeps Florida in the mix as one of the best three-loss teams in the country, but the way Missouri, 0-4 in conference play before Saturday, ran through the Gators at home is going to give voters second thoughts on where this team stands among the best in the nation.

18. Mississippi State (21): The Bulldogs took care of business against Louisiana Tech, locking in bowl eligibility and building the momentum heading into next week's clash with Alabama.

19. Texas (15): A second straight loss will send the Longhorns even further from the top-10 status it held just two weeks ago. The Longhorns also lost control of their Big 12 title game destiny, now needing help to bounce West Virginia or Oklahoma from the top two spots in the standings.

20. Washington (NR): After a really tough week, Jake Browning had a great response against Stanford in a must-win game for the Huskies. Washington went up early but Stanford, as you might expect, made a charge back and even had a chance to win in the final minute. Even as a three-loss team, Washington still has Pac-12 championship potential after holding off the Cardinal in a 27-23 win.

21. Penn State (14): On one hand, the Nittany Lions probably shouldn't fall too far because their loss came to one of the best teams in the country. On the other, the losses are piling up and Penn State is looking less and less like one of the 20 best teams in the country.

22. Utah (16): An apparent in-road to the Pac-12 title game is now a little bit rockier than ever after giving away a head-to-head advantage to Arizona State with two conference games left to play. Next week's game against Oregon in Salt Lake City has now become a must-win if the Utes are going to represent the division in early December.

23. Michigan State (NR): Just when you are close to writing off this Spartans' team, Mark Dantonio is waiting happily to prove us all wrong. Michigan State showed up in the Others Receiving Votes on the edge of the top 25 a week ago, so I'm guessing they moved up as a result of Virginia and Texas A&M's losses.

24. Purdue (NR): There is not a more deserving four-loss team in the country for a national ranking than Purdue, currently holding wins against Boston College, Ohio State and Iowa. With five wins in the last six games, the Boilermakers have proven to be a much different group than the team that lost to Eastern Michigan earlier this season.

25. Cincinnati (NR): A 42-0 shutout win against Navy is going to raise some eyebrows among voters looking to fill out the bottom of their ballot. It's really hard to distinguish between some of these teams outside of the top 15, and the Bearcats 8-1 record is worthy of getting back into the rankings ahead of some three-loss teams.

Projected to drop out: Houston (17), Iowa (19), Virginia (23), Texas A&M (25)

 

[BobbyMac]

Interesting. AP voters breakdown page.

5 good Catholic boys have ND at #2.

https://collegepolltracker.com/football/team/notre-dame-fighting-irish/2018

Even more interesting: They list IE as the message board.

 

[dad4aa]

Interesting. AP voters breakdown page.

5 good Catholic boys have ND at #2.

https://collegepolltracker.com/football/team/notre-dame-fighting-irish/2018

Even more interesting: They list IE as the message board.

Pat Dooley is a fucking dumbass putting ND at 5 behind Georgia and Michigan.

 

[Andy in Sactown]

Pat Dooley is a fucking dumbass putting ND at 5 behind Georgia and Michigan.

He's a Gator homer. So you'll have to excuse his misplaced anger. He's just pulling a when the Gators suck, "SEC! SEC!" out.

 

[BGIF]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tomorrows-top-25-today-army-should-return-to-college-football-rankings-for-first-time-since-1996/


Projecting the new AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 11
Chip Patterson 11/11/18

Here's how we expect the new AP Top 25 to look on Sunday:

1. Alabama (Last week -- 1): We finally saw some mortality from Alabama, but when challenged with adversity, the response was to fall back into vintage boa constrictor Bama mode to squeeze the life out of Mississippi State in a 24-0 win.

2. Clemson (2): Dabo Swinney probably wishes that Clemson's offense was a little bit more efficient, but Trevor Lawrence did in fact finally get tested in all the ways we expected. A few errors pointed to inexperience, but his best throws revealed the reason why he's been the quarterback of the future since the moment he set foot on campus.

3. Notre Dame (3): Even without Ian Book in the game, the Brandon Wimbush-led offense looked significantly improved from where it was when the former starter was playing under center earlier this year. Perhaps as significant was the fact that he had Dexter Williams in the backfield with him. Williams missed the first four games of the season and led the Irish in rushing on Saturday night with 202 yards and two scores.

4. Michigan (4): Don't expect a bump from beating Rutgers. By taking care of business, they remain in line in the pecking order.

5. Georgia (5): Few teams in the country have the ground game to keep up with Georgia over the course of four quarters. Auburn's defensive front lost Nick Coe early in the game to injury -- and Big Kat Bryant for targeting -- but held strong for a while before the Bulldogs eventually started springing explosive and pulling away from their rivals to improve to 9-1.

6. Oklahoma (6): Another high-scoring late win secured by a bungled extra point try keeps Oklahoma right in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot, but it won't provide an argument for the voters to move the Sooners above any of the other teams above it in the pecking order.

7. West Virginia (7): A slow start quickly became old news as the Mountaineers pounded TCU, 47-10. Beating Oklahoma State in Stillwater is going to be tough, but necessary, to remain on the inside track to a Big 12 title game spot.

8. Ohio State (8): Greg Schiano had a great gameplan to totally squeeze the life out of Michigan State, which served as a response to those critical of the Buckeyes' defense. Sparty was ready for Dwayne Haskins but never got anything going on offense with either Brian Lewerke or Rocky Lombardi at quarterback.

9. LSU (9): Don't mistake the 24-17 final score for a letdown from Alabama when it was a late letdown that allowed Arkansas to make a late charge in the game. LSU led 24-3 heading into the fourth quarter, so if AP voters make a big adjustment with the Tigers, I'm going to assume it was in response to a misleading final.

10. Washington State (10): Forget the upset alert, the Cougars were ready for the challenge at Colorado. Now 9-1, Washington State returns home for a two-game home stand against Arizona and Washington to determine its Pac-12 title future.

11. UCF (11): Still undefeated, the Knights will keep their spot among the best teams in the country, but beating Navy by 11 doesn't bolster the argument of a team that wants to be considered the best in the nation.

12. Syracuse (13): The hype is going to peak for next weeks' game against Notre Dame in Yankees Stadium thanks to a 54-23 rout of Louisville on Friday night. With the Orange offense humming and the team 8-2, we could see another small bump in the rankings just out of anticipation.

13. Utah State (14): Another week, another high-scoring showing from Utah State, now 6-0 in conference play and 9-1 overall.

14. Texas (15): A somewhat sloppy game against Texas Tech came down the final moments, so it was only appropriate that on a day of 10-year anniversaries we saw the upside-down version of Michael Crabtree with Lil'Jordan Humphrey's game-winning touchdown against Texas Tech.

15. Florida (19): No questions were answered regarding Florida, but avoiding the loss with 21 straight points to close out a 35-31 win against South Carolina will keep the Gators in the rankings and up a few spots.

16. Washington (20): The Huskies were off in Week 11.

17. Penn State (21): Getting the running game back on track was just what Penn State fans needed to see, providing a steadiness throughout a 22-10 win against Wisconsin. Miles Sanders ran for 159 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, and the performance was impressive enough to warrant a slight bump up in the rankings.

18. Boston College (18): Losing starting quarterback Anthony Brown to injury in the first quarter really dampened the chances of an upset on Saturday night in Chestnut Hill. I wonder if the voters give the Eagles some bonus points for how they hung in against the Tigers while having little-to-no offensive success.

19. Iowa State (23): The fight will end up getting most of the headline, but Iowa State quietly remains one of the most dangerous threats to crash the Big 12 title game. Beating Baylor sets up an elimination game with Texas next week in Austin.

20. Cincinnati (25): While they are far behind UCF in the polls and rankings, Cincinnati could actually jump ahead of the Knights in the race for the New Years Six with a win next week in Orlando. The New Years Six spot goes to the highest-ranked conference champion, and the Bearcats could gain an edge in the AAC East with a head-to-head win.

21. Utah (NR): After losing both starting quarterback Tyler Huntley and starting running back Zack Moss in a week, Utah had one of the best responses we've seen from a team all season in knocking off Oregon. The Utes, at 7-3, are set to make a return to the top 25 thanks to a key blocked punt and two late fourth quarter scores in a 32-25 win against the Ducks.

22. Army (NR): Now at 8-2, it's time for Army to finally crash the polls. Since losing to Duke in the season opener, the only blemish on the Black Knights' profile is an overtime loss at Oklahoma. The ground game is once again rolling and Darnell Woolfolk -- subject of our Salute the Troops profile this week -- once again led the way with two rushing scores in the win.

23. UAB (NR): Having to win in overtime might dissuade some voters, but 9-1 has to be good enough to get Bill Clark's resurgent Blazers program up into the top 25.

24. Northwestern (NR): We're not used to seeing four-loss teams creep up into the rankings at this point in the season, but Northwestern has moved beyond its loss to Akron and booked a spot in the Big Ten title game with its 6-1 conference record and win on the road against Iowa.

25. Kentucky (12): A loss to Tennessee could warrant a total free fall out of the rankings, but I think Kentucky has done enough on the year to hang on in enough ballots to be ranked in the 20s.

Projected to drop out: Fresno State (16), Mississippi State (18), NC State (22), Michigan State (24)

 

[Irish YJ]

ND seemed to have changed a few minds in both Coaches and AP...
Surprised UGA lost a little ground on scUM in the coaches. Win over Auburn > than win over Rutgers.

Overall, our lead (average) over scUM is 77pts.
scUM's lead over UGA is 42.5pts

ND vs scUM votes
Coaches (ND gains 26 overall points, scUM gains 25)
This week - 1490 vs 1415 (Delta - 75)
Last week - 1464 vs 1390 (74)

AP (ND gains 25, scUM gains 23)
This week - 1406 vs 1327 (79)
Last week - 1381 vs 1304 (77)


scUM vs UGA votes
Coaches (scUM gains 25 overall points, UGA 22)
This week - 1415 vs 1369 (46)
Last week - 1390 vs 1347 (43)

AP (scUM gains 23, UGA 25)
This week - 1327 vs 1288 (39)
Last week - 1304 vs 1263 (41)

 

[Irishize]

 

[ulukinatme]

Pat Drooley and Doug Lesbian are chodes. I'm sorry, but Georgia lost convincingly to LSU. It wasn't close. They also played an FCC school, which should be completely thrown out or counted like a 2nd Bye. If that's not enough, they play two more Non-P5 teams on their schedule.

 

[Irish YJ]

Alexander with pOSU at 4 is smoking something too.

 

[irishog77]

Alexander with pOSU at 4 is smoking something too.

Urban's pole?

 

[Irish YJ]

Urban's pole?

evidently. good lord how anyone can think OSU is that good...

 

[Irish Insanity]

So only 2 voters had us 4th, but not a single voter had us below UofM. 5 voters had us 2nd. Considerably different than the TV and radio personalities make you believe.

 

[Circa]

There's an old saying "Victory has a hundred father's and defeat is an orphan." My opinion with our Irish. Victory has a bunch of hater's and defeat Is Michigan. I believe all businessmen according to the NCAA and CFBPC are sons of bitches, as JFK warned us all.

 

[Irish YJ]

So only 2 voters had us 4th, but not a single voter had us below UofM. 5 voters had us 2nd. Considerably different than the TV and radio personalities make you believe.

I'd like to see week 10

 

[Irish Insanity]

I'd like to see week 10

I found a site that you can change the weeks on, but when I select any other week besides 12 it defaults and shows 12...........

https://collegepolltracker.com/football/team/notre-dame-fighting-irish/2018

 

[BGIF]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tomorrows-top-25-today-texas-among-teams-getting-bumped-up-in-college-football-rankings/


Tomorrow's Top 25 Today: Texas among teams getting bumped up in college football rankings
Chip Patterson 1h ago

Here's how we think the new AP Top 25 will look on Sunday:

1. Alabama (Last week -- 1): The only question will be if the Tide remain the unanimous No. 1 considering the slow start against the Citadel and 10-10 halftime score in a 50-17 win.


2. Clemson (2): For a team with so much explosiveness at the skill positions, Clemson's most reliable asset remains its defense. Duke brought a great effort to slow the Tigers' ground game early, but it never saw a chance to get anything going offensively against a Clemson unit that has proven to be among the best in the country.

3. Notre Dame (3): Everything about the 36-3 win looked championship caliber of the Irish.

4. Michigan (4): There are reasons to be concerned about the offense's touchdown conversion rate in the red zone, but surviving for a win is good enough to set up a win-and-you're-in situation against Ohio State next week.

5. Georgia (5): Hard to imagine there is going to be any major takeaway for voters from the Bulldogs' 66-27 win against UMass.

6. Oklahoma (6): There are going to be a lot of critics pointing to the Sooners' 55-40 win against Kansas as a reason to doubt Oklahoma's national championship chops, but there shouldn't be any major adjustment in the polls.

7. Washington State (8): The Cougars left no doubt in a trouncing of Arizona, scoring 55 points before halftime and cruising to a win in the second half to improve to 10-1 with only the Apple Cup left, a game against Washington to determine the Pac-12 North title.

8. Ohio State (9): No team has made 10-1 look as difficult as Ohio State, which hasn't looked totally in sync or dominant in several weeks yet remains right in the middle of the national championship race with a chance to win the Big Ten East next week at Michigan. A 52-51 overtime win at Maryland won't inspire any big movements up in the AP Top 25, but that doesn't change the opportunity ahead next Saturday.

9. LSU (10): Don't expect a ton of change for LSU after a routine win against Rice.

10. UCF (11): You can only play the schedule you've got, and the Knights have once again run through its division and clinched the AAC East for the second straight year after handing Cincinnati its second loss of the season. The biggest impression voters will take away from UCF's national stage win is a higher regard for that defensive front, which dominated all night against the Bearcats.

11. Texas (13): A level of respect for Iowa State should anchor a boost in the rankings for Tom Herman's Longhorns, who were the better team throughout the night in a potential trap game against the Cyclones.

12. West Virginia (7): Just like Texas, West Virginia took a top-10 ranking to Stillwater, Oklahoma. And just like Texas, it will fall from the top 10 following a loss at the hands of the Cowboys.

13. Syracuse (12): Voters have to take into consideration the injury to Eric Dungey when ranking the Orange, but even ignoring that wrinkle in the result against Notre Dame should limit how far Syracuse falls following the 36-3 loss to the undefeated Irish.

14. Utah State (14): Those promoting the case of Utah State being overlooked didn't get a lot of ammunition for the argument from the Aggies' way-closer-than-expected win against Colorado State.

15. Florida (15): The Gators never left any doubt against Idaho, closing out their home schedule with one of the team's best offensive performances since the departure of Tim Tebow in a 63-10 win.

16. Penn State (16): A 20-7 win at Rutgers isn't going to draw the eyes of any voters, so don't expect any big moves in the rankings.

17. Washington (17): Senior Day in Seattle was pretty routine, and a one-sided win against former Huskies offensive coordinator Jonathan Smith and Oregon State sets up a chance for Washington to reclaim its Pac-12 title hopes if it can knock off Washington State next week in Pullman.

18. Utah (21): It's another impressive win with Utah down to backups in the offensive backfield and riding its hard-hitting defense to hang on in the Pac-12 title race. No one has fewer conference losses than the Utes in the Pac-12 South, so now it will just come down to the tiebreakers and next week's action elsewhere while Utah prepares for the Holy War rivalry against BYU.

19. Kentucky (20): Voters shouldn't penalize Kentucky too much for a close win against Middle Tennessee because the Blue Raiders are one of the better Conference USA teams. But it's possible that the narrow victory opened the door for other three-loss teams to jump the Wildcats in the pecking order.

20. Boise State (23): Rolling over New Mexico on Friday night sets up a winner-take-all game against Utah State next week to decide the winner of the West Division in the Mountain West.

21. Northwestern (24): No letdown for Northwestern, even after clinching the Big Ten West and the program's first-ever appearance in the Big Ten title game. The Wildcats led from start to finish at Minnesota, holding on for the 24-14 win.

22. Mississippi State (25): The Bulldogs caught their offensive rhythm for the second time in the last month, running up the score on Arkansas in a 52-6 win.

23. Army (NR): Last week, the Black Knights were the first team among those receiving votes outside of the top 25. Another win, even against FCS Colgate, and that 9-2 record should be enough to get them in on enough ballots to crack the rankings this week.

24. Iowa State (18): Will the Cyclones hang on in the rankings after a fourth loss? We've seen minor adjustments after losses to higher ranked teams all season, but Iowa State would be only the third four-loss team in the AP Top 25 this year if it can hang on.

25. Pittsburgh (NR): Winning the ACC Coastal could be enough of a headline to get voters to boost Pitt ahead of Fresno State, UAB and NC State. The Panthers also have wins against Syracuse and Virginia to its credit and are riding a stretch of five wins in six games with the loss coming by five points to Notre Dame.

Projected to drop out: Cincinnati (19), Boston College (22)

 

[T-Boone]

Bama
Clemson
ND
Georgia
Michigan
WSU
UCF
Oklahama
LSU
Ohio State