Here’s the latest AP Top 25. I’ve added a few of my ACC-centric thoughts on it below.
SCHOOL |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
| 1. Alabama (55) | 7-0 | 1,495 | 1 |
| 2. Oregon (3) | 7-0 | 1,427 | 2 |
| 3. Florida St. (2) | 7-0 | 1,395 | 5 |
| 4. Ohio St. | 7-0 | 1,309 | 4 |
| 5. Missouri | 6-0 | 1,197 | 14 |
| 6. Baylor | 6-0 | 1,189 | 12 |
| 7. Miami | 6-0 | 1,130 | 10 |
| 8. Stanford | 6-1 | 1,118 | 13 |
| 9. Clemson | 6-1 | 927 | 3 |
| 10. Texas Tech | 7-0 | 904 | 16 |
| 11. Auburn | 6-1 | 867 | 24 |
| 12. UCLA | 5-1 | 832 | 9 |
| 13. LSU | 6-2 | 739 | 6 |
| 14. Texas A&M | 5-2 | 683 | 7 |
| 15. Fresno St. | 6-0 | 550 | 17 |
| 16. Virginia Tech | 6-1 | 509 | 19 |
| 17. Oklahoma | 6-1 | 501 | 18 |
| 18. Louisville | 6-1 | 428 | 8 |
| 19. Oklahoma St. | 5-1 | 382 | 21 |
| 20. South Carolina | 5-2 | 381 | 11 |
| 21. UCF | 5-1 | 345 | NR |
| 22. Wisconsin | 5-2 | 258 | 25 |
| 23. N. Illinois | 7-0 | 220 | 23 |
| 24. Michigan | 6-1 | 169 | NR |
| 25. Nebraska | 5-1 | 117 | NR |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:
Arizona St. 108, Notre Dame 82, Oregon St. 79, Michigan St. 73, Georgia 30, Mississippi 27, Florida 17, Utah 4, Washington 4, Texas 2, BYU 1, Ball St. 1
NOTES:
* I had a feeling Florida State’s emphatic win at Clemson would push the Seminoles past Ohio State, which took until the fourth quarter to put away Iowa. It’s also interesting to note that the computers like FSU even more, but the Noles at No. 1, which lifted them to No. 2 in the first BCS rankings. Oh and don’t think we didn’t notice those two first-place votes the Seminoles received.
* While FSU was getting rewarded by the eye test, Miami was benefiting from simply staying unbeaten. The Hurricanes’ survival in Chapel Hill wasn’t pretty, and they didn’t have the look of a Top 10 team on Thursday night. But then chaos ensued, with No. 3 Clemson, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Louisville and No. 9 UCLA losing over the weekend. Miami’s underwhelming win did keep it from moving up five spots, though. The Canes were leapfrogged by Missouri and Baylor. Still, No. 7 is … No. 7. And if Miami (Wake Forest) and FSU (N.C. State0 both get through their matchups this Saturday, we’ll be looking at our second ACC matchup of unbeaten Top 10 teams this season. Take a moment to process that.
* The aforementioned chaos helped give Clemson a relatively soft landing. It’s not often you can lose by 37 at home and still remain in the Top 10. But that’s what the Tigers did, landing at No. 9.
* Meanwhile, Virginia Tech continues to quietly move up the rankings simply by not losing. This time, after a bye week, the Hokies moved up to No. 16. Remember when I thought Virginia Tech might be the fourth-best team in the Coastal Division? Yeah … let’s just forget that ever happened.