Voters punished ranked teams that lost as both South Carolina and Arizona State were taken out of the top 25, while the only movement a bit higher up the poll came in the form of UCLA, climbing to number eight, while the first seven teams, some of them not playing, stayed where they were, including defending national champions Florida State after another hard earned victory.
1. Florida State Seminoles (27 First place votes), 4-0: Jameis Winston is back, and still the champions don’t look too good, struggling in a 56-41 win over North Carolina State, staying at number one.
2. Oregon Ducks (13), 4-0: Didn’t play, didn’t move.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (13), 4-0: Didn’t play, didn’t move.
4. Oklahoma Sooners (7), 4-0: Didn’t play, didn’t move.
5. Auburn Tigers, 4-0: Another non-mover but Auburn did play, beating Louisiana Tech 45-17.
6. Texas A&M Aggies, 5-0: Survived a big scare against Arkansas, beating the Razorbacks 35-28 in overtime, staying put.
7. Baylor Bears, 4-0: Didn’t have a lot of trouble beating Iowa State 49-28 in Ames, but didn’t move up in the rankings.
8. UCLA Bruins, 4-0: A big 62-27 win over Arizona State in the desert night gave the Bruins a three-spot boost in the rankings.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 4-0: They did beat Syracuse 31-15, but the voters decided to drop them one spot.
10. Michigan State Spartans, 3-1: The highest ranked one-loss team did fall one spot despite an easy 56-14 win over Wyoming.
11. Ole Miss Rebels, 4-0: Beat Memphis 22-3 before their brutal SEC West schedule begins, fell one spot.
12. Mississippi State, 4-0: Climbed two spots despite not playing.
13. Georgia Bulldogs, 3-1: Another huge performance from Todd Gurley was the difference in a 35-32 win over Tennessee, costing Georgia a spot.
14. Stanford Cardinal, 3-1: Climbed two spots after beating Washington on the road 20-13.
15. LSU Tigers, 4-1: An easy win, 63-7, over New Mexico State meant they climb a couple of spots.
16. USC Trojans, 3-1: An impressive 35-10 win over Oregon State gave the Trojans a two-spot boost.
17. Wisconsin Badgers, 3-1: Another slow start, another big game for Melvin Gordon, eventually a 27-10 win over South Florida, climbing two spots.
18. BYU Cougars, 4-0: Didn’t play and still climbed up a couple of spots.
19. Nebraska Cornhuskers, 5-0: Nebraska opened their Big Ten play with a 45-14 win over Illinois, climbing two spots.
20. Ohio State Buckeyes, 3-1: Things are looking a bit better under T.J. Barrett, beating Cincinnati 50-28 to climb two spots.
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys, 3-1: A big Thursday Night win over Texas Tech (45-35) helped them climb three spots.
22. East Carolina Pirates, 3-1: Didn’t play, climbed one spot.
23. Kansas State Wildcats, 3-1: A 58-28 win over UTEP was a perfect rebound off the loss to Auburn, helping them climb a couple of spots.
24. Missouri Tigers, 4-1: A big win on the road against South Carolina 21-20 helped them rise 15 spots and break the top 25 barrier.
25. TCU Horned Frogs, 3-0: A 56-0 win over the pathetic SMU brought them into the rankings for a first time this season.
Dropped from rankings: South Carolina, Arizona State