Rk
|
Δ
|
Team
|
Pts
|
1
|
+1
|
Auburn
|
72.6
|
2
|
+2
|
Oklahoma
|
66.7
|
3
|
0
|
Mississippi State
|
62.7
|
4
|
+1
|
Texas A&M
|
62.5
|
5
|
-4
|
Alabama
|
61.6
|
6
|
+8
|
Ole Miss
|
61.1
|
7
|
+4
|
UCLA
|
59.3
|
8
|
-2
|
BYU
|
58.5
|
9
|
+4
|
Nebraska
|
58.4
|
10
|
-2
|
Baylor
|
55.6
|
11
|
-2
|
Marshall
|
53.1
|
12
|
+4
|
Georgia
|
53.1
|
13
|
+4
|
Oregon
|
52.7
|
14
|
-7
|
Notre Dame
|
52.1
|
15
|
+13
|
TCU
|
50.9
|
16
|
-6
|
Arkansas
|
50.3
|
17
|
+1
|
Wisconsin
|
48.9
|
18
|
+5
|
Georgia Tech
|
47.1
|
19
|
+1
|
LSU
|
45.7
|
20
|
+6
|
Georgia Southern
|
45.6
|
21
|
+14
|
Michigan State
|
43.6
|
22
|
+5
|
Louisville
|
42.9
|
23
|
+1
|
Arizona
|
42.8
|
24
|
+12
|
Ohio State
|
42.7
|
25
|
+28
|
Minnesota
|
40.9
|
Teams falling out of
the Top 25:
- (#29) North Carolina State (lost 56-41 to Florida State at home)
- (#31) Utah (lost 28-27 to Washington State at home)
- (#32) Memphis (lost 24-3 at Ole Miss)
- (#34) Pittsburgh (lost 21-10 to Akron!? at home)
- (#39) Boston College (lost 24-21 to Colorado State at home)
- (#54) Florida (bye)
Teams worse than the average
FCS team: Eastern Michigan dropped in rankings with Florida and Alabama after all three had byes this week.
Largest improvement
in rank: +28
Minnesota and Air Force both pulled off convincing upsets this week. The Golden Gophers won 30-14 at Michigan, and the Falcons took advantage of seven Boise State turnovers to top the Broncos 28-14.
Largest drop in rank:
-42 Florida is surprisingly the team with the largest drop this week, even though the Gators had a bye. Their strength of schedule was revised downward along with their opponents, even though Alabama and Eastern Michigan also had bye weeks. Best as I can figure, Old Dominion's loss to Middle Tennessee dropped EMU's strength of schedule, which rippled through to Florida and Alabama. Florida's rank was affected more than Eastern and Bama as the Gators are closer to the middle of that bell curve, where more teams are clumped up and small changes have a bigger effect on one's rank. Ghosts in the machine, man, ghosts in the machine.
Conference Rankings
Conference
|
Average
|
SEC
|
45.73
|
Pac-12
|
34.29
|
Big 12
|
33.58
|
Big Ten
|
32.83
|
ACC
|
32.45
|
Conference USA
|
21.71
|
American
|
18.88
|
Mountain West
|
18.66
|
Sun Belt
|
14.13
|
MAC
|
13.86
|
Games to watch next
week:
(#5) Alabama at (#6) Ole
Miss (3:30 PM ET, TBD) Five of the top six teams are in the SEC West, and the division gives us two great games to watch on Saturday as conference play begins in earnest. Ole Miss comes off of a win over an underrated Memphis team, while the Crimson Tide had a restful bye week. Neither team has really been tested thus far, but I think home field advantage will win this one for the Rebs.
Line: Ole Miss by 3.5
(#4) Texas A&M at
(#3) Mississippi State (Noon ET, ABC) The second SEC West showdown next week features an Aggie team that looked vincible this week against Arkansas and a Bulldog squad that enjoyed a week off after upsetting LSU. Will A&M be better prepared against a team that looks better on paper? Or will the Bulldogs' version of the 12th man be too much for the Aggies?
Line: Mississippi State by 7
(#2) Oklahoma at (#15)
TCU (3:30 PM ET, Fox) I think TCU is underrated by the other rankings. The Horned Frogs are one of three teams remaining in the Big 12 with a perfect record, and TCU just dominated SMU to the tune of 56-0. Oklahoma will still be too much for the Frogs, but the game will be closer than you expect.
Line: Oklahoma by 13.5
(#9) Nebraska at (#21)
Michigan State (8:00 PM ET, ABC) Two of the four best teams--maybe I should say, "of the four good teams"--in the Big Ten also face off next week, as the Spartans host the Huskers. So far, Michigan State has lost to Oregon while putting up big numbers against weak teams like Eastern Michigan and Wyoming. Meanwhile, Nebraska is 5-0, but their strongest opponent has been 53rd-ranked Miami (FL). The Math is giving the edge to Nebraska; I'm not so sure.
Line: Nebraska by 1.5
