Week 7 Top 25

Rank	AP Top 25	Jeremy	Nick
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25	Alabama 5-0 Oregon 5-0 Clemson 5-0 Ohio State 6-0 Stanford 5-0 Florida State 5-0 Georgia 4-1 Louisville 5-0 Texas A&M 4-1 LSU 5-1 UCLA 4-0 Oklahoma 5-0 Miami 5-0 South Carolina 4-1 Baylor 4-0 Washington 4-1 Florida 4-1 Michigan 5-0 Northwestern 4-1 Texas Tech 5-0 Fresno State 4-1 Oklahoma State 3-1 Northern Illinois 5-0 Virginia Tech 5-1 Missouri 5-0	Alabama (1) Stanford (2) Oregon (3) Clemson (4) Georgia (5) Ohio State (6) Florida State (7) Texas A&M (8) LSU (9) UCLA (10) Oklahoma (12) South Carolina (13) Washington (11) Louisville (14) Miami (15) Baylor (16) Florida (17) Michigan (19) Oklahoma State (20) Texas Tech (21) Northwestern (18) Fresno State (22) Northern Illinois (25) Virginia Tech (NR) Missouri (NR)	Alabama (1) 5-0 Stanford (2) 5-0 Clemson (3) 5-0 Ohio State (6) 6-0 Georgia (5) 4-1 Florida State (7) 5-0 Oregon (4) 5-0 LSU (8) 5-1 Oklahoma (10) 5-0 Louisville (11) 5-0 South Carolina (9) 4-1 Texas A&M (12) 4-1 UCLA (14) 4-0 Baylor (16) 4-0 Washington (13) 4-1 Michigan (17) 5-0 Miami (18) 5-0 Florida (19) 4-1 Fresno State (20) 5-0 Northwestern (15) 4-1 Texas Tech (21) 5-0 Virginia Tech (NR) 5-1 Oklahoma State (23) 4-1 Northern Illinois (24) 5-0 Missouri (NR) 5-0

 

Nick’s Top 25 Breakdown

Dropped out: Maryland (22), Ole Miss (24)

On the radar: Notre Dame (26), Auburn (27), Wisconsin (28)

1-5

A few changes in my top five this week except for the top three. Alabama, Stanford and Clemson all stay put. This week’s changes are No. 4 and No. 5, with Ohio State actually winning a game that matters downing a really good Northwestern team in Evanston on Saturday so it moves up from six to four. I know I am probably going to get lots of SEC homer comments for this one but I moved Georgia to five because that was about as gutty of a performance as a team can have against a Tennessee team that was looking for a statement win to prove it is back. Aaron Murray is for real and if Georgia can weather some injuries it and Murray could be making a march to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

 

6-10

I made some moves in my 6-10 this week mostly because some teams like Florida State had some impressive wins. I moved FSU up one place to six because that team looks as talented as any in the country and with the week off to prepare for Clemson this team looks like it could be on a warpath (no pun intended) to the National Championship game. I dropped Oregon from four to seven not because they lost or because it doesn’t look impressive, but show me one team it has beat so far that is going to go to a bowl game. The Ducks are going to have a stiff test this weekend with a trip to Seattle, that tripped up Stanford last season. LSU looked impressive this weekend and Oklahoma survived a tough TCU team. I moved Louisville into the top 10 this week for lack of a better place to put it.

11-15

In 11-15 I dropped South Carolina out of the top 10 because I am not sure what is going on in Colombia, Jadaveon Clowney doesn’t want to play for the Gamecocks apparently and they have had two close games against lesser opponents. Texas A&M stays at 12 this week because I am still not ready to call this team top 10 and it didn’t play last week. UCLA moves up to 13 this week, but not because of its on-field performance as it struggled with Utah on the road. I am not sure what to think about Baylor yet this team can score like crazy, but what happens when it plays the great defenses of Oklahoma and TCU, nonetheless, the Bears come in at 14 this week. I could not drop Washington too far because it put up a great game against Stanford in Palo Alto. The Huskies are for real and should give Oregon everything it can handle this weekend.

16-20

Michigan, Miami and Florida all move up one place this week but all three need to show me that they are disserving of a top 15 ranking before I move them up there. Florida has a huge game this weekend against LSU and we will really see how good that Gator defense really is. The Canes have a struggling UNC team this week and Michigan takes the tough trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. Fresno State is looking more and more like the BCS buster this season. The Bulldogs can score points like crazy, but still have a few tough games left. I dropped Northwestern just five spots for about the same reason as Washington, it gave Ohio State all it could handle. I just do not think that the Wildcats are quite to the point of taking that next step to win those big games against the big boys.

21-25

Texas Tech remains undefeated with a drubbing of Kansas and moves up one place this week to 21. Virginia Tech makes its first appearance in the top 25 this season at 22 because I think this team has a top 10 defense, just not the offense to really compete with a top 10 school. The Hokies look like they are on track for another ACC Costal division championship. Oklahoma State stays put this week after nearly losing to Kansas State on Saturday. Northern Illinois also stays put at 24, Jordan Lynch an co., are a good team but just not ready to move them past some better teams. Didn’t think I would be doing this for a while, but Missouri looks like it is for real this season and I moved them in at 25 this week. Gary Pinkle has done a great job in his teams second season in the SEC.

 

Jeremy’s Top 25 Breakdown

1-Alabama (1)

2- Stanford (2)
3- Oregon (3)
4- Clemson (4)
5- Georgia (5)

My top five from last week stays the same.  Stanford solidified its ranking for me with a tough win over a very talented Washington team.  Georgia continued to roll with a big win on the road at Tennessee with Aaron Murray carrying a banged up Bulldog team.

6- Ohio State (6)
7- Florida State (7)
8- Texas A&M (8)
9- LSU (9)
10- UCLA (10)

Like my top five, 6-10 remain the same as well.  Everyone keeps winning and until that changes, these teams will likely stand pat. 

11- Oklahoma (12)

12- South Carolina (13)
13- Washington (11)
14- Louisville (14)
15- Miami (15)

The teams remain the same but Washington drops from No. 11 to No. 13 after their loss at Stanford.  The Huskies showed me that they’re worth of a top 15 ranking but things don’t get any easier for them with Oregon traveling to Seattle this weekend.  Oklahoma survived a very game TCU squad and an offense that had shown signs of life, struggled to move the ball against the Horned Frogs.  Louisville and Miami were less than spectacular but still got W’s.

16- Baylor (16)

17- Florida (17)
18- Michigan (19)
19- Oklahoma State (20)
20- Texas Tech (21)

Texas Tech moves up a spot to No. 20 from No. 21, not so much because of their win at Kansas but more because of Northwestern’s loss to Ohio State which drops them out of the top 20.  Florida got good win over Arkansas and Michigan got back on track with a good win over Minnesota.  Baylor remains at No. 16 and scoring friggin 70-points a game but I want to see them against some real competition.

21- Northwestern (18)
22- Fresno State (22)
23- Northern Illinois (25)
24- Virginia Tech (NR)
25- Missouri (NR)

Northwestern drops from No. 18 to No. 21 after a tough home loss to Ohio State.  It was a great effort for the ‘Cats but a loss none the less.  Virginia Tech and Missouri make their first appearances in my top 25 this week.  Virginia Tech is 5-1, with their only loss coming to Alabama.  Their defense is arguably the best in the nation and as long as they’re playing at the level they’re playing, VaTech will be tough to beat.  Missouri’s 5-0 and Gary Pinkle seems to have this team rolling but a trip to Georgia this weekend will tell us a lot.

Out- Ole Miss (3-2), Maryland (4-1)

Maryland got completely dismantled by FSU and while I think they’re a solid football team, they’re just not at a top 25 level.  They need to get healthy.

Ole Miss is young.  This is a good football team but I think recruiting hype has skewed our expectations for this young football team a bit. 

Bubble Teams- Notre Dame (4-2), Nebraska (4-1), Michigan State (4-1), Auburn (4-1)

Top 25 Breakdown by Conference

SEC- 7 (Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, LSU, S. Carolina, Florida, Missouri)
Pac 12- 4 (Stanford, Oregon, UCLA, Washington)

ACC- 4 (Clemson, FSU, Miami, Virginia Tech)

Big 12- 4 (Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech)
B1G- 3 (Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern)
AAC- 1 (Louisville)
MWC- 1 (Fresno State)
MAC- 1 (Northern Illinois)