Written by Tyler Pastorius
- Alabama (10-0) –
- Clemson (10-0) –
- Notre Dame (10-0) –
- Michigan (9-1) –
- Georgia (9-1) –
- Oklahoma (9-1) –
- LSU (8-2) –
- Washington State (9-1) –
- West Virginia (8-1) –
- Ohio State (9-1) –
- UCF (9-0) +1
- Syracuse (8-2) +1
- Florida (7-3) +2
- Penn State (7-3) +6
- Texas (7-3) +4
- Iowa State (6-3) +6
- Kentucky (7-3) -6
- Washington (7-3) +7
- Utah (7-3) NR
- Boston College (7-3) -3
- Mississippi State (6-4) -5
- Northwestern (6-4) NR
- Utah State (9-1) NR
- Cincinnati (9-1) NR
- Boise State (8-2) NR
For the first time in the history of the College Football Playoff rankings, the Top 10 teams remain the same as the previous week. Aside from the unranked teams becoming ranked, the biggest jump in the rankings is The University of Washington Huskies moving up to the No. 18 spot (up seven spots from last week). Interestingly, the Huskies had a bye week but the previous week they had a 27-23 victory against Stanford. With the last two games against Oregon State and No. 8 ranked Washington State University, these games can be a deciding factor of who wins the Pac-12.
Iowa State moved up six spots into No. 16 with a game against the No. 15 ranked Texas team this weekend. This was helped out with a 28-14 victory over Baylor. To go along with that some other teams that were near the bottom of the Top 25 took some losses which helped the Iowa State Cyclones move up six spots.
Of course with some of the bottom of the Top 25 teams, this brought in some new non-ranked teams including Boise State (after a controversial finish against previously ranked Fresno State), Cincinnati, Utah State, Northwestern, Mississippi State, and Utah. With the last two week of College Football coming near, the “bottom tier” may be a revolving door if some of those teams lose in either week.
Still one of the main themes is the topic of strength of schedule which is what played part of why the Top 10 did not change. UCF only moved up one spot even though they remain undefeated while still the only other undefeated teams ranked higher than them are the Top 3 teams. Still one of my biggest gripes is the fact that Ohio State is slotted at No. 10 but with the Top 10 not moving (really remaining the same since no one lost) you can’t expect much to move outside of that.
With a week that wasn’t to exciting in the terms of big upsets, this resulted in very low movement in the Top 25. These last two weeks should provide some excitement with some big matchups against teams in the Top 25 along with inner conference matchups. Honestly, the last week is when there will be a lot of talk and probably somewhat of a controversy on who the final Top 4 will be but as of now this is the list. In a slow week, not much has changed. What are your thoughts?
