Mississippi State has taken over the college football world. The Bulldogs moved up five spots to take over the top spot in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll, knocking Florida State down one spot. Mississippi State received 26 first-place votes from the coaches, but Florida State received 31 first-place votes. The two are separated by just a single point in the voting.
Ole Miss moved up a spot following a win over Texas A&M. The Rebels received the remaining five first-place votes in the coaches poll this week. Ole Miss nudged Baylor down a spot in the poll, despite the defending Big 12 champions outlasting TCU in a fourth-quarter rally at home. Notre Dame remains in fifth in the coaches poll this week. The Irish travel to Florida State this week.
No. 6 Michigan State moved up two spots in the coaches poll this week, passing No. 7 Alabama and slipping by a falling No. 8 Auburn. Oregon, with a victory over Michigan State this season, move dup two spots to re-enter the top ten. The Ducks are No. 9, just ahead of No. 10 Georgia.
No. 11 Oklahoma fell out of the top 10 this week after dropping two spots. The Sooners are one spot in front of TCU, despite TCU beating Oklahoma the previous week. No. 13 Ohio State and No. 14 Kansas State each moved up two spots this week. No. 15 Oklahoma State jumped three spots. So did No. 16 East Carolina as Arizona fell four spots to No. 17 after losing to USC. No. 18 Arizona State is right behind their in-state rivals, followed by Nebraska and Stanford to round out the top 20.
Texas A&M fell seven spots to No. 21 in this week’s coaches poll. They are followed by No. 22 Clemson, No. 23 Utah, No. 24 Marshall and No. 25 USC. This is Marshall’s first appearance in the coaches poll this season and is noteworthy for the Group of 5 discussion , although they still trail East Carolina.
UCLA, Georgia Tech and Missouri were all dropped from the coaches top 25 this week. The Bruins are the leading vote-receiver in the Others Receiving Votes category, followed by LSU, Minnesota and Duke.