Thanks to Ohio State’s NCAA sanctions, there are no Big Ten teams in the USA Today coaches’ poll for the first time in history. The Buckeyes are undefeated and ranked at No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll, but because the coaches’ poll chooses not to rank teams serving punishments from the NCAA, they won’t be considered.
On to those who are in the poll, Alabama and Oregon stayed at the top two spots. The Tide had a bye week and the Ducks handled No. 23 Washington 52-21. South Carolina jumped up three spots to No. 3 following an impressive thrashing of then-No. 5 Georgia. West Virginia moved up to No. 4 thanks to a thrilling victory in Austin over Texas, and Kansas State rounded out the top five after beating in-state rival Kansas.
Florida moved up five spots to No. 6 because of a 14-6 win over then-No. 3 LSU; Notre Dame climbed three spots to No. 7 after dismantling Miami; USC and Oklahoma re-entered the top 10 with wins at Utah and Texas Tech, respectively.
A shocking 17-16 loss at unranked North Carolina State sent Florida State out of the top 10 and into the No. 11 spot and Georgia fell seven spots to No. 12. Clemson and Oregon State came in at No. 13 and No. 14 thanks to wins over Georgia Tech and Washington State, and Texas fell to No. 15 after losing to WVU. Three Big East teams find themselves in spots 16-20, with Louisville at No. 16, Rutgers at No. 19 and Cincinnati at No. 20. It’s no coincidence that those three appear to have the most realistic chance at competing for that conference title at the end of the year.
Texas A&M enters the coaches’ poll at No. 21 and Boise State comes in at No. 22 following a victory over winless Southern Miss. TCU falls 10 spots to No. 23 after losing at home to now-No. 25 Iowa State, and Louisiana Tech enters the latest coaches’ poll at No. 24. The Aggies and Bulldogs will face each other next Saturday.
Falling out of the USA Today poll are Texas Tech, Northwestern and Nebraska.
