The SportsRatings Top 25 is our answer to the AP and coaches' polls. This subjective "poll" properly reflects head-to-head results and give additional consideration to teams who have victories over other top 25 teams.
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Alabama continued to roll at #1, though their 40-7 beatdown of Florida Atlantic was possibly their least impressive win so far. The Tide play better against good teams, so their potential is that much greater. LSU seemed to take Auburn lightly and almost paid for it, winning just 12-10 but they remain #2.
Big winners: Florida State, Oregon; Georgia, South Carolina impress
Florida State came back to beat Clemson 49-37 and moves up to #3, while Oregon's 49-0 embarrassment of Arizona prompted a leap to #4 from #7. The ducks leapt over #5 Stanford and #6 Texas, both of whom were idle this weekend.
Notre Dame got their 2nd top 25 win, beating Michigan 13-6. Meanwhile South Carolina—31-10 winners over Missouri—and Georgia, who destroyed Vanderbilt 48-3, were both impressive enough to remain ahead of Notre Dame, moving up to #7 and #8 respectively as the Irish followed at #9. Kansas State jumped from #14 to #10 after beating Oklahoma 24-19.
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SportsRatings Top 25 - week four 2012 (thru 9/22/2012)
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Losses/important wins
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| 1 | 1 | Alabama | 4-0 | w=Michigan 41-14 |
| 2 | 2 | LSU | 4-0 | |
| 4 | 3 | Florida State | 4-0 | wClemson 49-37 |
| 7 | 4 | Oregon | 4-0 | wArizona 49-0 |
| 5 | 5 | Stanford | 3-0 | wUSC 21-14 |
| 6 | 6 | Texas | 3-0 | |
| 8 | 7 | Georgia | 4-0 | |
| 9 | 8 | South Carolina | 4-0 | |
| 10 | 9 | Notre Dame | 4-0 | w@MichSt 20-3, Michigan 13-6 |
| 14 | 10 | Kansas State | 4-0 | w@Oklahoma 24-19 |
| 11 | 11 | Ohio State | 4-0 | |
| 12 | 12 | USC | 3-1 | L@Stanford 21-14 |
| 13 | 13 | West Virginia | 3-0 | |
| 15 | 14 | Florida | 4-0 | |
| 18 | 15 | Oregon State | 2-0 | wWisc 10-7, @UCLA 27-20 |
| 3 | 16 | Oklahoma | 2-1 | L KansasSt 24-19 |
| 20 | 17 | Northwestern | 4-0 | |
| 21 | 18 | Michigan State | 3-1 | L NotreDame 20-3 |
| 17 | 19 | Arizona | 3-1 | L@Oregon 49-0; wOKst 59-38 |
| 22 | 20 | Oklahoma State | 2-1 | L@Arizona 59-38 |
| 24 | 21 | Wisconsin | 3-1 | L@OreSt 10-7; wUtahSt 16-14 |
| 25 | 22 | Utah State | 3-1 | L@Wisc 16-14 |
| -- | 23 | TCU | 3-0 | |
| 19 | 24 | UCLA | 3-1 | L OregonSt 27-20 |
| 23 | 25 | Clemson | 3-1 | L@FSU 49-37 |
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| 16 | -- | Michigan | 2-2 | L=Alabama 41-14, @ND 24-19 |
#11 Ohio State and #12 USC both won but weren't particularly impressive. The Buckeyes had trouble with lowly AUB, winning just 29-15, while the Trojans beat Cal 27-9. #13 West Virginia beat Maryland 31-21. All three held their spots as Kansas State jumped them and Oklahoma dropped below them to #16. Florida was solid in blanking Kentucky 38-0 and moved up a spot to #14.
Oregon State is the only team in the top 25 with two wins over current top 25 opponents; they beat UCLA Saturday 27-20 on the road and jump to #15. Northwestern beat South Dakota 38-7 to move up to #17 and become our highest-ranked post-season-eligible Big Ten team. Michigan State follows at #18 after surviving a bit of a scare from Eastern Michigan; they trailed 7-6 at the half but won 23-7.
Arizona was bombarded by Oregon 49-0 but only falls to #19, remaining ahead of Oklahoma State (idle) whom they crushed earlier in the year. The Wildcats will have to prove they belong next week as they face Oregon State.Wisconsin and Utah State follow at #21 and #22; the Badgers held on to beat UTEP 36-27 in yet another poor performace, while the Aggies beat Colorado State 31-19. UCLA and Clemson fall to #24 and #25 for their losses to top 25 teams. All four teams have been given pretty lenient second chances after losing, but we generally make new teams earn their way in by beating a ranked team. The exception this week is TCU, who replaces 2-2 Michigan. The Horned Frogs are 3-0 after starting at #27 in our pre-season rankings; they beat Virginia 27-7 this weekend.
Next week there are only three intra-top 25 contests: #6 Texas at #20 Oklahoma State, #11 Ohio State at #18 Michigan State, and #15 Oregon State at #19 Arizona.
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