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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Case in point: former #2 Oregon, who demolished Arizona State 43-21, falls to #5 through no fault of their own. They just haven't played any good teams yet. And the teams at #3, #4, and #5 all have.
Alabama remains #1, though they lose their only top 25 win as Western Kentucky drops off, and gain a precarious top 25 win as Michigan re-enters. Florida has three top 25 wins and can make it four next week, so they are a legitimate challenger even for a dominant Crimson Tide team—in the rankings if not on the field. The Gators jump from #5 to #2. Kansas State moves up to #3 after clocking West Virginia so bad (55-14) that the Mountaineers get the boot, too; that leaves the Wildcats with one very impressive top 25 win and potentially another as they face Texas Tech next weekend. Notre Dame struggled with BYU before prevailing 17-14; they drop from #3 to #4 but now have two top 25 wins—the #24 and #25 teams—but face Oklahoma next Saturday.
Any of those teams that wins impressively could be #1 next week, or Alabama could retain the top spot by beating undefeated Mississippi State in a dominant fashion. Oregon plays lowly Colorado and #6 Oregon State (who beat Utah 21-7 Saturday) faces Washington, so the only forward progress they'll make is if the teams above them lose. Likewise #7 Ohio State—unimpressive in an overtime win vs. Purdue—won't make headway just by beating a surging Penn State.
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SportsRatings Top 25 - week eight 2012 (thru 10/20/2012)
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Résumé: Losses/important wins
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| 1 | 1 | Alabama | 7-0 | w=Mich 41-14, WKy 35-0 |
| 5 | 2 | Florida | 7-0 | wLSU 14-6, TexAM 20-17, SCar 44-11 |
| 4 | 3 | Kansas State | 7-0 | w@OK 24-19, w@WVa 55-14 |
| 3 | 4 | Notre Dame | 7-0 | wStanford 20-13ot, Mich 13-6 |
| 2 | 5 | Oregon | 7-0 | |
| 6 | 6 | Oregon State | 6-0 | |
| 7 | 7 | Ohio State | 8-0 | |
| 8 | 8 | Oklahoma | 5-1 | L KState 24-19; w@TxTech 41-20 |
| 9 | 9 | LSU | 7-1 | L@Fla 14-6; wSCar 23-21, @TexAM 24-19 |
| 11 | 10 | USC | 6-1 | L@Stanford 21-14 |
| 13 | 11 | Rutgers | 7-0 | |
| 12 | 12 | Georgia | 6-1 | L@SCar 35-7 |
| 14 | 13 | Texas Tech | 6-1 | L OK 41-20; wWVa 49-14 |
| 18 | 14 | Mississippi State | 7-0 | |
| 15 | 15 | Florida State | 7-1 | L@NCState 17-16; wClemson 49-37 |
| 17 | 16 | Clemson | 6-1 | L@FSU 49-37 |
| 20 | 17 | Louisville | 7-0 | |
| 21 | 18 | Ohio | 7-0 | |
| 23 | 19 | Louisiana Tech | 6-1 | L TexAM 59-57 |
| -- | 20 | Toledo | 7-1 | L@Ariz 24-17ot; wCincy 29-23 |
| 19 | 21 | Cincinnati | 5-1 | L@Toledo 29-23 |
| 22 | 22 | Texas A&M | 5-2 | L FLA 20-17, LSU 24-19; w@LaTech 59-57 |
| 10 | 23 | South Carolina | 6-2 | L@LSU 23-21, @FLA 44-11; wGa 35-7 |
| 25 | 24 | Stanford | 5-2 | L@Wash 17-13, @ND 20-13ot; wUSC 21-14 |
| -- | 25 | Michigan | 5-2 | L=Alabama 41-14, @ND 13-6 |
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| 16 | -- | West Virginia | 5-2 | L@TxTech 49-14, KSt 55-14 |
| 24 | -- | W. Kentucky | 5-2 | L ULM 43-42ot, @Alabama 35-0 |
Oklahoma dispatched Kansas as expected (52-7) and takes the next step in their attempted national championship rehab at Notre Dame next week. #9 LSU edged Texas A&M 24-19 to stay alive, too. And USC drubbed Colorado 50-6 and is still in decent shape despite their 1 loss. They move up one spot to #10.
Rutgers pounded Temple 35-10 and moves from #13 to #11, jumping 6-1 Georgia who had loads of trouble with Kentucky before winning 29-24. Sorry, Bulldogs, the "SEC is tough top-to-bottom" argument doesn't hold water. Some teams are good, others are bad, period.
#13 Texas Tech needed triple overtime but overcame TCU 56-53. Mississippi State, now 7-0 and yet to play anyone of consequence, will meet their maker next week against Alabama. Defeating MTSU 45-3 is actually fairly impressive, though, as the Blue Raiders whopped Georgia Tech 49-21; they move from #18 to #14.#15 Florida State held on to beat Miami 33-20, and #16 Clemson beat Virginia Tech 38-17, but the conference title game will hardly be marquee as Duke now leads the Coastal division.
Hooray for the MAC: Ohio (7-0) was idle and moves up to #18, followed by the WAC's Louisiana Tech who continues to rack up ungodly points, beating Idaho 70-28. A second MAC team, Toledo, enters at #20 after beating Cincinnati 29-23; the previously unbeaten Bearcats fall to #21.
Best of the two-loss teams: Texas A&M suffered very narrow losses to Florida and LSU, and beat Louisiana Tech, so they remain #22, followed by South Carolina who wasn't competitive against the Gators. Stanford beat Cal 21-3 but their loss to Washington holds them back at #24. Western Kentucky lost to Louisiana-Monroe 43-42 in overtime and drops out; West Virginia's two losses are to top 25 teams but they were by a combined 76 points, so they fall out in favor of Michigan, the only team with both losses to undefeated teams. The Wolverines narrowly edged Michigan State 12-10 Saturday.
Next weekend is huge. As mentioned, each of the top four teams plays another top 25 team—in fact, the opponents are all in our top 14:
- #1 Alabama (7-0) vs. #14 Mississippi State (7-0)
- #2 Florida (7-0) vs. #12 Georgia (6-1)
- #3 Kansas State (7-0) vs. #13 Texas Tech (6-1)
- #4 Notre Dame (7-0) vs. #8 Oklahoma (5-1)
Depending on how the top four fare, the #1 spot is completely up for grabs next time around; even if all four teams win there could be reshuffling. And if all four lose, Oregon might finally grab the top spot.
Also next week, #17 Louisville (7-0) takes on #21 Cincinnati (5-1) in a game that would have been bigger in any other weekend (and if Cincinnati had stayed unbeaten).
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