At the conclusion of each week’s games, the staff at the Student Section will team with writers from other Bloguin sites to publish a Top 25 poll. Here’s the latest installment, with some notes and analysis about our panel’s choices.
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (4) | 193 |
| 2 | Utah (3) | 189 |
| 3 | Baylor | 171 |
| 4 | TCU | 167 |
| Tie | Clemson | 167 |
| 6 | Florida (1) | 158 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 145 |
| 8 | Florida State | 136 |
| 9 | Michigan State | 131 |
| 10 | Alabama | 125 |
| Tie | LSU | 125 |
| 12 | Michigan | 117 |
| 13 | Mississippi | 101 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 96 |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 94 |
| 16 | Iowa | 88 |
| 17 | Stanford | 74 |
| 18 | UCLA | 66 |
| 19 | Toledo | 43 |
| 20 | Northwestern | 36 |
| Tie | Houston | 36 |
| 22 | Boise State | 34 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 31 |
| 24 | Temple | 29 |
| 25 | California | 18 |
| Others receiving votes: Memphis 16, Duke 10, Navy 2, Penn State 1, Kentucky 1 | ||
| Voters: Joe Dexter, Ryan Palencer, Kevin Causey, Kevin McGuire, Allen Kenney, Scott King, Phil Harrison, Bart Doan, Terry Johnson | ||
Notes and Observations
- Managing Editor Matt Zemek is a voter in the poll, but will not cast a ballot until November.
- Although Ohio State held on to the top spot, it lost two first-place votes this week. Utah and Florida each picked one up.
- Baylor’s blowout of win over Kansas was just enough to vault it over Clemson and TCU in this week’s standings. However, the teams are still separated by only four points, suggesting that this order will likely change from week to week.
- As a result of its struggles against Rutgers, Michigan State dropped from third to ninth this weekend. The Spartans also failed to capture a first-place vote for the second straight week.
- Our voters were impressed with Michigan’s blowout win over Northwestern, moving the Wolverines all the way up to No. 12.
- Georgia and USC both dropped out of the rankings and failed to receive a vote after losing to Tennessee and Washington, respectively.
- Like most other college football experts, our panel was split on LSU. The Bayou Bengals were ranked as high as No. 2 on one ballot and low as No. 18 on another. This weekend’s epic showdown with Florida will permanently settle that dispute.
