In the latest release of the USA Today coaches’ poll, eight of the spots in the Top Ten saw different teams from the week before.
The Associated Press’ latest Top 25, on the other hand, had a little less upheaval than its coaching counterpart. Very, very little.
Alabama at No. 1, Oregon at No. 2 and Ohio State at No. 4 remained static from a week ago. Everywhere else in the Top 10, it was change as far as the eye could see.
As it did in the coaches’ poll, Florida State moved past the Buckeyes into No. 3 spot vacated by Clemson, which dropped to No. 9. Missouri, No. 7 according to the coaches, climbed nine spots into the Top Five at No. 5. Baylor at No. 6 (No. 12 last week), Miami at No. 7 (No. 10), Stanford at No. 8 (No. 13) and Texas Tech at No. 10 (No. 16) round out the Top 10.
Baylor’s No. 6 ranking is the Bears’ highest in the AP poll since January 1, 1980. The No. 5 coaches’ poll ranking is the football program’s highest in any poll since they were AP’s No. 3 team in 1953.
Auburn, which made its 2013 AP poll debut last week, took the biggest move upward this week, moving all the way up to No. 11 from No. 24. Unlike the coaches, the one-loss Tigers are actually rated ahead of the two-loss team it just beat as Texas A&M dropped seven spots to No. 14. On the other hand, UCF, which beat Louisville Thursday, is ranked three spots behind the No. 18 Cardinals despite both exiting Week 8 with one loss apiece.
An unprecedented trio of losses on the same weekend staggered the SEC East in this week’s release: South Carolina, which lost to Tennessee, tumbled all the way down to No. 20 from No. 11; Georgia (No. 15) and Florida (No. 22) fell completely out of the rankings courtesy of losses to Vanderbilt and Mizzou, respectively.
In addition to UCF, which is ranked for the first time since 2010, two other teams entered the Top 25: No. 24 Michigan and No. 25 Wisconsin. As was the case in the coaches’ poll, Georgia, No. 20 Washington and Florida all exited the rankings.
