The top four teams in the coache spoll remain unchanged this week, although the order has been switched up. No. 1 Ohio State remains on top, but No. 2 Baylor moved up two spots following a demolishing of Kansas while No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Michigan State each dropped a spot following closer-than-expected road tests at Kansas State and Rutgers, respectively.
The Buckeyes received 47 first-place votes in the coaches poll. Baylor picked up eight first-place votes, TCU received five and Michigan State, No. 5 LSU and No. 7 Utah each received one. No. 6 Clemson, despite not receiving any first-place consideration, managed to stay one spot ahead of the Utes following a late Saturday night victory over No. 23 Cal (Bears dropped just one spot despite having more turnovers than any top 25 team should have any given week).
Georgia and USC fell out of the top 25 this week following losses. The Bulldogs fell from No. 16 after their second striaght loss (first to Alabama and then at Tennessee), and the Trojans were dumped after being upset at home by Washington on Thursday night after being ranked No. 17. With Georgia and USC out, that made room for No. 24 Duke and No. 25 Toledo at the bottom of this week’s poll. Undefetaed Houston and Temple are each on the doorstep.
No team had a bigger fall within the top 25 this week than Oklahoma. The Sooners fell 10 spots down to No. 19 after being upset in the Red River Rivalry by Texas. No. 14 Michigan rocketed up seven spots following its latest shutout victory, which dropped Northwestern down to No. 21 (five spots behind No. 16 Stanford, whose only loss came in Evanston).
In the eyes of the coache spoll voters, No. 9 Alabama is the best one-loss team in the country, with a home loss to No. 12 Ole Miss. You coudl make the argument that distinction belongs to No. 14 Michigan, whose only loss was on the road on a Thursday night at No. 7 Utah.
Here is this week’s coaches poll, with first-place votes noted)
- Ohio State (47)
- Baylor (8)
- TCU (5)
- Michigan State (1)
- LSU (1)
- Clemson
- Utah (1)
- Florida State
- Alabama
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- Oklahoma State
- Stanford
- Iowa
- UCLA
- Oklahoma
- Boise State
- Northwestern
- Memphis
- California
- Duke
- Toledo