The top echelon of college football just continues to march on, mostly in blowout fashion. Georgia had the big top 10 win of Saturday by holding off Notre Dame 23-17. I didn’t penalize the Fighting Irish too badly, dropping them from 7 to 11 on my ballot. I did move LSU up, from 5 to 3, switching places with the Bulldogs, who improved to 3-0 vs. Notre Dame. The Tigers’ new-look offense is a big departure for the Ed Orgeron regime and Joe Burrow’s numbers put him square in the early Heisman Trophy talk. He’s also a strong contender with his Alabama counterpart Tua Tagovailoa for top honors in the SEC.
Auburn is up a notch to No. 7 after winning in solid fashion 28-20 at Texas A&M. Wisconsin is a big mover, jumping from 16 all the way to 8 in my poll this week. The Badgers’ 35-14 dispatching of Michigan, which felt worse, puts them in the playoff picture.
Michigan fell all the way out on my ballot, as did fellow Week 3 losers, Texas A&M, Washington State, Oklahoma State and Arizona State. The last three of those teams all lost narrow decisions and have a chance to play their way back in to the top 25. Of course the Aggies do as well, particularly as they enter a stretch of more winnable games, but they still have Georgia and LSU left on the slate.
Newcomers for me this week: No. 15 California, No. 20 Washington, No. 22 USC, No. 23 Wake Forest and No. 25 SMU. Washington and USC had both previously been in my poll.
1 Clemson
2 Alabama
3 LSU
4 Oklahoma
5 Georgia
6 Ohio State
7 Auburn
8 Wisconsin
9 Florida
10 Penn State
11 Notre Dame
12 Texas
13 Oregon
14 Iowa
15 Cal
16 Boise State
17 Kansas State
18 UCF
19 Utah
20 Washington
21 Virginia
22 USC
23 Wake Forest
24 Memphis
25 SMU
Dropped out: Michigan, Texas A&M, Washington State, Oklahoma State, Arizona State