OXFORD, Miss. — Once again, chaos has reigned supreme in the world of college football.
Alabama upset Georgia on the road. Oregon proved that it was a national title contender after beating Penn State in Happy Valley. LSU took a step backward at Ole Miss.
Let’s touch on all of that and more through the lens of my latest AP poll.
My AP poll after Week 5
1. Oregon, 2. Miami, 3. Ohio State, 4. Penn State, 5. Texas A&M, 6. Oklahoma, 7. Texas, 8. Texas Tech, 9. Georgia, 10. Alabama, 11. Notre Dame, 12. Ole Miss, 13. Indiana, 14. Tennessee, 15. Michigan, 16. LSU, 17. Missouri, 18. Mississippi State, 19. Vanderbilt, 20. Illinois, 21. Arizona State, 22. Florida State, 23. TCU, 24. Iowa State, 25. Southern Cal
Just missed: Auburn, Georgia Tech, Washington, Nebraska
A new No. 1
Oregon needed double overtime to beat Penn State, but the Ducks proved they were the better team on Saturday night. Quarterback Dante Moore outplayed veteran Penn State signal-caller Drew Allar, Oregon accumulated 148 more yards of offense and the Ducks decisively won the time of possession battle.
And they did it all while taking down my No. 1 team heading into the week in arguably the most hostile environment in the country. Did Oregon prove it’s by far the best team in college football this week? No, but no team deserved the spot more after this week than the Ducks.
As for Penn State, the Nittany Lions dropped to No. 4 in part because of their struggling passing attack. Combine that with Miami and Ohio State holding better resumes thus far, and that’s why Penn State slid behind those teams.
Georgia ahead of Alabama?
I had trouble figuring out what to do with Alabama and Georgia. On the one hand, Alabama outplayed the Bulldogs, and Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson was excellent despite receiving minimal help from his running game.
But on the other hand, Alabama also lost to Florida State, and the Seminoles didn’t do the Tide any favors this week when they lost to Virginia. Georgia, meanwhile, still holds a strong road win over Tennessee despite losing to Alabama.
The lows Alabama displayed against Florida State were just enough for me to keep them behind Georgia in my poll, despite this week’s result.
Breaking down LSU, Ole Miss and Notre Dame
LSU’s struggles on offense, combined with its two best wins aging like spoiled milk, meant that the Tigers were going to take a hit in my poll when they lost and struggled as they did against Ole Miss on the road.
Meanwhile, the Rebels shot up in my rankings, but I couldn’t place them over Notre Dame after the Fighting Irish clobbered Arkansas on the road this weekend. When Ole Miss faced the Razorbacks at home a few weeks back, they only won by six and were outgained and outpossessed by Arkansas.
Notre Dame may have two losses, but they were against two top-5 teams in my poll by a combined four points. Even if I still have questions about the defense, it’s hard to look at the Irish and not see that they’re a top-15 caliber team.
Other notes
The final score was very deceiving in Texas A&M’s win over Auburn. Despite winning by just six, the Aggies held Auburn to zero third-down conversions, wracked up 237 more total yards and had the ball for over eight more minutes.
It was a dominant showing, which, combined with the Notre Dame road win, suggests that the Aggies are probably the best team in the SEC at the moment.
Mississippi State shot up my ballot after taking Tennessee to overtime this week. Couple that result with the Bulldogs’ win over Arizona State, and it’s clear to me that they’re one of the 25 best teams in the nation.
I have questions surrounding Tennessee’s defense even as its offense continues to soar. Georgia losing this week didn’t do it any favors, but through five weeks, it’s difficult to argue that the Volunteers have looked worse than Michigan or LSU.
Filling out the last few spots in my poll this week was a major challenge.
Florida State’s loss to Virginia was very ugly, but Alabama beating Georgia this week still gave the Seminoles’ resume enough of a boost to keep them ranked. TCU’s loss to ASU didn’t dissuade me from my stance that the Horned Frogs have an interesting team. They outplayed ASU for most of the night, and that game was on the road.
Besides Mississippi State’s performance and Illinois earning a big win over USC, I had trouble finding unranked teams that were worthy of sliding into the top-25. Washington didn’t do enough against Ohio State to earn a spot. Louisville and BYU struggled against weak competition. Kansas suffered a costly loss to Cincinnati, and Nebraska didn’t play this week.