BLACKSBURG — The preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll featured Texas, Penn State and Clemson in the top four. Those three teams were expected to contend for conference championships and spots in the College Football Playoff.
None of those teams are ranked in my most recent ballot after Week 6.
Clemson dropped out a couple of weeks ago after a lopsided home loss to Syracuse. Texas and Penn State dropped out of my ballot after Saturday’s slate of games after both suffered embarrassing road losses to Florida and UCLA, respectively.
That means there are new teams in my ballot (hello, American Conference) and other teams that continue to move up because they keep winning.
Check out how I voted:
1. Ohio State (5-0)
2. Oregon (5-0)
3. Miami (5-0)
4. Ole Miss (5-0)
5. Texas A&M (5-0)
6. Oklahoma (5-0)
7. Alabama (4-1)
8. Georgia (4-1)
9. LSU (4-1)
10. Georgia Tech (5-0)
11. BYU (5-0)
12. Indiana (4-0)
13. Texas Tech (5-0)
14. Tennessee (4-1)
15. Missouri (5-0)
16. Virginia (5-1)
17. Illinois (5-1)
18. Michigan (4-1)
19. Notre Dame (3-2)
20. Vanderbilt (5-1)
21. Iowa State (5-1)
22. UNLV (5-0)
23. Memphis (6-0)
24. Navy (5-0)
25. South Florida (4-1)
Assessing the mess
Outside of Penn State losing, the top 10 remained in order with teams taking care of business and winning. It gets interesting with where to slot teams coming off their first loss, like Vanderbilt and Iowa State. Both teams have the types of resumes that are worthy of remaining ranked, so it came down to slotting them behind other teams playing well (Illinois, Michigan, etc.) and ahead of other teams that maybe don’t have the types of wins needed just yet.
Who’s new this week?
Memphis. The Tigers improved to 6-0 with a home win over Tulsa. Memphis has a one-point win over Arkansas on its resume to go along with back-to-back wins to open play in the American Conference. Memphis’ margin of victory in those triumphs over FAU and Tulsa? 100-33.
Navy. Hello, Midshipmen. Navy got 469 yards of total offense from quarterback Blake Horvath and wide receiver Eli Heidenreich set a program record with 243 receiving yards in a 34-31 home win over Air Force. Since when did a service academy get a high-octane passing attack? Navy needed all of it to improve to 5-0, and that mark includes wins over American opponents UAB, Tulsa and Rice.
South Florida. Welcome back to the ballot, Bulls. USF fell out after losing to Miami in Week 3 and has rebounded with lopsided wins over South Carolina State and Charlotte. And an 18-16 win at Florida in Week 2 looks significantly better after the Gators upset Texas.
Who’s out this week?
Penn State. The Nittany Lions were hungover after a double-overtime loss to Oregon the week prior and looked lost in the first half against winless UCLA. They weren’t able to recover and suffered a 42-37 loss. It doesn’t matter whether the spread was Penn State favored by 24 1/2 or 25 1/2. A loss like that to a team that hadn’t shown much at all in the Bruins means you drop completely out of the ballot.
Texas. Maybe I had been a bit harsh on the Longhorns in having them ranked 18th in my ballot last week. But, to be honest, they hadn’t looked like a top-10 team in how they performed against San Jose State and UTEP after the one-touchdown loss at Ohio State to open the season. Sure, a 55-0 win at Sam Houston State certainly helps, but losing to a reeling Florida team by eight means the Longhorns fell to 0-2 against Power Four teams this season. And, for Texas, good luck. The Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma is on deck.
Florida State. The Seminoles trailed Miami 28-3 entering the fourth quarter Saturday night. A couple of lengthy scoring drives and a late field goal allowed FSU to cut into the deficit and make the final score respectable (28-22), but a second straight loss in ACC play dropped the Seminoles out of the ballot.
What’s up with the ACC?
Miami, thanks to its 28-22 win over Florida State, remained at No. 3 in my ballot. The Hurricanes took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter and allowed a 25-point lead to nearly evaporate.
Georgia Tech took an open week and is in 10th in my ballot.
Virginia got a walk-off win in overtime at Louisville to improve to 3-0 in league play and moved up to 16th in my ballot. The Cavaliers went from blowing teams out to winning close games in overtime.
Who’s next?
USC. The Trojans had a week to stew over the loss at Indiana before taking on Michigan in what will be a doozy of a matchup between one-loss Big Ten teams.
Cincinnati. The Bearcats certainly caught everyone’s attention by knocking Iowa State from the ranks of the unbeatens with a 38-30 home win. Cincinnati dominated early and had to hold on. The Bearcats have rebounded from the opening-week, neutral-site loss to Nebraska with wins over Bowling Green, Northwestern State, Kansas and Iowa State.
Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124
damien.sordelett@roanoke.com
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