Post and Courier sports columnist Scott Hamilton is one of 65 voters in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll. Here’s how his ballot shook out after Week 5:
Game Show Edition
The Amazing Race: Ohio State traveled 2,425 miles west and beat Washington 24-6; Oregon went 2,694 miles east to get a 30-24 double-overtime victory at Penn State.
Each was an impressive road win powered by defense. The Buckeyes sacked Demond Williams Jr., Washington’s mobile quarterback, six times; the Ducks limited the Nittany Lions to only 69 total yards during the first half.
The Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) have been first in these rankings since beating then-No. 1 Texas to start the season. That’s where they remain going into their Week 6 game with Minnesota.
Oregon’s cross-country trek to deliver Penn State’s first defeat during a White Out game in seven years was enough to bump the Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) from No. 4 to No. 2. They have a week off before Indiana comes to town.
Bad (though not surprising) news for the Nittany Lions: James Franklin is now 4-21 against top-10 opponents during his career.
Big Brother: Alabama won at Georgia 24-21, snapping the Bulldogs’ home winning streak at 33 games. The last time Georgia lost at Sanford Stadium? A 20-17 defeat to South Carolina on Oct. 12, 2019.
The Crimson Tide is now ninth in these rankings, while Georgia fell seven spots to 12th. Kirby Smart — who was an Alabama assistant coach for eight season before leading the Bulldogs to two national championships — is 1-7 against the Crimson Tide. He’s also 0-2 against Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer.
Jeopardy!: Tennessee messed around and nearly found out what it’s like to not be ranked. The Volunteers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) escaped Starkvegas with a 41-34 overtime win over Mississippi State despite three turnovers. It wasn’t pretty, though enough to secure the No. 15 position.
Family Feud: We’re coming out of “The Week of Kiffin.”
An hourlong documentary on Lane Kiffin premiered in the middle of the week, followed by Ole Miss beating LSU 24-19 and a celebration of all things Joey Freshwater. During all of that, the news spread that Kiffin’s daughter, Landry, is in a relationship with LSU linebacker Whit Weeks.
Prioritize those items as you wish.
“Whit’s an awesome kid and comes from a great family,” Kiffin said earlier in the week on the Unnecessary Roughness podcast. “Glad those two are happy together, and, you know, it really has nothing to do with the game itself.”
Agreed. All that matters is the win was enough to move the Rebels (5-0, 3-0 SEC) up eight spots to No. 4.
LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC) fell from third to 17th after its offense rushed for merely 59 yards on 21 carries and converted only 2 of 11 third-down attempts. Brian Kelly is now 5-9 versus ranked opponents during his three-plus seasons coaching the Tigers.
Press Your Luck: Indiana (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) kept jacking around and nearly lost at Iowa. The Hoosiers needed a 49-yard touchdown pass from Fernando Mendoza to Elijah Sarratt with 1:28 remaining to win 20-15. They won’t have that luxury when they return to action on Oct. 11 at Oregon.
Georgia Tech (5-0, 2-0 ACC) also narrowly avoided disaster by escaping Wake Forest with a 30-28 win in overtime.
The Yellow Jackets trailed by 17 points in the third quarter. A 33-yard field goal from Aidan Birr with two seconds left in regulation forced overtime.
Indiana is 13th; Georgia Tech 16th.
Weakest Link: Goodbye, TCU and Southern Cal.
TCU spent all of one week at No. 25 before losing 27-24 at Arizona State. The Trojans’ two-week stint in these rankings ended with a 34-31 loss at Illinois.
Worth noting: During his three-plus seasons at Southern Cal, coach Lincoln Riley is now 1-6 in games played east of the Rocky Mountains. That lone victory came Sept. 13 at Purdue. More troubling, Riley has a 5-11 record against ranked opponents while with the Trojans. The last such victory was against then-No. 19 Louisville on Dec. 27, 2023.
The Price is Right: Virginia (4-1, 2-0 ACC) isn’t ranked despite a 46-38 double-overtime win over then-No. 10 Florida State. It was also fined $50,000 over its crowd immediately storming the field at Scott Stadium following the victory.
That’s a small price to pay, though, for Tony Elliott’s first signature win since taking over at Virginia in 2022. And the Cavaliers have a shot to crack the rankings next week when they play at Louisville.
Florida State (3-1, 0-1 ACC) fell from 10th to 19th.
Wheel of Fortune: The Big Ten owns the very, very top of these rankings. Still, the SEC has a larger presence throughout.
The SEC has 10 teams, followed by the Big Ten with six. The addition of Louisville ties the ACC with the Big 12 at four teams each.
Notre Dame, as usual, is the lone independent.
