It was not a good week to be a ranked team in the SEC, as (with the exception of Alabama and Georgia) they were either upset or barely escaped an upset. As such, there was a lot of movement in the Top 25.
Top 25 [Last week's position]
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (5-0) [1]
2. Georgia Bulldogs (5-0) [2]
3. Penn State Nittany Lions (5-0) [3]
4. Michigan Wolverines (5-0) [5]
5. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-0) [6]
6. Cincinnati Bearcats (4-0) [7] : Their defeat of Notre Dame might be the greatest win in school history
7. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-1) [11]
8. Michigan State Spartans (5-0) [12]
9. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (5-0) [18] : The collapse of the SEC opens the door for a Top Ten Sun Belt team!
10. Texas Longhorns (4-1) [17]
11. Oregon Ducks (4-1) [8] : Falling to Stanford should have dropped them lower, especially they had essentially won the game with two minutes remaining before getting stupid, but the number of upsets this week saved their ranking.
12. Kentucky Wildcats (5-0) [NR] : Defeating Florida for the first time in decades vaults the unbeaten Wildcats to a hair's-width away from the Top Ten
13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-1) [9]
14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-0) [14] : It wasn't a pretty win, but in this week of upsets, a win is a win
15. Florida Gators (3-2) [4]
16. Ole Miss Rebels (3-1) [15] : At least they gave a decent performance against Alabama
17. Auburn Tigers (4-1) [19] : The only ranked SEC team not Alabama or Georgia who avoided losing
18. SMU Mustangs (5-0) [NR]
19. BYU Cougars (5-0) [26]
20. Arkansas Razorbacks (4-1) [10] : Georgia's defense completely shut down their offense. Perhaps Arkansas isn't ready for the big time
21. Oregon State Beavers (4-1) [21]
22. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-1) [NR] : They knock off UCLA and ascend to the Top 25
23. NC State Wolfpack (4-1) [23]
24. Texas A&M Aggies (3-2) [16]
25. Oklahoma Sooners (5-0) [NR]
On the Edge: Houston Cougars (4-1), Army Black Knights (4-1), Virginia Tech Hokies (3-1), Air Force Falcons (4-1), UTSA Roadrunners (4-0), Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-0), Appalachian State Mountaineers (4-1), Pittsburgh Panthers (4-1)
Dropped off: Rutgers Scarlet Knights [#13], Baylor Bears [#20], UCLA Bruins [#22], Fresno State Bulldogs [#24], Boston College Eagles [#25]
Big Ten Report
In a week with plenty of upsets, the Big Ten performed pretty much as expected. The only upset was Nebraska blanking Northwestern. We also expected Rutgers to do better than they did. The Buckeyes defense seems to have ironed out their early season woes, which now makes them the second most dangerous team in the conference, behind Iowa (Penn State's offense still needs work).
Upset Report
Truthfully, in a week where several ranked teams lost, not all can be labeled as upsets. After all, I don't think anybody expected Ole Miss or Arkansas to beat Alabama or Georgia, but we certainly did not Arkansas to get shut out. Other upsets were toss-up games, as their opponents were not that bad. However, we still had some surprises.
Let's start in the SEC. Kentucky's defeat of Florida certainly ranks as an upset, perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend (since many people thought Cincy had a chance against Notre Dame). The Wildcats defense just frustrated Florida, and the Gators suffered enough injuries to make future success harder.
The Aggies didn't escape an upset. A late score makes the game look more competitive than it was. The Mississippi State Bulldogs basically controlled that game, and gave the Aggies their second loss.
We now move our attention to the west coast. Obviously the biggest upset in that region was Stanford's defeat of Oregon. Now, the national media had overhyped Oregon, so I knew a loss was forthcoming, but it really shouldn't have occurred this week. Oregon had the game won, although Stanford had led for much of the game, late in the fourth quarter. Then, two stupid penalties and bad tackling put Stanford right back into it, and then the Cardinal prevailed in overtime when Oregon attempted a very ill-advised pass play.
The state of California was home to another Pac-12 upset Saturday, as struggling Washington State completely wiped out the Cal Golden Bears. Then, at the end of the night, the state of California hosted yet another upset. While I figured Arizona State might win this game, their utter dominance of UCLA was a shock.
For our last upsets, we return to the region of the country covered by the SEC, Tennessee and Alabama. Middle Tennessee soundly thrashed the Marshall Thundering Herd, and Liberty beat UAB, advancing Liberty to a 4-1 record and garnering some attention in my computer-generated rankings.
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