Almost no upsets, but there was lots of movement in the rankings. We did lose two more unbeaten teams, leaving only seven. Three of those are in the Gang of Four: Air Force, Liberty, and James Madison (in only their second year in FBS).
Top 25 [Last week's position]
1. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (8-0) [1] : Second shutout of the season. Strong defense
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-0) [3] : Dominant victory over Penn State. The Lions completed only one third down attempt!
3. Oklahoma Sooners (7-0) [2] : Barely escapted UCF
4. Washington Huskies (7-0) [4] : The Huskies had a scare, too
5. Florida State Seminoles (7-0) [5]
6. Georgia Bulldogs (7-0) [6]
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2) [7]
8. Oregon Ducks (6-1) [8] : Strong bounce back from their tough loss to Washington
9. Texas Longhorns (6-1) [9] : They survived an upset scare
10. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-1) [10] : Their offense was shut down by the Buckeyes, but their defnse still dominates
11. Air Force Falcons (7-0) [13] : Knocking on the door of the Top Ten
12. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1) [14]
13. Utah Utes (6-1) [16]
14. North Carolina Tar Heels (6-1) [11]
15. Fresno State Bulldogs (6-1) [15]
16. USC Trojans (6-2) [12]
17. Missouri Tigers (7-1) [20]
18. Ole Miss Rebels (6-1) [21] : There may be a power shift in the SEC West
19. Oregon State Beavers (6-1) [19]
20. Tennessee Volunteers (5-2) [18]
21. Duke Blue Devils (5-2) [17]
22. Louisville Cardinals (6-1) [22]
23. Miami Hurricanes (5-2) [23]
24. Kansas State Wildcats (5-2) [27]
25. Texas A&M Aggies (4-3) [25]
Dropped off: Iowa Hawkeyes [#24]
On the Cusp: LSU Tigers (6-2), Kentucky Wildcats (5-2), SMU Mustangs (5-2), Toledo Rockets (7-1), Tulane Green Wave (6-1), Maryland Terrapins (5-2), UCLA Bruibs (5-2)
Upset alert
There were only two games that were truly upsets, as some unexpected results occurred, but either the teo teams were fairly even or the favorites ended up winning in a close game. However, North Carolina suffered perhaps the worst upset of the season, as they fell from the ranks of the unbeatens with a loss to one-win Virginia. The other upset occurred in the Big Ten, so I'll discuss it in that section.
Big Ten Report
Despite the score, Ohio State thoroughly dominated Penn State. The Nittany Lions late touchdown was a "pity" score, as the Buckeyes defense took a breather. Michigan shut out their state rivals, and llinois nearly took out Wisconsin (and would have, if the defense hadn't given up when Newton was ejected for targeting). Iowa's defense, however, couldn't completely slow down the Gophers offense, and they lost their second conference game. I bet Iowa hopes Illinois HAD beaten Wisconsin!
By the way, hat's off to Illinois' JaiZhan Newton. Most players try to argue with the referres when they are accussed of targeting. Not only did Newton admit it, he was so mad at himself immediately after the play that he drew the flag by his own reaction. Newton took responsibility for his error. That is a level of maturity that you rarely see in the college game, and is even hard to find in the pros.
MAC Attack
Buffalo continues to win. Despite losing ALL of their non-conference games, the Bulls are a contender to win their division. That's amazing. On the other hand, Toledo has upper hand in their division.
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