NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 4 Standings for College's Top 25 Teams
Week 3 of the 2014 college football season is in the books, and the preseason's top-25 rankings suddenly seem like a distant memory. There's already been a bevy of changes atop the nation's standings, and after Saturday's action, we can expect plenty more.
Each week, we learn more and more about each squad. Some teams appear to only get stronger with each passing contest, but others begin to show weaknesses. This is when we begin to see separation between teams that are actually contenders and others that are just pretty good.
With a few ranked teams inactive, others suffering devastating losses and even more holding strong with big victories, the current Top 25 will look a whole lot different in short order. Here's a look at each team's current standing with its corresponding Week 3 outcomes.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 1 | Florida State | BYE | — | 2-0 |
| 2 | Oregon | Wyoming | Win, 48-14 | 3-0 |
| 3 | Alabama | Southern Miss | Win, 52-12 | 3-0 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | Tennessee | 34-10 | 3-0 |
| 5 | Auburn | BYE | — | 2-0 |
| 6 | Georgia | South Carolina | Loss, 35-38 | 1-1 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | Rice | Win, 38-10 | 3-0 |
| 8 | Baylor | Buffalo | Win, 63-21 | 3-0 |
| 9 | USC | Boston College | Loss, 31-37 | 2-1 |
| 10 | LSU | Louisiana-Monroe | Win, 31-0 | 3-0 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | Purdue | Win, 30-14 | 3-0 |
| 12 | UCLA | Texas | Win, 20-17 | 3-0 |
| 13 | Michigan State | BYE | — | 1-1 |
| 14 | Mississippi | Louisiana-Lafayette | Win, 56-15 | 3-0 |
| 15 | Stanford | Army | Win, 35-0 | 2-1 |
| 16 | Arizona State | Colorado | Win, 38-24 | 3-0 |
| 17 | Virginia Tech | East Carolina | Loss, 21-28 | 2-1 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | BYE | — | 1-1 |
| 19 | Kansas State | BYE | — | 2-0 |
| 20 | Missouri | UCF | Win, 38-10 | 3-0 |
| 21 | Louisville | Virginia | Loss, 21-23 | 2-1 |
| 22 | Ohio State | Kent State | Win, 66-0 | 2-1 |
| 23 | Clemson | BYE | — | 1-1 |
| 24 | South Carolina | Georgia | Win, 38-35 | 2-1 |
| 25 | BYU | Houston | Win, 33-25 | 3-0 |
Week 4 Projected Movement
Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks
Saturday proved to be an enormous disappointment for the Bulldogs. The nation's No. 6 team lost in an extremely close contest to South Carolina. While the game came down to a matter of inches, a loss is a loss, and Georgia's ranking will be greatly affected.
According to Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee, this outcome could have been expected:
Losing to the nation's No. 24 team that held a .500 record entering Week 3 will no go over favorably with the voters. Georgia will easily fall out of the Top 10, and possibly outside of the Top 20—just as South Carolina did after losing to Texas A&M in Week 1.
The Gamecocks began their season in ominous fashion, losing to Texas A&M in a rout and struggling to get past East Carolina. Due to those games, don't expect them to climb the standings significantly. However, a trip inside the Top 20 is certainly warranted.
USC Trojans
Just one week after an impressive win over Stanford, the Trojans fell back down to earth, losing to unranked Boston College by a score of 37-31. While Cody Kessler was impressive under center yet again—he passed for 317 yards and four touchdowns—USC didn't have a running game to speak of, gaining just 20 yards on 29 carries.
As bad as the Trojans were on the ground on offense, they were even worse against it on the defensive side of the ball. Boston College torched USC for an improbable 452 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The Trojans simply didn't have an answer for this one-dimensional offense through four quarters of action.
Hopefully, USC didn't get too comfortable in the Top 10, as this loss will drop them well down the standings and could prevent them from getting there again.
Virginia Tech Hokies
Here's another team that followed up a big win with a dud one week later. Virginia Tech took care of business against Ohio State in Week 2, winning by a score of 35-21, and followed it up with a horrid effort Saturday against East Carolina.
The Pirates jumped out to an early lead thanks to three first-quarter passing touchdowns from Shane Carden. While the Hokies stifled East Carolina's offense soon after, and eventually tied the game late in the fourth quarter, they gave it right back, allowing a three-play, 65-yard scoring drive in the waning seconds of the game.
Here's a telling tweet regarding Virginia Tech's passing defense, via ESPN Stats & Info:
Virginia Tech wasn't ranked before its Week 2 win against the Buckeyes, and the team may not find itself in the Top 25 once more after Saturday's upset.
Louisville Cardinals
One thing is for sure: If Virginia Tech is out of the Top 25, Louisville is definitely out after losing to Virginia by a score of 23-21 on Saturday. While the Cardinals defense was sharp for the most part throughout the contest, the team had no offense to speak of.
Quarterback Will Gardner completed just 14 of his 34 passing attempts for 164 yards, two scores and two interceptions, while the team carried 27 times for just 79 yards—an average of 2.9 yards per carry. Those aren't top-25 numbers, especially against an unranked opponent.
Don't expect to see the Cardinals ranked in Week 4.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
