Amway College Football Poll 2014: Complete Week 4 Rankings Released
Even in a week without many big-time showdowns, the college football slate provided plenty of surprises.
There was only one game in Week 3 between Top 25 opponents as South Carolina pulled out a win over Georgia. However, four ranked teams went down in total this weekend, including two in the Top 10. None of them was more surprising than USC's loss to Boston College.
This has caused a relatively notable shift in the rankings heading into Week 4. Here is a full look at the latest Amway Coaches Poll from USA Today, along with Bleacher Report's Top 25.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
| 1 | Florida State (50) | 1502 | Florida State |
| 2 | Alabama (1) | 1408 | Oregon |
| 3 | Oregon (6) | 1399 | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Oklahoma (4) | 1390 | Alabama |
| 5 | Auburn | 1297 | Auburn |
| 6 | Baylor | 1179 | Texas A&M |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 1159 | Baylor |
| 8 | LSU | 1107 | LSU |
| 9 | Notre Dame | 966 | Notre Dame |
| 10 | UCLA | 861 | Michigan State |
| 11 | Michigan State | 776 | Ole Miss |
| 12 | Ole Miss | 769 | UCLA |
| 13 | Arizona State | 732 | Georgia |
| 14 | Georgia | 693 | Arizona State |
| 15 | Stanford | 561 | South Carolina |
| 16 | South Carolina | 529 | Stanford |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 436 | Missouri |
| 18 | Ohio State | 402 | USC |
| 19 | Missouri | 382 | Kansas State |
| 20 | Kansas State | 381 | Wisconsin |
| 21 | USC | 338 | BYU |
| 22 | Nebraska | 325 | Ohio State |
| 23 | BYU | 222 | Clemson |
| 24 | Clemson | 207 | Oklahoma State |
| 25 | North Carolina | 128 | Nebraska |
Arguably the best battle of the past week went to the SEC as South Carolina came through with a narrow 38-35 win over Georgia.
This was an exciting game that featured huge performances from Gamecocks quarterback Dylan Thompson and Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley, but after all the scoring it came down to a quarterback sneak in the middle of the field.
Holding a three-point lead in the closing minutes, South Carolina went for it on fourth down with Thompson running it up the middle. After the spot was placed, the call was a first down by this much:
ESPN's Michele Steele interviewed head coach Steve Spurrier about the decision to go for it after the game:
His team dropped in the rankings after a Week 1 loss to Texas A&M, but this latest win puts it right back in the discussion for the best teams in the SEC East. South Carolina moved up to No. 16 in the latest rankings while Georgia fell to No. 14 as a playoff berth now seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, USC is also trending downward after a shocking loss at the hands of Boston College. The Pac-12 team was coming off a huge win over Stanford and was once again looking like a national title contender. However, this no longer appears to be the case after a classic letdown game.
Boston College rushed for 452 yards and five touchdowns, including 191 yards on the ground by quarterback Tyler Murphy on just 13 attempts. The Trojans defense simply had no answer for the rushing attack and fell 37-31.
Eagles coach Steve Addazio explained it all by saying, "We out-desired them," via Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated.
USC fell to No. 21 in the latest poll, but more importantly might have taken itself out of the national title picture. Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead provides an updated look at the College Football Playoff:
While there is clearly a lot of time left in the season, these types of disappointing losses end up becoming huge down the line.
Week 3 also featured a letdown performance from Virginia Tech, which lost at home to East Carolina after defeating Ohio State a week earlier. Louisville also fell from the rankings after a loss to Virginia.
The good news is the top teams remained undefeated as Oregon, Alabama and Oklahoma took care of business against unranked opponents.
UCLA also had a notable win over Texas after starting quarterback Brett Hundley was injured early, as Chip Patterson of CBSSports.com reported. While Jerry Neuheisel helped the Bruins improve to 3-0 with a 20-17 victory, they will certainly hope Hundley is able to return soon.
The action continues to pick up next week as No. 1 Florida State welcomes its first real test of the season in No. 24 Clemson. The Seminoles embarrassed the Tigers 51-14 last season, but this is a new year and there is always the chance at revenge.
Auburn also takes on Kansas State in an intriguing non-conference game, while Oklahoma has a potentially tricky road battle in West Virginia.
In a sport where one bad game can ruin your season, there will be plenty to watch in the coming week.
Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
