College Football Rankings 2014: Week 4 AP and Amway Standings Revealed
Not many upsets were on the forecast for Saturday's slate of games, but that all changed when said games were played. A handful of surprising outcomes shook up the Week 4 Associated Press and Amway coaches polls that were released Sunday.
Week 3 only featured one game between two Top 25 teams, as No. 24 South Carolina hosted sixth-ranked Georgia and mounted the upset over the Bulldogs. But that doesn't mean that the rest of them were safe—a few were anything but.
With unpredictable upsets on one hand, and touted schools taking care of tests elsewhere, the Top 25 jostled around again in a big way.
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Here's a look at the new Week 4 Amway poll courtesy of USA Today, the newest AP poll per The Associated Press and the Week 4 Bleacher Report Top 25.
| 1 | Florida State (37) | Florida State (50) | Florida State |
| 2 | Oregon (17) | Alabama (1) | Oregon |
| 3 | Alabama (1) | Oregon (6) | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Oklahoma (2) | Oklahoma (4) | Alabama |
| 5 | Auburn | Auburn | Auburn |
| 6 | Texas A&M (3) | Baylor | Texas A&M |
| 7 | Baylor | Texas A&M | Baylor |
| 8 | LSU | LSU | LSU |
| 9 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
| 10 | Ole Miss | UCLA | Michigan State |
| 11 | MIchigan State | Michigan State | Ole Miss |
| 12 | UCLA | Ole Miss | UCLA |
| 13 | Georgia | Arizona State | Georgia |
| 14 | South Carolina | Georgia | Arizoan State |
| 15 | Arizona State | Stanford | South Carolina |
| 16 | Stanford | South Carolina | Stanford |
| 17 | USC | Wisconsin | Missouri |
| 18 | Missouri | Ohio State | USC |
| 19 | Wisconsin | Missouri | Kansas State |
| 20 | Kansas State | Kansas State | Wisconsin |
| 21 | BYU | USC | BYU |
| 22 | Clemson | Nebraska | Ohio State |
| 23 | Ohio State | BYU | Clemson |
| 24 | Nebraska | Clemson | Oklahoma State |
| 25 | Oklahoma State | North Carolina | Nebraska |
The biggest loser from the new Top 25 has to be the Georgia Bulldogs.
A convincing, season-opening win over Clemson was all washed away with a trip to the SEC East-rival South Carolina Gamecocks. Steve Spurrier's crew took a 24-13 lead into the locker room and rose up with a late goal-line stand to help seal the victory.
Georgia has never posted back-to-back wins over ranked teams to start the season, and failing to do so in 2014 has made it an uphill climb to get back into College Football Playoff contention. The Bulldogs fell to No. 14 in the Amway rankings.
Meanwhile, the Gamecocks—who know all about discouraging defeats after a season-opening loss to Texas A&M—shot back up the rankings. It's safe to say they were tired of hearing about their fellow SEC East contenders, per Josh Kendall of The State (Columbia, South Carolina):
The Gamecocks had fallen all the way to No. 24 in Week 3 after escaping East Carolina but have nearly pulled ahead of previously No. 6 Georgia in Week 4.
Speaking of East Carolina, the Pirates got in on the action Saturday by surprising Virginia Tech. The formerly 17th-ranked Hokies were upset at home 28-21, forcing them to plummet out of the Top 25 altogether.
The Pirates notched 35 top-25 votes in the coaches poll, good for 33rd overall, and could sneak closer by beating North Carolina at home next weekend.
The upsets continued with the previously 21st-ranked Louisville Cardinals falling to Virginia, which slipped Bobby Petrino's team out of the Top 25 after a brief two-week stay.
The USC Trojans know something about a deflating upset. After climbing up to No. 9 coming off a road win over Stanford, the Trojans headed east to face Boston College and fell in a 37-31 affair.
The Trojans were in the Top 10 in all three aforementioned polls last weekend but now fell to No. 17 in the AP and all the way to No. 21 in the coaches poll.
The Oregon Ducks, on the other hand, continue to prove why they can't be overlooked as one of the top teams in the standings. Marcus Mariota led the Ducks to a 48-14 win over Wyoming, allowing them to slide into No. 3 in the Amway poll and remain No. 2 in the AP.
Alabama took care of things once again at home Saturday, toppling Southern Miss 52-12 behind a big day from quarterback Blake Sims and another huge day from Amari Cooper, as ESPN SportsCenter noted:
The win allowed the Crimson Tide to remain No. 2 overall in the Amway poll, but they couldn't climb past Oregon in the AP and will look to make a statement next weekend against Florida.
It's no surprise that all of them are still looking up at Florida State. The Seminoles were on a bye this weekend but face Clemson on Sept. 20, and a big win there will further validate their No. 1 spot for the defending champs.
Analyzing the Week 4 standings too much can be counterproductive with so many games on tap in upcoming weekends that will shake things up even more. The only guarantee is change, and that is being proven in 2014 yet again.
Whether it's USC slipping up after a big upset of Stanford, Virginia Tech losing following the Ohio State win or South Carolina bouncing back to beat Georgia after their early-season shortcomings, early signs for many teams have been up-and-down.
If those trends continue, we could be in for one of the craziest college football seasons yet—and that's saying something.
Stats via ESPN.
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