AP College Football Poll 2014: Official Top 25 Rankings, Week 4 Projections

We are another week into the 2014 NCAA college football season, and a few more contenders have seen their title aspirations dashed with a loss that shoved them down the AP poll.

Throughout the early college football season, marquee schools have slipped down the rankings, mostly as a result of falling to other premier programs. Georgia continued that trend with a close loss to SEC foe South Carolina, but USC and West Virginia plummeted down the rankings after getting stung by teams outside the AP Top 25.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PV RANK	WEEK 4 OPPONENT	PREDICTION
1	Florida State	2-0	1,466	1	No. 22 Clemson	42-30 FSU
2	Oregon	3-0	1,424	2	at Washington State	55-14 ORE
3	Alabama	3-0	1,346	3	Florida	32-6 ALA
4	Oklahoma	3-0	1,325	4	at West Virginia	38-17 OKL
5	Auburn	2-0	1,252	5	at No. 20 Kansas State	31-23 AUB
6	Texas A&M	3-0	1,195	7	at SMU	49-13 A&M
7	Baylor	3-0	1,134	8	N/A
8	LSU	3-0	1,114	10	Mississippi State	27-9 LSU
9	Notre Dame	3-0	917	11	N/A
10	Mississippi	3-0	840	14	N/A
11	Michigan State	1-1	832	13	Eastern Michigan	23-6 MSU
12	UCLA	3-0	807	12	N/A
13	Georgia	1-1	729	6	Troy	50-10 GA
14	South Carolina	2-1	718	24	at Vanderbilt	37-14 SC
15	Arizona State	3-0	680	16	N/A
16	Stanford	2-1	560	15	N/A
17	USC	2-1	459	9	N/A
18	Missouri	3-0	446	20	Indiana	44-10 MO
19	Wisconsin	1-1	414	18	N/A
20	Kansas State	2-0	326	19	Auburn	31-23 AUB
21	Brigham Young	3-0	246	25	Virginia	35-27 BYU
22	Clemson	1-1	209	23	at No. 1 Florida State	42-30 FSU
23	Ohio State	2-1	204	22	N/A
24	Nebraska	3-0	172	26	Miami (FL)	48-20 NEB
25	Oklahoma State	2-1	126	28	N/A

This week, ranked opponents collide in a pair of pivotal bouts. The Clemson Tigers can avenge their Week 1 loss to Georgia and soar back up the hierarchy by defeating top-ranked Florida State. 

A year after conquering the SEC, Auburn will make or break its College Football Playoff candidacy Thursday night against Kansas State. Currently ranked No. 20, their preseason slotting, the Wildcats can climb up the order with an upset.

Let's take a closer look at those two showdowns.

Week 4 Preview

STEVEN CANNON/Associated Press

Through two games, the Seminoles haven't quite looked like the nation's top team in line to repeat as champions. Although they're 2-0, their plus-31 point differential doesn't befit the best squad in the world.

In college football, where the nation's best teams drastically set themselves apart from the others, winning is often not enough to gain elite status. Nebraska scored 55 points for the second time in three games last Saturday, and it needed that duplicate performance just to sneak into the AP Top 25.

Oregon is hot on Florida State's heels in pursuit of the No. 1 spot. If the Seminoles want to keep looking down at everyone else, they'll need to make a statement against Clemson this weekend.

Georgia used Clemson as a stepping stone into the Top 10, accruing 459 total yards during a 45-21 Week 1 victory. The Bulldogs found themselves perched at No. 6 before squandering that good win with a loss against the Gamecocks.

ESPN Stats & Information identified defense as the main reason FSU's margin of victory has dipped from last year's 39.5 points to 15.5 early in 2014:

"

According to ESPN’s defensive efficiency, which measures how many points a defense contributes to its team’s net scoring margin and adjusts for the strength of opposing offenses, Florida State has been a below-average defense (85th in the FBS) this season after leading the FBS in defensive efficiency in 2013.

"

Clemson saved some face with a 73-7 annihilation of South Carolina State, during which it gained 735 total yards to its mismatched opponent's 44. It served as a reminder of how dangerous Dabo Swinney's squad can be, but it also won't matter if a brutal schedule relegates the program to a 1-2 start.

RICHARD SHIRO/Associated Press

If the Jameis Winston who completed 22 of his 27 passes for 256 yards against Citadel shows up, Florida State should hold on to the top spot with a notable victory under its belt.

Auburn has shown no such sluggishness in its opening two games, compiling 104 combined points behind a brutish rushing offense that has churned out 660 yards on the ground. The leader of that rushing prowess is senior Cameron Artis-Payne, who has already amassed 289 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Head coach Gus Malzahn compared him to former back Tre Mason, whom the St. Louis Rams selected in the third round of April's NFL draft.

"There's probably more similarities than there are differences," Malzahn told AL.com's Brandon Marcello. "Tre was such an exceptional between-the-tackles runner and I think Cameron has some of those same traits. Cameron also has gotten a little quicker, a little faster from this time last year."

Through two games, Kansas State has allowed 174 rushing yards, but it hasn't faced a back like Artis-Payne. Bill Snyder's squad will need another big game from quarterback Jake Waters, who added 138 rushing yards to his 239 yards through the aerial assault in the team's 32-28 victory over Iowa State.

As relayed by The Wichita Eagle's Kellis Robinett, Snyder doesn't understand why Waters' legs caught people off guard.

After needing a late rally to fend off the Cyclones, the Wildcats could lose their real estate in the AP poll with a loss Thursday night.