NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 6 Standings and Analysis for Latest Polls

Winning isn't everything. One wouldn't expect that adage to carry over into NCAA football rankings predicated on which schools play a sport better than others, but tell that to Florida State.

The phrase takes on another meaning in this setting. Winning isn't everything, because beating your opponent in dominating fashion is just as important. Although the Seminoles staved off an upset against the North Carolina State Wolfpack, they showed vulnerability in the process.

How did allowing 41 points affect their standing atop the college football leaderboard? Would Texas A&M and Georgia face any repercussions for narrowly generating victories in SEC play? Let's take a look at the latest AP and Amway coaches polls.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PV RANK
1	Florida State (27)	4-0	1,416	1
2	Oregon (13)	4-0	1,405	2
3	Alabama (13)	4-0	1,387	3
4	Oklahoma (7)	4-0	1,357	4
5	Auburn	4-0	1,272	5
6	Texas A&M	5-0	1,206	6
7	Baylor	4-0	1,149	7
8	UCLA	4-0	975	11
9	Notre Dame	4-0	972	8
10	Michigan State	3-1	944	9
11	Mississippi	4-0	906	10
12	Mississippi State	4-0	848	14
13	Georgia	3-1	788	12
14	Stanford	3-1	643	16
15	LSU	4-1	636	17
16	USC	3-1	560	18
17	Wisconsin	3-1	502	19
18	Brigham Young	4-0	450	20
19	Nebraska	5-0	445	21
20	Ohio State	3-1	298	22
21	Oklahoma State	3-1	246	24
22	East Carolina	3-1	237	23
23	Kansas State	3-1	216	25
24	Missouri	4-1	145	39
25	TCU	3-0	109	29

RANK	TEAM	PV RANK
1	Alabama	2
2	Florida State	1
3	Oklahoma	3
4	Oregon	4
5	Auburn	5
6	Baylor	6
7	Texas A&M	7
8	Notre Dame	8
9	UCLA	10
10	Michigan State	9
11	Ole Miss	11
12	Georgia	13
13	Stanford	14
14	Mississippi State	16
15	LSU	18
16	Wisconsin	16
17	Nebraska	17
18	Ohio State	19
19	BYU	21
20	USC	22
21	East Carolina	24
22	Kansas State	25
23	Oklahoma State	26
24	Arizona State	12
25	TCU	31

NCAA Rankings Analysis

For the third time in four games, Florida State came dangerously close to dashing its title defense short. Against NC State, the Seminoles surrendered 24 first-quarter points and 520 total yards throughout the game, but Jameis Winston and Karlos Williams picked up the slack in their 56-41 victory.

In his return from a one-game suspension, Winston threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns along with two interceptions and a fumble that kept the Wolfpack alive. In his best game of the season, Williams accrued 126 rushing yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

Coach Jimbo Fisher took a positive outlook, crediting his team for rallying from behind to salvage a victory. Per ESPN's CollegeFootball's Twitter page:

Now the cynical perspective: FSU has a 13-point margin of victory after winning last year's regular-season games by an average of 40 points per contest. The defense has allowed 403.3 yards per game, hardly befitting a No. 1 squad.

So despite improving to 4-0, the Seminoles lost the top mark in the Amway poll, falling to an idle Alabama team that boasts a 28-point average margin of victory through four games. In the AP poll, they hold a narrow nine-point lead over Oregon.

If the Crimson Tide return from their week off to derail Ole Miss, they'll stay ahead of FSU in the Amway rankings while leapfrogging them in the AP poll. Oregon can also bolster its case for No. 1 against Arizona.

Meanwhile, Texas A&M and Georgia received mulligans despite close calls. The Aggies knocked off Arkansas after allowing 285 rushing yards. After College GameDay praised A&M's improved defense earlier in the day, the club regressed by allowing 484 total yards on Saturday.

Although the Razorbacks are 3-2, their other loss came at Auburn's hands, and the voters realize that a low-level SEC team is still a top-notch squad. Georgia received the same benefit, as the Volunteers have lost two consecutive games but to two ferocious foes in the Bulldogs and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Against 1-4 Vanderbilt, Georgia won't receive the same benefit of the doubt with a single-digit victory. After gaining a career-high 208 yards against Tennessee, Todd Gurley will continue to bolster his Heisman candidacy while keeping his squad in Top 10 consideration.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Arizona State's Top 25 standing was stripped in one listing and placed in jeopardy in the other after relinquishing 62 points to UCLA. Brett Hundley carved up ASU's secondary for 355 yards and four touchdowns, making Mike Bercovici's 488 yards all for naught.

As noted by ESPN CollegeFootball, the Sun Devils somehow gave up four touchdowns spanning more than three-quarters of the field.

With its next two games against USC and Stanford, Arizona State can erase the sour taste stemming from that defeat by upending its Pac-12 rivals. Given its defensive woes, however, it's more likely that at least one more loss sends ASU slipping further down the polls.