NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 8 Standings and Analysis for Latest Polls
This is not a misprint—the college football universe revolves around the state of Mississippi.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs check in at No. 1 in the country in both the Associated Press Poll and Amway Coaches Poll after easily handling the Auburn Tigers. Not to be outdone, Ole Miss earned the No. 3 ranking in both polls after beating Texas A&M in decisive fashion.
Elsewhere, Notre Dame, Alabama and Oklahoma all struggled against lesser opponents, while Baylor completed an incredible comeback in the fourth quarter against TCU.
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Here is a look at the Week 8 polls, as well as a glance at the Bleacher Report rankings.
| 1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Mississippi State |
| 2 | Florida State | Florida State | Florida State |
| 3 | Ole Miss | Ole Miss | Ole Miss |
| 4 | Baylor | Baylor | Baylor |
| 5 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | Notre Dame |
| 6 | Auburn | Michigan State | Auburn |
| 7 | Alabama | Alabama | Michigan State |
| 8 | Michigan State | Auburn | Alabama |
| 9 | Oregon | Oregon | Oregon |
| 10 | Georgia | Georgia | Oklahoma |
| 11 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Georgia |
| 12 | TCU | TCU | TCU |
| 13 | Ohio State | Ohio State | Ohio State |
| 14 | Kansas State | Kansas State | Kansas State |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | Oklahoma State | East Carolina (T15) |
| 16 | Arizona | East Carolina | Oklahoma State (T15) |
| 17 | Arizona State | Arizona | Arizona State |
| 18 | East Carolina | Arizona State | Arizona |
| 19 | Nebraska | Nebraska | Nebraska |
| 20 | Utah | Stanford | Stanford |
| 21 | Texas A&M | Texas A&M | Clemson |
| 22 | USC | Clemson | Texas A&M |
| 23 | Stanford | Utah | UCLA |
| 24 | Clemson | Marshall | USC |
| 25 | Marshall | USC | Marshall |
Analysis and Reaction
The biggest takeaway from the latest polls is clearly the changing of the guard on top. Mississippi State is certainly in some uncharted territory, as SportsCenter and ESPN Stats & Info both noted:
Head coach Dan Mullen discussed his squad and its impressive rise to the top of the college football world, according to The Associated Press, via ESPN.com: “Every time we needed to make a play, a guy stepped up and made a play. We always wondered how to take the next step in this league…that’s it.”
Athletic director Scott Stricklin got in on the fun as well:
Mississippi State is just one of the big surprises near the top of the polls. Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel of Fox Sports both pointed that out:
Of course, the rise of Mississippi and Mississippi State also means the defending national champion Florida State took a step back, despite a win over Syracuse. You can make the case that the Seminoles have been less than impressive at times this year, but they still have not lost a game since 2012. Florida State fans would likely point that out when looking at the new poll.
The AP Top 25 noted that No. 1 falling after a win is not something that happens very often:
Fortunately for the Seminoles, they will have a chance to re-establish themselves in the No. 1 discussion again in their next game against Notre Dame. If the Fighting Irish defense plays like it did against North Carolina on Saturday, Florida State’s offense could have a big day.
ESPN Stats & Info pointed out just how rough of a day it was for Notre Dame in some aspects, even though it was a victorious effort:
Elsewhere, the SEC West has been more than impressive this year, especially against other competition. ESPN Stats & Info noted just how dominant the SEC West has been this season:
Still, one team that probably should be nowhere near the polls is Arkansas, as Chris Dufresne of the Los Angeles Times acknowledged. Sure, the Razorbacks had every chance to beat Alabama, which is somewhat impressive in itself, but the notion that a team that hasn’t won a league game since 2012 is even receiving votes is borderline ridiculous.
Another team that is receiving votes that has actually won some games is North Dakota State. Feldman praised the Bison’s resume:
If there is one thing we can be certain of in college football, it is that there will probably be more chaos during the next slate of games. We already discussed the matchup between Florida State and Notre Dame, but there are plenty of other contests that will shake up the polls.
Texas A&M plays Alabama, Baylor has a tricky contest at West Virginia, Kansas State battles Oklahoma, Oklahoma State plays TCU and Stanford takes on Arizona State.
The respective polls are certainly going to look different again next week.
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