NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 10 Standings and Analysis for Latest Polls

Everyone wants to know which teams are the best in college football, but the rankings are more of a mess than ever before.

At the end of the season, a committee will choose the four best teams in the country to compete in a playoff for the national championship. While many believed this would sort itself out, only three undefeated teams remain: Mississippi State, Florida State and Marshall.

As a result, we now have to examine the rest of the teams to see which are better among the one-loss programs. Each poll has its view, but here is a look at those squads ranked too high or too low in the latest set of rankings.

Rank	Coaches Poll	AP Poll
1	Mississippi State (41)	Mississippi State (46)
2	Florida State (21)	Florida State (14)
3	Alabama	Alabama
4	Auburn	Auburn
5	Michigan State	Oregon
6	Oregon	Notre Dame
7	Notre Dame	Ole Miss
8	Georgia	Michigan State
9	Ole Miss	Georgia
10	TCU	TCU
11	Kansas State	Kansas State
12	Baylor	Baylor
13	Ohio State	Ohio State
14	Arizona State	Arizona
15	Arizona	Arizona State
16	Nebraska	LSU
17	LSU	Nebraska
18	Utah	Utah
19	East Carolina	Oklahoma
20	Oklahoma	West Virginia
21	Clemson	East Carolina
22	West Virginia	Clemson
23	Marshall	Marshall
24	Duke	Duke
25	UCLA	UCLA

Too High: Alabama (No. 3 in coaches poll; No. 3 in AP poll)

Ole Miss lost a close game and dropped from No. 3 to No. 9, which is not completely out of line. However, it moved significantly behind Alabama, which continues to climb up the rankings.

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com noted why this does not make sense:

The Crimson Tide completely destroyed Texas A&M, but the Aggies are not as good as we originally thought. The fact remains that Alabama has not beaten a single team ranked in the current Top 25 except for West Virginia, and that win came in August on a neutral field. 

Bleacher Report's Playoff Guru Samuel Chi provided a look at how the teams in the SEC West should rank:

While this sport is understandably all about what you have done for me lately, we should not forget about past wins and losses. Alabama has not beaten any of the top teams in the SEC and is only at this spot due to preseason expectations.

Alabama has upcoming games at LSU and home against Mississippi State and Auburn, so we will know a lot more about this team by the end of the year.

Too Low: Oregon (No. 6 in coaches poll; No. 5 in AP poll)

Ryan Kang/Associated Press

Oregon once again showed how explosive it can be offensively with a 59-41 win over Cal. Obviously, teams do not want to give up that many points, but the game was never in doubt. Marcus Mariota threw five touchdowns for the Ducks in the win.

In fact, the most notable part of his performance was the fact that he threw an interception for the first time all year. He now has 24 passing touchdowns and one interception.

In his weekly press conference, head coach Mark Helfrich discussed the way the team turned things around after the loss to Arizona:

"

(Players) came in disappointed, frustrated and looked each other directly in the eye and said, let's fix this together. There was no pout element to it at all. We can't sit here and say what if we had these receivers back or these offensive linemen back. We are who we are right now and our guys are competing their tails off.

"

The loss to Arizona hurt, but the Wildcats are a good team. Meanwhile, the Ducks have also earned dominant wins over UCLA and Michigan State, which is ranked above them in one poll.

Oregon has one of the more impressive resumes of all the one-loss teams and should be a top option for the College Football Playoff if it wins out.

Too Low: Nebraska (No. 16 in coaches poll; No. 17 in AP poll)

As long as Ameer Abdullah is playing well, it is difficult for anyone to beat Nebraska. 

Against Rutgers, the senior rushed for 225 yards with three touchdowns in a dominant win. Lisa Horne of Pigskin Grind was impressed by his effort:

The running back now ranks first in the country with 1,249 rushing yards, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. He was shut down by Michigan State in Nebraska's only loss (24 carries for 47 rushing yards), but few other teams in the nation have that ability.

Even with the loss, the Cornhuskers rank 12th in the nation in scoring and 22nd in scoring defense, beating opponents by 20.7 points per game. They lost to a talented Spartans squad but have been getting better every week and now look like one of the best teams in the Big Ten.

There probably will not be too many chances for Nebraska to prove itself against a top opponent, but this is a quality squad with the talent to beat almost anyone in the nation. The rankings should start reflecting that.

Too High: Clemson (No. 21 in coaches poll; No. 22 in AP poll)

Tyler Smith/Getty Images

The rankings do not include too many two-loss teams, but, for some reason, Clemson is one of them. This is a mistake based on what we have seen from the Tigers this season.

Clemson's losses came to two very good teams, but they came in the form of a 45-21 blowout to Georgia and an overtime loss to Florida State without starting quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. 

And the wins have not really made up for it, as the squad has struggled in each of its last three games and barely pulled out victories. The most recent win over Syracuse was low-scoring throughout:

Tom Fornelli of CBSSports.com did not even want to watch:

"

I haven’t turned it on, but I bet that Syracuse/Clemson game is just the saddest thing on Earth.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 26, 2014"

Starting quarterback Cole Stoudt has two touchdowns and four interceptions in five full games this season. Nothing has indicated this is one of the best teams in the nation, and the squad should not be ranked in either poll. 

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