College Football Rankings 2014: Twitter Reacts to AP and Amway Week 11 Polls

For college football's elite, style points are no longer important. Margin of victory is an afterthought, replaced by the crossed fingers of "survive and advance" attitude typically more associated with March Madness.

After Week 10, that's probably a good thing. The nation's three best teams were all able to chalk another game in the win column, but none of them made it an easy affair. Mississippi State and Florida State nearly dropped their first game of the season against inferior competition, while Auburn battled down to the wire against Mississippi.   

All got the job done, which is enough for a mostly inert Top 25. The Bulldogs, Seminoles and Tigers are locks to remain in the College Football Playoff outlook, while the Associated Press and Amway Coaches polls continue to back Nick Saban's Alabama team over Oregon.

Here is a look at how the Week 11 polls played out, along with the B/R Top 25:

Rank	Amway Coaches Poll	AP Poll	Bleacher Report Poll
1	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Mississippi State Bulldogs	Mississippi State Bulldogs
2	Florida State Seminoles	Florida State Seminoles	Florida State Seminoles
3	Auburn Tigers	Auburn Tigers	Auburn Tigers
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	Alabama Crimson Tide	Oregon Ducks
5	Oregon Ducks	Oregon Ducks	Alabama Crimson Tide
6	Michigan State Spartans	TCU Horned Frogs	Michigan State Spartans
7	TCU Horned Frogs	Michigan State Spartans	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	TCU Horned Frogs
9	Kansas State Wildcats	Kansas State Wildcats	Kansas State Wildcats
10	Baylor Bears	Baylor Bears	Baylor Bears
11	Ohio State Buckeyes	Arizona State Sun Devils	Ole Miss Rebels
12	Arizona State Sun Devils	Ole Miss Rebels	Arizona State Sun Devils
13	Ole Miss Rebels	Ohio State Buckeyes	Ohio State Buckeyes
14	Nebraska Cornhuskers	LSU Tigers	Nebraska Cornhuskers
15	LSU Tigers	Nebraska Cornhuskers	LSU Tigers
16	Oklahoma Sonners	Oklahoma Sonners	Oklahoma Sonners
17	Georgia Bulldogs	Georgia Bulldogs	Georgia Bulldogs
18	UCLA Bruins	UCLA Bruins	UCLA Bruins
19	Clemson Tigers	Clemson Tigers	Clemson Tigers
20	Duke Blue Devils	Utah Utes	Duke Blue Devils
21	Arizona Wildcats	Arizona Wildcats	Utah Utes
22	Utah Utes	Duke Blue Devils	Arizona Wildcats
23	Marshall Thundering Herd	Marshall Thundering Herd	Marshall Thundering Herd
24	Wisconsin Badgers	West Virginia Mountaineers	West Virginia Mountaineers
25	West Virginia Mountaineers	Wisconsin Badgers	Colorado State Rams

The week's first scare came Thursday night, when Florida State again made its job a lot harder than it had to be against Louisville. The Cardinals raced out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter behind running back Michael Dyer and wide receiver DeVante Parker before a lights-out second half from Jameis Winston propelled the Seminoles to a 42-31 win.

Winston, who threw a career-high three interceptions, finished with 401 yards and three touchdowns. His game turned around on the third interception, when he stayed with the play and forced Louisville safety Gerod Holliman to fumble on his return. The reigning Heisman winner was nearly perfect from then on despite playing with an ankle injury.

"Pain is temporary," Winston told reporters. "So I was hurt and I had some limitations, but I wasn't really feeling the pain. I couldn't push off of it really."

ESPN's Scott Van Pelt complimented Winston's ability to compartmentalize:

Two days later Mississippi State and Auburn were sweating bullets of their own. Arkansas held possession for nearly 39 minutes and controlled the pace against the Bulldogs, but Dak Prescott's 69-yard strike to Fred Ross gave the Bulldogs a 17-10 win.

The Razorbacks, who are 0-5 in the SEC, had two critical fourth-quarter drives come away without points. First Alex Collins was stuffed for no gain on a 4th-and-goal play at the Mississippi State 3-yard line, and then Brandon Allen was intercepted on Arkansas' final drive deep inside the red zone. Prescott had his second two-interception game in the last three weeks but threw for a career-high 331 yards.

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

The Heisman candidate has been more up and down throwing the ball lately, with five of his seven picks coming in the last three weeks. Adam Caplan of ESPN wondered whether his game will translate to the next level:

Game of the Week status, though, goes elsewhere in the SEC. Nick Marshall accounted for four touchdowns as Gus Malzahn's offense won a battle with Hugh Freeze's defense in a 35-31 Auburn victory Saturday night. A back-and-forth affair where no team ever had the momentum for very long, the Tigers scored three of the last four touchdowns and Ole Miss had a potential game-winner wiped off the board late due to a fumble.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Laquon Treadwell caught what was initially ruled a touchdown with 1:30 remaining, but replays showed he fumbled before crossing the plane. Auburn linebacker Cassanova McKinzy clearly recovered the fumble and Auburn was awarded possession, closing out one of the regular season's best contests.

"Our guys find ways to win when its close,” Malzahn told reporters. “Our guys truly believe they are going to win the game if it’s close.”

Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press thinks Auburn is building a solid playoff resume:

The other candidate for Saturday's most captivating finish came in Morgantown, where a 37-yard Jaden Oberkrom field goal kept TCU's playoff hopes alive. Oberkrom's kick capped off a 13-point comeback from the Horned Frogs, who have emerged as the Big 12's best hope for the final four. A hotly contested loss to Baylor is the only blemish on Gary Patterson's team, which plays Kansas State next week in a game that will set the stage for the remaining Big 12 outlook.

Dan Wolken of USA Today compares TCU favorably to Alabama:

Not looking favorable in comparison to Alabama is Georgia, which was inexplicably thumped by Florida, 38-20, on Saturday. The Gators, who have been among college football's worst offenses throughout Will Muschamp's tenure, racked up 445 total yards behind a fierce rushing game. Kelvin Taylor and Matt Jones combined for 389 yards and four touchdowns, toting the rock 25 times apiece.

Quarterback Treon Harris threw only six times and was rendered a prop with his team employing a throwback to the leather helmet era. As Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee correctly notes, Georgia's loss has zero to do with the absence of suspended running back Todd Gurley:

Bill Connelly of SB Nation also highlighted what an unlikely loss this was for the Bulldogs:

Though not necessarily an upset, UCLA's 17-7 home win over Arizona helped provide clarity in the Pac-12. Arizona State, an overtime victor over Utah, now has the inside track at winning the South Division. The Sun Devils can begin cementing their resume with a win over Notre Dame next week.

Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports is a fan of the Arizona State defense:

"

It really is impressive how good Arizona State’s defense has been considering all it had to replace this year.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) November 2, 2014"

In all, Week 10 proved to be a table-setting week. Playoff contenders were further whittled down, Heisman moments were realized and, well, just some random nonsense happened.

Seven days from now we should have a much clearer picture.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter