NCAA Football Rankings 2014: Week 11 Standings and Analysis for Latest Polls
Most college football teams have just four games remaining, and the College Football Playoff is quickly approaching. You'd think we would have a great idea of which four teams would represent the nation in the first-ever playoff by now, but that simply isn't the case.
The playoff picture appears to become cloudier with each passing week. That trend continued in Week 10, as the gap between the nation's top teams narrowed due to slim victories by Mississippi State and Florida State along with big wins for Auburn and Oregon.
In fact, not many Top 25 squads got through the week without, at the very least, a scare from their respective opponents.
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With the new polls released as we head into Week 11 of the season, here's a look at the updated standings, followed by some insight into the week's biggest movers.
| 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 Sooners | Oklahoma Sooners | Oklahoma Sooners |
| 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 AP poll can be viewed at CollegeFootball.AP.org.
The Amway coaches poll can be viewed at USAToday.com.
The Bleacher Report poll can be viewed at BleacherReport.com.
Notable Riser
TCU Horned Frogs (Up to No. 6 from No. 10 in AP Poll)
The Horned Frogs moved four spots up the rankings for good reason. Each week, this team proves it has an offense good enough to compete with the best teams in the nation. In Week 10, that offense showed a great amount of resilience against West Virginia.
TCU got off to a rather slow start, allowing the Mountaineers to quickly gain a 13-0 lead through 11 minutes of action. Coming back from that deficit would be a tall task for any offense against a West Virginia defense that has been playing very well lately.
Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted how effective the team's defense has been on opening drives this season:
Quarterback Trevone Boykin helped that statistic, struggling mightily early in the contest. He forced some bad throws and caught some flack from Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports on Twitter:
Although, the quarterback quickly made up for his early lack of efficiency by connecting with Deante' Gray on a 47-yard scoring strike before the first quarter came to a close. He didn't stop there, finding the end zone once again on a two-yard scamper early in the third quarter, giving TCU its first lead of the game.
Boykin may be young and in need of further development, but he proved he can step up when his back is against the wall. That became wildly apparent once again later in the game.
Down by nine points in the fourth quarter, he orchestrated an eight-play, 51-yard drive resulting in a B.J. Catalon six-yard touchdown scamper. Later, with just two minutes remaining, a 40-yard strike to Kolby Listenbee helped put the Horned Frogs in position for their game-winning field goal.
The Horned Frogs finished the game with 389 yards of offense—far smaller of a number than the team has been accustomed to producing. Still, with a solid defensive effort and a young quarterback able to shake off early-game struggles, TCU proved it can win games against good teams even when things don't go according to plan.
Notable Faller
Ole Miss Rebels (Down to No. 12 from No. 7 in AP Poll)
The biggest concern regarding the Rebels following their loss to Auburn is the meltdown by a once-stout defense. That side of the ball played so well throughout eight games this season, ranking first in the nation in points against; however, giving up 35 points to the Tigers was rather unexpected.
Ole Miss allowed a total of 507 yards of offense to Auburn. It didn't just fail to contain the Tigers' strong running game, but it couldn't find much success against Nick Marshall through the air, either.
Marshall's dual-threat ability was simply too much for the Rebels to handle. He completed 15 of his 22 passing attempts for 254 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing 10 times for 50 yards and two more scores.
Making matters worse for the Rebels was running back Cameron Artis-Payne, who rushed 27 times for 147 yards and a touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, quarterback Bo Wallace put up some nice numbers, but he found himself under pressure frequently, and that led to a pivotal turnover late in the game. Travis Haney of ESPN.com tweeted his thoughts:
If the Rebels offensive line can't protect a turnover-prone Wallace and the defense can't find a way to contain a dual-threat quarterback like Marshall, how can Ole Miss expect to compete with other top teams such as Florida State, Oregon and Notre Dame?
The loss to Auburn marked the second of the year for Ole Miss, and that just may be enough to end the team's hopes of clinching a berth in this year's College Football Playoff.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
