College Football Rankings 2014: Final NCAA Overview of Week 11 Standings
The most important weekend of the 2014 college football season is here.
The schedule itself does the talking. Baylor at Oklahoma. Notre Dame at Arizona State. Alabama at LSU. Kansas State at TCU. Ohio State at Michigan State. Oregon at Utah.
It goes on, but one has to feel sorry for the pollsters at some point. Granted, this is the job they signed up for, but the path to the inaugural College Football Playoff has seemingly created more movement on the weekly polls than ever on a week-to-week basis.
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Below, let's look at the notable polls before illustrating the thing most came to see—the CFP committee's poll. Soak it all in, because everything is about to go up in flames.
Week 11 College Football Top 25 Rankings
| 1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State Bulldogs | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| 2 | Florida State | Florida State Seminoles | Florida State Seminoles |
| 3 | Auburn | Auburn Tigers | Auburn Tigers |
| 4 | Alabama | Alabama Crimson Tide | Oregon Ducks |
| 5 | Oregon | Oregon Ducks | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| 6 | TCU | Michigan State Spartans | Michigan State Spartans |
| 7 | Michigan State | TCU Horned Frogs | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
| 8 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | TCU Horned Frogs |
| 9 | Kansas State | Kansas State Wildcats | Kansas State Wildcats |
| 10 | Baylor | Baylor Bears | Baylor Bears |
| 11 | Arizona State | Ohio State Buckeyes | Ole Miss Rebels |
| 12 | Ole Miss | Arizona State Sun Devils | Arizona State Sun Devils |
| 13 | Ohio State | Ole Miss Rebels | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| 14 | LSU | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
| 15 | Nebraska | LSU Tigers | LSU Tigers |
| 16 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma Sonners | Oklahoma Sonners |
| 17 | Georgia | Georgia Bulldogs | Georgia Bulldogs |
| 18 | UCLA | UCLA Bruins | UCLA Bruins |
| 19 | Clemson | Clemson Tigers | Clemson Tigers |
| 20 | Utah | Duke Blue Devils | Duke Blue Devils |
| 21 | Arizona | Arizona Wildcats | Utah Utes |
| 22 | Duke | Utah Utes | Arizona Wildcats |
| 23 | Marshall | Marshall Thundering Herd | Marshall Thundering Herd |
| 24 | West Virginia | Wisconsin Badgers | West Virginia Mountaineers |
| 25 | Wisconsin | West Virginia Mountaineers | Colorado State Rams |
AP Poll can be viewed at CollegeFootball.AP.org.
Amway Poll can be viewed at USAToday.com.
B/R Poll can be viewed at BleacherReport.com.
College Football Playoff Week 11 Rankings
Week 11 Storylines to Watch
Oregon's Trap Game
The nation is sleeping on one of Saturday's late games, which may have a bigger impact on the CFP than any of those that come before it.
Marcus Mariota and Oregon better not be sleeping on it, though.
The Ducks finally got over the hump by upending Stanford 45-16 last week to quell whispers that the team is due for an annual November, soul and postseason-crushing loss.
As a wise man once said, though—not so fast, my friend.
The problem with the above theory and the fact most are unaware of this game's importance stems from the fact that Utah has been given little attention this season. For shame, too, as the Utes are more Stanford than Stanford is this season.
The Utes allow just 21.3 points per game this season and lead the nation in sacks with 39 to date. The team is far from a one-trick pony, though, as the offense can get down and dirty in quite an effective manner thanks to running back Devontae Booker, who has 990 yards and eight touchdowns on a 5.4 average this season.
Oregon has appeared to turn on the afterburners, though, gaining four wins in a row after a stunning upset at the hands of unranked Arizona at the start of October.
"Particularly after the Arizona game it's been more competitive, a better sense of urgency," coach Mark Helfrich said, per STATS LLC on ESPN.com. "All those things, win or lose, you try to impart on these guys of getting better in everything we do. Unfortunately, sometimes it's adversity in the form of a loss that wakes everybody up."
Right now the Ducks are playing the best ball they have all season, and Mariota has been his usual self (2,541 yards and 26 touchdowns to just two interceptions) when actually upright in the pocket or rolling out of it.
That figures to give Oregon the edge on the road, but should the hogs in front of Mariota collapse and Booker get the ball in his hands with his team in the lead, the CFP is going to suffer its biggest blow to date.
The One-Loss CFP Underdog
It was predictable that a one-loss team, if not two, would slip into the CFP.
Not many figured one might come from the Big Ten, though.
Michigan State has something to say about that. Many were ready to write off the Spartans after an early September loss on the road to Oregon in rather ugly fashion, but since then the team has rattled off six straight wins in a rather unconventional, if not unexpected manner.
Make no mistake, the Spartans are still great on defense. The team surrenders just 20.3 points per game on average. But it is the nation's fifth-ranked offense at 45.5 points per game that has many, including ESPN CollegeFootball, wondering if the Spartans can power their way to the postseason:
Some, such as Gerry DiNardo, per Bo Mattingly, project the Spartans to slip into the fray:
To do so, of course, the Spartans will need to move past the pesky Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday, led by surprising quarterback J.T. Barrett (1,856 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, 496 rushing yards, six touchdowns).
For quarterback Connor Cook, who completes 60.6 percent of his passes this season, that will prove to be the toughest test since Oregon.
It is certainly a passable one, and one the Spartans cannot do without. The team is wedged behind more than a few SEC and Big 12 teams, among others, in the hunt for the CFP. Those dominoes can and will fall, but the Spartans will need to stand strong in the process.
The real test begins now.
Stats and information via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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