Stanford vs. USC: How Trojans Loss Impacts Amway, AP Rankings, CFP Picture
College football's Top 10 is about to be shaken up a bit. On Saturday night, No. 6 USC's national title hopes took a huge blow when it fell to unranked Stanford 41-31.
This is a Stanford team that started the year ranked 21st, but dropped its opener to Northwestern, forcing them out of the Top 25. By beating USC, the Cardinal definitely dropped the Trojans out of the Top 10 and out of the college football playoff picture (for the time being), but they might not be out of the Top 25.
USC hasn't exactly had a fruitful tenure with head coach Steve Sarkisian, as Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman noted:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Those aren't numbers of a national championship contender. They aren't even numbers of a team that should be ranked in the Top 25.
With the win, Stanford should make its way back into the Top 25, possibly around the No. 20 spot give or take a few positions. Let's take a look at what I project the polls will look like next week if the current scores of ongoing games hold up. For the current AP and Amway polls, click here:
| 1 | Ohio State | 1 |
| 2 | TCU | 3 |
| 3 | Michigan State | 4 |
| 4 | Baylor | 5 |
| 5 | Ole Miss | 15 |
| 6 | Georgia | 7 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 8 |
| 8 | Florida State | 9 |
| 9 | Oregon | 12 |
| 10 | Clemson | 11 |
| 11 | Alabama | 2 |
| 12 | LSU | 13 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 16 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 17 |
| 15 | BYU | 19 |
| 16 | Arizona | 20 |
| 17 | Utah | 21 |
| 18 | Stanford | Unranked |
| 19 | UCLA | 10 |
| 20 | Georgia Tech | 14 |
| 21 | USC | 6 |
| 22 | Northwestern | 23 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 24 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 25 |
| 25 | Missouri | 22 |
A decisive USC victory on Saturday would have possibly put the team very close to the Top Four. This is assuming that No. 15 Ole Miss manages to close out No. 2 Alabama. It could have been between the Trojans and Ole Miss for the No. 5 spot. Instead, it's a wide-open race.
With a matchup looming next week against Arizona State, which began the season ranked No. 15 and dropped out after a loss to Texas A&M in Week 1, the drama is already palpable, according to ESPN's Ted Miller:
No. 7 Georgia will be at least No. 6 next week after the Bulldogs' decisive win over South Carolina. It will be difficult to move them past Baylor as they were inactive this week, but they certainly made a statement as to why they were a Top Four team on Saturday.
Notre Dame should pop up to at least seventh after their win over No. 14 Georgia Tech. Defeating a ranked side will certainly help the its resume, but I can't see the Fighting Irish hopping over Georgia after they put up 52 points on South Carolina.
But USC's loss might hurt Notre Dame in the long run. If the Fighting Irish are struggling to make a jump further in the polls later in the season, they could have used a matchup against an undefeated, Top 10 USC side on October 17 to further help them make a claim as to why they're a national title contender.
Now they'll need to beat USC and hope the Trojans win out the rest of the season, which includes games against No. 21 Utah and Pac-12 opponents No. 20 Arizona, No. 12 Oregon and No. 10 UCLA. Those three conference opponents will feel this loss as well. Teams lower in the rankings need as many wins as possible against quality opponents to make the jump, and USC would have proven a great test.
If UCLA loses to BYU Saturday night, though, then it's likely football fans won't be seeing a Pac-12 team in the final four this year.
There are some tough games waiting for USC, and the way the Trojans defense performed on Saturday, I can't see them eclipsing the Top 10 again this season.
But now the door is cracked for the likes of Florida State and Clemson, which are two teams that could just move up a little bit more in the Top 10. And while the loss is disheartening for USC, it certainly makes for a more exciting, dramatic season moving forward.
Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
