NCAA Football Rankings 2017: Week 11 Polls, Top 25 Standings and Analysis
With the first College Football Playoff rankings released last Tuesday, the value of the AP Top 25 diminished a bit as the playoff committee viewed a few teams differently than the AP voters.
After some differences a week ago, the AP Top 25 after Week 10 looks similar to the playoff rankings, especially the Top Five.
Beyond the Top Five, there were a few shakeups as Ohio State and Penn State dropped eight and nine spots, respectively, while Michigan State jumped 11 positions to No. 13 and Auburn and Washington moved into the top 10.
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Here's a few of the biggest takeaways from Sunday's AP Top 25 release.
Wisconsin Has Plenty of Work Left To Do
The Wisconsin Badgers are the Big Ten's best hope to make the College Football Playoff, but that could be a bad thing for Jim Delany and Co. at the conference office.
Despite downing Indiana on Saturday, the Badgers fell two spots in the AP poll to No. 6, a ranking that the College Football Playoff committee might think is too high.
The best thing that could've happened to the Badgers' playoff resume was Iowa's blowout win over Ohio State. The Hawkeyes come to Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday as the No. 25 team in the AP poll.
In addition to Iowa entering the polls, Michigan returned at No. 21. The Wolverines come to Camp Randall Stadium on November 18.
It's clear the Badgers are still valued below Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson and Oklahoma, and in some people's eyes Miami (FL) is ahead of them, too, which means they have to prove to the voters they're worthy of a high ranking in the next two weeks as they gear up for the Big Ten Championship.
There's Still Some Hope for Washington
Everyone cast the Pac-12 aside last week as the conference's best team was ranked No. 12, but the Washington Huskies are back in the top 10 after the chaos that wrecked the Big Ten on Saturday.
The Huskies took care of business against Oregon on Saturday to move to 8-1, but a pair of tests remain in November, starting on Friday night in Palo Alto, California, against Stanford, who dropped out of the Top 25 after a loss to Washington State.
The only way the Pac-12 can claim a legitimate case for entering the College Football Playoff is if Washington wins out with victories over No. 19 Washington State on November 25 and the Pac-12 South champion, which right now looks like No. 15 USC, in the Pac-12 Championship.
Washington is the only hope to make the playoff for the Pac-12 because of its overall record. The Huskies have suffered just one loss, while USC and Washington State are already two down in the loss column.
Group of Five Team Will Come from The American
It's safe to declare that the American Athletic Conference will have a team playing a New Year's Six bowl this year.
Which team will represent The American as the best Group of Five team remains to be seen, but it looks like No. 14 UCF, No. 20 Memphis or No. 22 USF will be the team to play one of college football's big boys.
UCF is 8-0 and moved up another spot in the AP poll after a tight win over SMU on Saturday. UCF's berth in The American Championship will come down to the November 24 home game against USF.
Memphis will get a chance to avenge its lone regular-season loss to UCF in The American Championship as long as the Golden Knights take care of business in November. Games against SMU and East Carolina are the only things standing in between the Tigers and the American West title.
Regardless of who ends up in the New Year's Six, The American champion will give its opponent quite the challenge. Memphis proved it could beat a major conference team in UCLA back in September, while UCF carries one of the brightest rising minds in coaching in Scott Frost.
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