Amway College Football Poll 2019: Week 4 Rankings Unveiled for Top 25 Teams

The college football season rolled on this week with another batch of upsets and statement wins across the sport. While most of the top teams in the country remained unblemished, a number of teams below them in the rankings weren't so lucky.

Below, we'll take a look at how those results affected this week's Amway Coaches Poll.  

Rankings

1. Clemson

2. Alabama

3. Georgia

4. Oklahoma

5. LSU

6. Ohio State

7. Notre Dame

8. Florida

9. Auburn

10. Michigan

11. Utah

12. Penn State

13. Texas

14. Wisconsin

15. Texas A&M

16. UCF

17. Oregon

18. Iowa

19. Washington State 

20. Boise State

21. Washington

22. Virginia 

23. California

24. Arizona State

25. Kansas State

Dropped out: Michigan State, Mississippi State, USC, Maryland

Analysis

Another week of college football, another batch of top-25 upsets.

Arizona State stunned the football world Saturday, beating Michigan State 10-7 in a game that wasn't without its drama. The Spartans appeared to have sent the game to overtime when Matt Coghlin hit a 42-yard field goal to tie the game only to have the conversion erased by a penalty for having too many men on the field.

The kick was retried, this time with the penalty yardage tacked on, and Coughlin missed—his third failed conversion of the day—giving the Sun Devils the tight win. 

Michigan State Missed FG to End Game

00:19

It was a game marked by flags for the Spartans—they were penalized 10 times for 91 yards, and head coach Mark Dantonio was not happy about it.

"I'm not one to stand up here and criticize the officials, I never have," he said, per Chase Michaelson of the Detroit Free Press. "I'll let everybody take a look at those (calls). The people who should be looking at those can take a look at those. In other words, the officiating group themselves, I'll let them handle that, I'm not gonna go off about that."

Regardless, it's tough to blame the officials when your team only manages seven points at home. Back to the drawing board for the Spartans.

Ditto for another Big Ten team, Maryland, after it was upset by Temple 20-17. Temple's defense gave a heroic performance, stuffing Maryland at the goal line on two separate possessions to keep 14 points off the board. 

"I'm disappointed in our ability to run the ball inside the goal line area," Maryland head coach Michael Locksley said after the loss, per the Associated Press. "Any team that I coach, we're going to be a team that has to have the ability to punch it in."

And then there was USC. Fresh off an upset win over Stanford last week, the Trojans fell in overtime against BYU on Saturday 30-27 after Dayan Ghanwoloku intercepted a tipped pass to seal the win.

It's been a tough week for the school after USC athletic director Lynn Swann stepped down, and things are only about to get tougher, with games against Utah, Washington and Notre Dame in the next three weeks. How the Trojans fare in those tough tests will define their season. After Saturday's loss, their margin for error has grown thinner.

While the bottom of the rankings was shaken up by those results, the top teams in the nation all cruised, with Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Auburn winning without much drama. Florida also won, though the Gators' title hopes were dealt a tough blow after Feleipe Franks suffered a dislocated ankle in Saturday's 29-21 win over Kentucky, ending his season.

As for Week 4, a few contenders will face major tests. Along with the aforementioned USC vs. Utah showdown, Michigan will face Wisconsin in a key Big Ten battle, and Auburn will take on Texas A&M as the Aggies try to avoid picking up a second loss on the season.

But the game of the week will undoubtedly be Georgia hosting Notre Dame, a contest that could have major implications for the College Football Playoff and will absolutely impact the Amway Coaches Poll next week. For the winner, the game will be a major boon to their resume. For the loser, it will be a major uphill climb to return to playoff consideration will ensue. 

That's the beautiful thing about college football—the stakes are always immense.