College Football Rankings 2011: Winners and Losers of the AP and Coaches' Polls

This week’s college football rankings are out and it looks like there’s been some interesting movement and shakeups in both the AP and Coaches' polls.

Oklahoma still remains at the top of both polls, but after the Sooners, things get interesting.

How far did Oregon fall?

How high did LSU climb?

How many teams dropped out?

Let’s have a look at the winners and losers of this week’s rankings.

Winner: LSU Tigers

After a big win over highly-ranked Oregon on Saturday night, LSU slid into the No. 3 spot in the Coaches’ Poll and leapfrogged SEC West foe Alabama in the AP Poll, moving all the way up to No. 2.

After an easy tune-up game with Northwestern State this Saturday, the Tigers will hit the road for two consecutive tough tests against Mississippi State and West Virginia to end their September slate.

Loser: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

After getting beat by South Florida in South Bend on Saturday, Notre Dame fell completely out of both polls.

The Irish will have some work to do if they want to gain back the trust of the voters.

Luckily, they’ve got three big games coming up against Michigan, Michigan State and Pittsburgh, so they have a great opportunity to prove their worth to the pollsters.

Winner: West Virginia Mountaineers

Even though West Virginia didn’t even play a full game on Sunday due to a weather stoppage, the Mountaineers still managed to move up five spots from No. 24 to No. 19 in the AP Poll, and they entered the Coaches’ Poll at No. 24 after starting the season unranked.

If the Mountaineers can get by Maryland in Week 3, Dana Holgorsen’s team will be ranked in both polls going into their big game against LSU on Sep. 24.

Loser: Oregon Ducks

Oregon plummeted in both polls after a loss to LSU on Saturday night.

The Ducks, who went into the year ranked No. 3 in both polls, dropped to No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 14 in the Coaches’ Poll.

Coach Chip Kelly will try to get his team back on track when they host Nevada on Saturday, but Oregon is going to need some teams in front of them to get picked off if the Ducks want to climb back into the Top 10 anytime soon.

Winner: South Florida Bulls

After a big road win over Notre Dame on Saturday, South Florida made their way into the AP poll at No. 22, but the coaches didn’t seem to be as impressed with their victory and they kept the Bulls on the outside looking in.

Coach Skip Holtz has a dangerous team this year and they’ve already got one very notable win under their belt.

Holtz’s team can put on the cruise control for the next three weeks, going up against the likes of Ball State, Florida A&M, and UTEP before they kick off their Big East schedule.

Loser: USC Trojans

Besides QB Matt Barkley and WR Robert Woods, USC’s offense couldn’t get anything going in a narrow win over Minnesota this weekend.

The AP dropped the Trojans out of their poll and the team isn’t eligible to be ranked in the Coaches’ Poll.

USC will need to find some more offensive playmakers this weekend when the Trojans take on new Pac-12 South rival Utah at the Coliseum.

Winner: Baylor Bears

Robert Griffin III established himself as a must-see player this season with his outstanding performance against a respected TCU defense.

Griffin threw for 359 yards and five touchdowns in the wild 50-48 upset of the Horned Frogs in Waco, and the media must have taken notice.

Baylor entered the AP Poll at No. 20 this week but the coaches still aren’t believers, as the Bears just missed the cut in the USA Today poll.

What’s puzzling is that TCU kept its spot in the Coaches’ Poll, while Baylor got shut out.

Loser: Auburn Tigers

After a pathetic effort against Utah State on Saturday, Auburn got punished in both polls, as voters realized that this is definitely not the same team we saw last year.

The Tigers dropped three spots from No. 19 to No. 22 in the Coaches’ Poll and they fell completely out of the AP poll.

They’ll have a chance to make up for last week’s dismal showing when they host No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday.

Winner: Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State hopped into the Coaches’ Poll at No. 23 this week but the AP still didn’t give them the benefit of the doubt yet.

Have no worries, however, because the Sun Devils will have an opportunity to show that they’re a Top 25-caliber team when they host Missouri on Friday night.

Loser: Georgia Bulldogs

Georgia had a great opportunity to make a statement to the country by beating Boise State in the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, but the Bulldogs failed to get the job done.

They do have a chance to get back in the polls next weekend, though, if they can take down South Carolina in a crucial SEC East showdown.

Winner: Penn State Nittany Lions

This week, Penn State made its first appearance of the year in the AP Poll at No. 23, and the Nittany Lions managed to move up four spots to No. 21 in the Coaches’ Poll.

They won’t stay there for long, though.

Penn Sate will either fall out of the polls entirely or make a huge surge up the rankings, depending on the outcome of their big game with Alabama on Saturday.

Loser: TCU Horned Frogs

It’s rare that you see a team get toasted for 50 points by an unranked opponent and still manage to keep a spot in the rankings, so maybe we should actually be calling TCU a winner this week.

The Horned Frogs dropped to No. 25 in both polls, but voters cut them some slack because they believe that coach Gary Patterson can right the ship.

Air Force will be a tough opponent, though, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see TCU start off 0-2.

Winner: Florida Gators

Florida benefited greatly from teams like Notre Dame and Georgia dropping out, as the Gators moved up to No. 18 in both polls.

New head coach Will Muschamp had a strong debut, but beating Florida Atlantic, one of the worst teams in the FBS, isn’t something he’s going to be able to hang his hat on for very long.