My Top 25 and This Week’s Pops ‘n Drops

Another week of college football in the books with no surprises in the Top 10 as far as upsets are concerned.  But some real eye openers with regards to margins of victory, notably Oklahoma, Penn State, Utah, and Ohio State.

It was a different story in the second tier where several teams were upset and dropped from the ranks of the ranked. 

Pops ‘n Drops

As everyone might guess, dropping from the top was my former No. 1 Texas Tech down to No. 8 after getting whipped but good by OU, which moves up a notch to No. 4.

Unlike the major polls, I could not jump them over Texas, which beat the Sooners a few weeks ago.

Sorry, Sooner fans, you can grab all the style points you want, but no amount against other teams will make up for your 10-point deficit in Dallas.

My mea culpas also to my fellow USC fans. I’m sorry but I had to move Penn State and Utah above the idle Trojans.

Is that fair? Probably not, but PSU annihilated Oregon State the week before the Beavers upset the Trojans, and Utah came from behind to beat the Beavers the week after USC’s lone loss. And yesterday, both teams absolutely dominated their ranked opponents.

But all is not lost, Trojan fans. Both PSU and Utah have finished their schedules while USC still has two more games to play.

Although Pete Carroll may deny knowing how the BCS works, I do believe style points count. They certainly do in my poll.

So, big wins over hapless Notre Dame and UCLA will move the Trojans past PSU and the Utes, as well as any other teams above them that lose. Hint: the O-line needs to play both halves, not just the second.

Undefeated Boise State and Ball State also dropped with narrow wins over Nevada and Central Michigan respectively. No style points against unranked, unimpressive opponents while PSU, Utah, and TCU won with a lot of style.

Dropping from the ranks of the ranked (Top 25) were North Carolina, Michigan State, LSU, and Miami. All suffered huge losses. Pitt also dropped out with a one-touchdown loss to Cincy while West Virginia moved back into the Top 25 with a convincing win over Louisville.

1. Florida (2)

2. Alabama (3)

3. Texas (4)

4. Oklahoma (5)

5. Utah (8)

6. Penn State (9)

7. USC (6)

8. Texas Tech

9. Boise State (7)

10. Ohio State (10)

11. Georgia (11)

12. Oklahoma State (12)

13. Missouri (15)

14. TCU (16)

15. Ball State (13)

16. Cincinnati (17)

17. Oregon State (19)

18. Oregon (25)

19. Georgia Tech (UR)

19. Boston College (24)

21. BYU (14)

22. Florida State (UR)

23. Northwestern (UR)

24. West Virginia (UR)

25. Ole Miss (UR)