College Football Rankings 2011: 4 Teams Who Will Earn Their Way Back into Top 25

Were the AP Top 25 a maiden, she would be a real tease. She would entertain plenty, but commit to none.

This analogy is getting weird, so I'll just put it in plain English: the AP Top 25 is not set in stone, particularly when it comes to the lower 15 teams.

To give you an idea, the latest rendition of the Top 25 saw five teams drop out of the rankings altogether to make way for five new teams. That's an unusually high amount of traffic by my reckoning, but that's just how it crumbled cookie-wise.

Being dropped from the Top 25 need not be a death sentence. In fact, I think there are four former Top-25 teams that I think will be back in the rankings before season's end. All they need to do is string a few wins together and I foresee each of them doing just that.

Here are those four teams.

4. Michigan State

I have to admit, I was a little surprised that the Spartans' 31-13 loss to Notre Dame knocked them from No. 15 all the way out of the rankings. It wasn't that bad, was it?

Immaterial, I guess. Michigan State has a tough road ahead, as the Spartans have to play No. 22 Michigan, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 9 Nebraska in consecutive weeks. If they can win just one of those games and finish the year at 9-3, it's going to be hard for the voters to keep them out of the rankings.

Three losses isn't great, but three losses in the Big Ten certainly isn't bad.

3. Notre Dame

While we're on the subject of Michigan State, why don't we talk about Notre Dame?

Yeah, that seems relevant. The Irish notched their first victory against the Spartans this past weekend, and they looked much more like the team that started the season at No. 16 in the rankings.

From here on, it's a pretty easy road ahead for Notre Dame. By the time the Irish get to late November, they could very well be on a winning streak.

That's when Stanford will end it, of course, but the winning streak alone should elevate Notre Dame into the Top 25.

2. Mississippi State

I'm a little disappointed in the Bulldogs, to be honest. I thought they were going to be a dark horse contender in the SEC West, but instead they're 1-2 after three games.

The good news is that things should level out. Five of Mississippi State's next six games are gimmes, with the lone exception being a game against No. 12 South Carolina in mid-October.

Call me crazy, but I think that's a game the Bulldogs can win. If they do take that one and the other five, they'll be back in the Top 25 in no time.

1. Arizona State

After watching the Sun Devils take Missouri apart, I figured there was nothing they couldn't do.

It turns out one thing Arizona State couldn't do was beat Illinois, as the Illini beat the Sun Devils 17-14 to knock them out of the Top 25.

Nevertheless, the odds are good that Arizona State will be back. The Sun Devils will beat No. 23 USC this weekend (count on it) and after that the only clear loss on their schedule will be to No. 10 Oregon in mid-October.

So conceivably, Arizona State has a very good shot at finishing 10-2, which would easily be good enough for the Top 25.