College Football Rankings 2011: Winners and Losers From Week 7 USA Today Poll

The latest USA Today Coaches Poll is out, and as always, there are new names on the list, teams who have made big leaps and teams who have plummeted in the rankings. 

One game in one week can greatly sway the opinions of voters who sometimes tend to look at only the past week instead of the big picture. 

Here are the winners and losers in the newest USA Today college football poll.

Winner: Penn St.

Penn State is in a place where they probably do not deserve to be, the top 25. 

The Nittany Lions knocked off Iowa over the weekend, upping their record to 5-1. The record is not bad, but the way they have gotten to that record leaves something to be desired.

Penn State beat Temple 14-10, Indiana 16-10, and Iowa 13-3.

Their lone loss came at home 27-11 against Alabama.

While their defense is solid, the offense is one of the worst in the country and have no big wins to speak of.  

Winner: Nebraska

Nebraska moves up one spot this week after squeaking out a victory at home against Ohio State.

The Cornhuskers benefited from the injury to Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller to overcome a 21-point second-half deficit to win 34-27. They move up one spot in the rankings because of it. 

Nebraska is fortunate to have moved up. They are 5-1, but were dismantled by Wisconsin in their only game this season against strong competition. 

The "blackshirt" defense clearly has a lot to work on, and they are certainly a winner having moved up in the rankings.

Winner: Houston

The Houston Cougars jumped to No. 22 after being un-ranked last week. They are 6-0 but haven't really played anybody. 

The only team of note they have played was UCLA, a game Houston won 38-34.  

The Cougars have one of the highest flying offenses in the country, averaging over 45 points per game, but jumping them over a team like Texas A&M after the Aggies took down undefeated Texas Tech seems a little uncalled for. 

Houston is clearly a winner by jumping up to No. 22 this week. 

Loser: Texas

The Texas Longhorns certainly deserved to drop in the rankings, but 12 spots seems a little excessive, even if they were dismantled by Oklahoma. 

The Sooners are arguably the best team in the country, and losing to them the way Texas did is certainly not worthy of dropping to No. 21.

At 4-1, Texas is just entering the tough part of their schedule, but they manhandled UCLA by 29 earlier in the season.

Dropping Texas so far was a reaction by the voters to the game against Oklahoma and not the season as a whole.  

Loser: Alabama

At No. 3 it would be hard to consider Alabama a loser, but look at their schedule and body of work.

They have already beaten three ranked teams, two of them on the road and have not had a game closer than 16 points.

They have by far been the best defense in the country, allowing just over eight points per game.

The Crimson Tide have shut out two opponents and have not allowed anybody to get over 14 points.

They have definitely made a case for themselves at No. 1.  

Loser: Texas A&M

The Aggies were jumped by Houston and Arizona State this past week despite knocking off the undefeated Texas Tech Red Raiders. 

They are only 3-2 but have lost to Oklahoma St. by one and Arkansas by four. 

Propelling Houston over them in the polls makes absolutely no sense and leaves a lot to be desired from the voters.