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Though it really didn't affect the Top 25 per se, took a day for me to wrap my mind around firings happening in college football just over a month into the 2013 season.
Deserved or not, bad guys or not, I couldn't get past a single thought while considering Lane Kiffin and Paul Pasqualoni getting canned so soon (not to mention the EA Sports/NCAA vs. former college athletes lawsuit): amateur, my ass. If this stuff is amateur, then so too are those girls, in "those" videos, that claim "amateur" status.
Off the soap box, on to the latest polls ...
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
| Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (55) | 4-0 | 1,495 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon (5) | 4-0 | 1,422 | 2 |
| 3 | Clemson | 4-0 | 1,354 | 3 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 5-0 | 1,305 | 4 |
| 5 | Stanford | 4-0 | 1,280 | 5 |
| 6 | Georgia | 3-1 | 1,171 | 9 |
| 7 | Louisville | 4-0 | 1,091 | 7 |
| 8 | Florida State | 4-0 | 1,069 | 8 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 1,012 | 10 |
| 10 | LSU | 4-1 | 979 | 6 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | 4-0 | 838 | 14 |
| 12 | UCLA | 3-0 | 834 | 13 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 3-1 | 812 | 12 |
| 14 | Miami (FL) | 4-0 | 753 | 15 |
| 15 | Washington | 4-0 | 665 | 16 |
| 16 | Northwestern | 4-0 | 550 | 17 |
| 17 | Baylor | 3-0 | 536 | 19 |
| 18 | Florida | 3-1 | 481 | 20 |
| 19 | Michigan | 4-0 | 471 | 18 |
| 20 | Texas Tech | 4-0 | 264 | 24 |
| 21 | Oklahoma State | 3-1 | 230 | 11 |
| 22 | Arizona State | 3-1 | 192 | NR |
| 23 | Fresno State | 4-0 | 187 | 25 |
| 24 | Mississippi | 3-1 | 132 | 21 |
| 25 | Maryland | 4-0 | 119 | NR |
| Others Receiving Votes: Northern Illinois 104, Virginia Tech 49, Wisconsin 46, Nebraska 20, Missouri 14, Notre Dame 12, UCF 6, Michigan State 5, Rutgers 2 |
What voters got right: The biggest shock of the week didn't go unnoticed, not that there was a murderers' row of great games to hide behind. Oklahoma St. looked nothing like the dominant force it had been through the first quarter of the season, and sleepwalked into a couch-burning nightmare in Morgantown. Cannibal season is now open for business in the SEC, where LSU's exciting loss to Georgia resulted in a four-spot drop, and Alabama suffocated Ole Miss into a poll dip as well.
Finally, a win-loss poll adjustment makes sense both ways. Oklahoma was impressive in winning convincingly at Notre Dame, and was slightly rewarded. The Irish were game for awhile, but really were no match for the Sooners. The disparity resulted in a kick out of the Top 25. The Domers still got some votes, which is fine, but the AP is right in saying it's going to take a little work to get back in the rankings.
And, yeah, sorry Louisville. In what I think will be a trend the rest of the year, any team within a spot or two of the Cardinals that gets a big conference win will move past them, i.e. Georgia.
What voters missed: Maybe it's nitpicking or conference homer'ism on my part to a degree, but while I think the Cowboys deserved to drop considerably after losing to West Virginia, I don't know a full 10-spot drop was warranted. Or, maybe I should say a drop that puts OSU behind Florida, Michigan and Texas Tech is too much. Bad day? Holy shirts and pants, yes. But, that kind of drop at this point in the year (already) leaves almost no chance at a big-time run -- not when the national perspective regarding the Big 12 is what it is this year.
And, apparently having a 42-3 lead before having to hold on and defend a Hail Mary for the win is enough to move up when you're Fresno St.
THE USA TODAY COACHES TOP 25
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (59) | 4-0 | 1546 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon (2) | 4-0 | 1479 | 2 |
| 3 | Ohio St. | 5-0 | 1397 | 3 |
| 4 | Clemson (1) | 4-0 | 1352 | 4 |
| 5 | Stanford | 4-0 | 1325 | 5 |
| 6 | Georgia | 3-1 | 1148 | 10 |
| 7 | Louisville | 4-0 | 1147 | 7 |
| 8 | Florida St. | 4-0 | 1129 | 8 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 1072 | 9 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 4-0 | 964 | 12 |
| 11 | LSU | 4-1 | 931 | 6 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 3-1 | 860 | 13 |
| 13 | UCLA | 3-0 | 812 | 14 |
| 14 | Miami | 4-0 | 727 | 15 |
| 15 | Northwestern | 4-0 | 620 | 16 |
| 16 | Baylor | 3-0 | 573 | 18 |
| 17 | Michigan | 4-0 | 546 | 17 |
| 18 | Washington | 4-0 | 545 | 20 |
| 19 | Florida | 3-1 | 515 | 19 |
| 20 | Oklahoma St. | 3-1 | 330 | 11 |
| 21 | Fresno St. | 4-0 | 270 | 23 |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 4-0 | 231 | 25 |
| 23 | Northern Illinois | 4-0 | 131 | NR |
| 24 | Arizona St. | 3-1 | 118 | NR |
| 25 | Nebraska | 3-1 | 71 |
NR |
What the coaches/SIDs got right: Kinda fun with the new blood at the bottom of the poll, including Arizona St. (again), which rid the college football world of Lane Kiffin, Oklahoma St. may have a man as its coach, until he becomes zombie Lane Kiffin ... like his dad.
For the most part, you can copy/paste the AP's good deeds this past week into this slot. No big complaints here.
But...
What the coaches/SIDs missed: Clemson got a first-place vote. Whoever is responsible for that, stop it.
Past that, it's not so much a miss, but I'm interested to see if South Carolina continues to play at a top-10/13 level without quarterback Connor Shaw over the next few weeks. (Then again, Steve Spurrier has Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee up ... maybe he really did sell his soul for that kind of good luck ...) Also, again, I think Oklahoma St. took some unnecessary lumps, but the reasoning for such a drop doesn't have to be air-tight.