After 5 weeks of football, there is a huge bottleneck at the top of the rankings. Alabama, Boise State, Ohio State, and TCU were thought to be contenders at the beginning of the year and have done nothing to prove otherwise. However, Nebraska, Oregon, Auburn, and Oklahoma have also shown themselves to be contenders. Luckily, most of these teams have grueling schedules coming up that should help sort out this quagmire out.
There was only one big mover this past week. Oregon moved into the Top 10 after a very convincing win over Stanford. The Ducks got down early in the game and then stormed back to win 52-31. I don't think Oregon will go undefeated over the grueling Pac-10 season, but they looked unstoppable last weekend. Other big movers up the rankings include Michigan State and Florida State. Air Force and Kansas State entered the Top 25 based on the strong starts to their seasons. Kansas State hosts Nebraska this Thursday in a game that will reveal if they are contenders or pretenders.
Both Stanford and Florida dropped a few spots in the poll each based on their losses to Oregon and Alabama, respectively. Neither team dropped very far because a team shouldn't be punished for losing to a Top 10 team, especially on the road. Penn State and North Carolina State both dropped from the rankings after poor showings in their losses. Wisconsin almost fell from the Top 25 after their loss against Michigan State. The Badgers have done very little to deserve their high ranking and didn't do well in their first game against a strong opponent. This next week's game versus Ohio State will show if the Badgers deserve to be ranked. LSU is clinging to their Top 25 rankings because they are undefeated and have beaten 5 FBS teams. However, I watched the end of the Tennessee-LSU game and the Tigers deserved to lose. Their offense is embarrassingly bad and they are one of the most poorly coached teams in the nation. Luckily, they are reaching the meat of their SEC schedule and will play much better teams over the next 2 months. Unless they suddenly fix their offensive woes and Les Miles spontaneously learns how to coach, LSU will not end the year in the Top 25. Here in the Top 25 for week 5 (remember to vote in this week's poll):
25. (Last Week: 22) LSU (5-0)
24. (Last Week: 14) Wisconsin (4-1)
23. (Last Week: NR) Air Force (4-1)
22. (Last Week: NR) Kansas State (4-0)
21. (Last Week: 16) Florida (4-1)
20. (Last Week: 21) Nevada (4-0)
19. (Last Week: 25) Michigan State (5-0)
18. (Last Week: 20) Miami (3-1)
17. (Last Week: 22) Florida State (4-1)
16. (Last Week: 18) Iowa (4-1)
15. (Last Week: 17) Michigan (5-0)
14. (Last Week: 15) Oregon State (2-2)
13. (Last Week: 13) South Carolina (3-1)
12. (Last Week: 12) Utah (4-0)
11. (Last Week: 8) Stanford (4-1)
10. (Last Week: 10) Arizona (4-0)
9. (Last Week: 9) Arkansas (3-1)
8. (Last Week: 7) Oklahoma (5-0)
7. (Last Week: 6) Auburn (5-0)
6. (Last Week: 11) Oregon (5-0)
5. (Last Week: 5) Nebraska (4-0)
4. (Last Week: 4) TCU (5-0)
3. (Last Week: 3) Ohio State (5-0)
2. (Last Week: 2) Boise State (4-0)
1. (Last Week: 1) Alabama (5-0)
Dropped Out: Penn State, North Carolina State
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