Before we get into Smeltz’s top 25 for this week, here’s who dropped out from last week’s rankings.
- Purdue (No. 24)
- Tulane (No. 25).
Nothing changed in the top seven of this week’s poll. The first big shift is UCLA falling from No. 8 to No. 17 after a 45-30 loss at Oregon.
Four Big Ten teams are ranked, and, yes, Penn State is one of them.
Now, here are Smeltz’s top 25 rankings after Week 8’s college football slate.
*Note: These will feature brief explanations for the top four teams and any Big Ten school that appears in the rankings.
No. 1. Tennessee— I explained my reasoning for Tennessee being No. 1 in last week’s rankings. The Vols took care of business against UT-Martin, so nothing has changed.
No. 2. Ohio State— Beating Iowa 54-10 won’t do anything to hurt Ohio State.
No. 3. Michigan— The Wolverines had a bye week, so they’ll stay at No. 3.
No. 4. Georgia— The Bulldogs had a bye week, so they’ll stay at No. 4.
No. 5. Clemson
No. 6. Alabama
No. 7. TCU
No. 8. Oregon
No. 9. USC
No. 10. Oklahoma State
No. 11. Wake Forest
No. 12. Penn State— The AP and coaches polls moved Penn State up from No. 16 to No. 13 after its 45-17 win over Minnesota this past Saturday. I moved it slightly higher.
No. 13. Ole Miss
No. 14. Syracuse
No. 15. LSU
No. 16. Utah
No. 17. UCLA
No. 18. Kentucky
No. 19. Cincinnati
No. 20. North Carolina
No. 21. Kansas State
No. 22. Illinois— It’s been a nice turnaround for the Illini, who are 6-1. I can’t have a team that beat Iowa 9-6 in the top 20.
No. 23. NC State
No. 24. Texas
No. 25. Oregon State
