The No. 10 Louisville Cardinals destroyed the No. 2 Florida State Seminoles on Saturday. Here is a projection of what next week’s top 10 might look like.
The Louisville Cardinals completely annihilated the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday afternoon, 63-20. Louisville was the No. 10 team in the nation, while Florida State was No. 2 after a strong Week 1 win over the then No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels.
Louisville should skyrocket up in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 Poll next week. Do the Cardinals leapfrog the Alabama Crimson Tide for the top spot in the country? How does this devastating road loss impact Florida State’s position in the top 10?
Here is a look at what the top 10 of the AP Top 25 Poll, Week 4 could look like at the end of play on Saturday:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Louisville Cardinals
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Michigan Wolverines
- Clemson Tigers
- Houston Cougars
- Stanford Cardinal
- Washington Huskies
- Texas Longhorns
- Wisconsin Badgers
The only way that Louisville moves to No. 1 from No. 10 is if Alabama loses to Ole Miss for the third straight time on Saturday afternoon. Unless the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes obliterate the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners in a similar fashion to what Louisville did to Florida State, the Cardinals should be the No. 2 team in the country. That is an impressive leap from No. 10 to No. 2 for Louisville.
Ohio State hangs on to No. 3 with a road win over Oklahoma. Michigan stays at No. 4 by beating the Colorado Buffaloes handedly at home. Clemson looked great over South Carolina State in Week 3, but the Bulldogs aren’t a good enough opponent to help the Tigers climb higher than No. 5 in next week’s AP Top 25 poll.
Houston stays at No. 6 by beating the Cincinnati Bearcats, 40-16 on the road on Thursday night. The Cougars trailed the Bearcats entering the fourth quarter, so that keeps Houston out of the top five for at least another week.
The Stanford Cardinal defense should handle a weak USC Trojans offense to stay at No. 7. Washington stays at No. 8 by clobbering Presbyterian. Wisconsin struggled with the Georgia State Panthers in Week 3. The Badgers drop from No. 9 to No. 10 in next week’s AP Poll.
Texas moves up to No. 9 from No. 11 with a victory over the California Golden Bears. Florida State barely falls out of the top 10 and will be No. 11 entering next weekend.
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Two teams outside of the top 10 besides the Texas Longhorns to keep an eye on for getting into the top 10 next week have to be the winner of Michigan State at Notre Dame. Michigan State gets into the top 10 from No. 12 with a win at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish could go to No. 10 from No. 18 with a big win over the Spartans and a big victory by the Longhorns over the Golden Bears.