Week 10 AP Top 25 projections: Georgia, Oklahoma up; Texas, Florida down
By John Buhler
Yes, Fresno State’s lone loss is not a good one to Minnesota early in the season. However, the Bulldogs have since rebounded marvelously since their early September defeat to the Golden Gophers. Fresno State has already beaten a Group of 5 team in UCLA. The Bulldogs have dominated the opposition in Mountain West play. Their games haven’t been close and they deserve their recognition for a top-25 spot this week.
Oklahoma State has been a top-25 program for most of Mike Gundy’s tenure as head coach. Though the Cowboys haven’t broken through to a nationally elite team, they did beat Texas at home to end the Longhorns’ Playoff dreams on Saturday night in Stillwater. This is a win that the Pokes can absolutely build on in their final four games. It’ll go a long way to helping them achieve bowl eligibility this November. Oklahoma State did enough to crack the Top 25 with the biggest upset victory of the week.
No, this is not the year for Washington football. The Huskies have suffered their third loss of the year, this time coming to division rival Cal. Washington plummets in the latest rankings, but with so many teams falling in the teens, Washington gets to stay alive for another week in the Top 25 on reputation alone. People like the talent on this roster, but Chris Petersen’s team has grossly underperformed thus far.
Mississippi State gets back into the Top 25 after handling division rival Texas A&M at home. Though the Bulldogs are only 5-3 on the year, we saw flashes on Saturday night versus the Aggies that leads us to believe that Joe Moorhead’s team has top-25 talent. The Aggies are one of the six best teams in the SEC. Usually, that means a spot in the Top 25. To upset a ranked team at home with great play out of quarterback Nick Fitzgerald is reason to have Hail State in this week’s rankings.
You know what? It’s time. Let’s give the Utah State Aggies their due, as they crack the AP Top 25. After narrowly losing in East Lansing Week 1 to Michigan State, Utah State has rattled off seven-straight wins. The Aggies look to be the best team in the Mountain West, along with the San Diego State Aztecs. A win over Boise State at the end of the season could have the Aggies in the Group of 5 New Year’s Six mix if the AAC gets all weird on us.