AP Top 25, Week 6: Risers and fallers in new college football rankings

Texas took a big fall in the new college football rankings as the Longhorns plummetted in the Week 6 AP Top 25 after losing to TCU.

After eight ranked teams (Auburn, Texas, UCF, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Memphis) lost, the Week 6 AP Top 25 has undergone a massive makeover. The college football rankings still have the familiar teams at the top with Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State but beyond them is pure and utter chaos and anarchy.

Last week, we talked about the importance of expectations in making the AP Poll. For example, the only reason a lackluster Texas (they’re back!) team was ranked ahead of a beastly BYU team was the burnt orange uniforms. The same applies all of the Big Ten and Pac-12 teams waiting in the wings. While Ohio State is probably the best team in the country, we have inarguably seen more from Miami. And BYU. Even our beloved Louisiana.

Alabama vivisected the formerly No. 13 Aggies at home, reminding everyone that last year changes nothing. The road to an SEC title runs through Tuscaloosa. (Side note: are we sure Jimbo Fisher is still a good coach? He has a BCS Championship, but so does Larry Coker. His arrow is definitely pointing down).

Georgia, predictably, went with the safe, low ceiling, game manager at quarterback and rode their once again stellar defense to a dominating win over Auburn. Unfortunately for Georgia, they have to face Alabama in two weeks. Two weeks after that, they have to face a Florida team that looks like it might have finally figured out how to play offense. Stetson Bennett might not be the one to lead them to wins when the other team can score at will.

And then there’s Clemson. When you talk about expectations doing the heavy lifting, you have to mention the Tigers. Yes, they have the playmakers that led them to consecutive National Championship appearances. Relying on preposterous feats of skill to shutdown UVA is not a sustainable formula. D’Eriq King will eat this defense alive next week, despite all of the playmakers. Oct. 10, we get to see whether The U is back and if Clemson’s ranking is deserved. Get ready for a shootout.

Finally, there’s the Big 12. What a mess. Oklahoma was supposed to continue its seamless transition to the fourth new starting quarterback in four years. As last night at Iowa State showed, Spencer Rattler is immensely gifted, but he has a lot of growing to do. Despite two losses that should not have happened, Oklahoma opens as a favorite against Texas. Which is stunning, because Texas is back.

It’s a no holds barred brawl for the bottom of the Power Five conference rankings right now, between the Big 12 and the ACC. Settle down, though, American, we’ll get to you in a minute.

Here is a look at the AP Top 25.

AP Top 25 Poll

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Florida
5. Notre Dame
6. Ohio State
7. Miami
8. North Carolina
9. Penn State
10. Oklahoma State
11. Cincinnati
12. Oregon
13. Auburn
14. Tennessee
15. BYU
16. Wisconsin
17. LSU
18. SMU
19. Virginia Tech
20. Michigan
21. Texas A&M
22. Texas
23. Louisiana
24. Iowa State
25. Minnesota

AP Top 25 fallers

No. 22 Texas (previously No. 9)

The Longhorns are now 1-3 against TCU under Tom Herman. Last night’s egg torpedoed Sam Ehlinger’s inexplicable Heisman campaign. Maybe you can recover from losing a game. But unless you’re Lamar Jackson and Ehlinger is decidedly not, you can’t complete less than 50 percent of your passes in a loss and still expect to win the Heisman.

Will the Longhorns ever be able to shake the truckload of bad karma Herman brought to the team? Sometimes it’s hard to remember that the players are just kids. Herman is not a kid. He’s an adult who can’t seem to win in a big conference. He’s Randy Edsall with a better offense. His seat is hot, and deservedly so.

UCF (previously No. 11)

2020 is a year of nightmares for absolutely everyone. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore, including UCF’s home-field dominance of the American Athletic Conference. Last night’s loss ended the Golden Knight’s 21-game home winning streak. UCF has now lost five games since McKenzie Milton’s gruesome injury in 2018 after rattling off 23 straight with Milton at the helm (25 straight overall). A 14-5 record is nothing to sneeze at, but it is not the Group of Five dominance we’re used to out of UCF.

The Knights might be able hang around the Top 25 for the rest of the year, but a return to prestige will have to wait until next year, at least. This year, it’s Cincinnati’s time to shine.

Mississippi State (previously No. 16)

Mike Leach teams are ones of ups and downs. Despite pulling off one of the greatest upsets in college football history, he has never had a team finish inside of the Top 10. These Bulldogs are a team that can clearly beat more talented teams. They can also lose to some of the worst teams in their conference, a Mike Leach staple.

This is still a team that needs to learn a brand new system. Losing to Arkansas like that is not something we should expect to happen in, say, two years. But a loss like that will happen every few years. Once Leach get’s a quarterback more his style — think Gardner Minshew — the offense will start humming. K.J. Costello’s efficiency issues were on display yesterday, showing just how important accuracy is in this system.

Oklahoma (previously No. 18)

Yikes. Back-to-back losses for the Sooners has them unranked for the first time this century.

AP Top 25 risers

No. 7 Miami (previously No. 8)

Go ahead. Disrespect the Crib by leaving them behind Notre Dame. It’s just more fuel to the fire driving the train all the way to The U is Back station. Miami’s EPA/play on offense is fifth in the country, per CFB Graphs. Sure, Notre Dam’s defense is a little better, but Miami is killing the game on the offensive side of the ball.

The ‘Canes are ready to bring it to Clemson next week. D’Eriq King is the type of quarterback that can give the Tigers fits. Get ready for him to be all over the field. Miami might not have the horses to knock off the reigning ACC Champions, but they will make them sweat. College football is always best when The U is back.

No. 15 BYU (previously No. 22)

This ranking is a slap in the face to the Cougars, who by EPA/play margin (the difference between offense EPA/play and defenve EPA/play) are the best team in the country. While they have not exactly lined up against any powerhouses, they have dominated every opponent they line up against. And they’ve certainly played as tough a lineup as Cincinnati. Nevertheless, at the moment, the possibility of two religious (usually) Independent schools in the CFP is alive. How wild would it be to see BYU and Notre Dame square off?

Zach Wilson is balling out of his mind. He threw as many touchdowns as incompletions on Friday. For the season, he is completing 83 percent of his passes and is nearing 1,000 yards passing after three games. They held a Louisiana Tech team to 14 points after they scored 97 points in its previous two games. The degree of difficulty doesn’t really pick up for BYU either. They have Dana Holgorson’s Houston squad in two weeks and a Nov. 7 matchup with Boise State. Other than that, nobody wanted to play BYU. Hard to blame them.

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