College football rankings: Winners and losers from AP Top 25, Week 4
By John Buhler
New college football rankings, featuring the biggest winners and losers from the AP Top 25.
With the AP Top 25 Poll being released at precisely 2:00 p.m. ET, we have some winners and losers to assess from this latest batch of college football rankings.
Although no top-10 team lost on Saturday, there were plenty of changes to the middle of this week’s rankings. Teams like Penn State and Oregon got impressive wins over Auburn and BYU, while teams like Miami and Michigan State suffered tough road losses to Texas A&M and Washington. We will know what teams are good and bad in due time. For now, let’s just enjoy it.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from the latest AP Top 25 Poll entering the Week 4 slate.
College football rankings: Biggest winners from AP Top 25 Poll, Week 4
11. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. (3-0). Tennessee Volunteers. player. SEC
Tennessee is breathing into life the SEC East being better than the SEC West
After blowing out Akron, Tennessee is clearly a force to be reckoned with in the SEC East. Josh Heupel just got paid, and is 100 percent the right head coach to lead Rocky Top going forward. Though they still have to play division rivals Georgia and Kentucky this season, Tennessee is more than doing its part to actually suggest that the SEC East is better than the SEC West this season.
Pick Analysis. Big Ten. Penn State Nittany Lions. 14. player. Scouting Report. 806. (3-0)
James Franklin got paid last year and now has his Penn State program humming
Auburn may have some major issues, but winning on the road at Jordan-Hare is always a big deal, especially for a non-SEC team. Penn State is finally playing up to its standard again under James Franklin. Although the Nittany Lions are clearly third behind Ohio State and Michigan in the division, this feels like a team that can win 10 or so games. If only they played in the Big Ten West.
Pac-12. (2-1). 15. 820. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Oregon Ducks. player
Oregon’s dominance of BYU further illustrates how good Georgia really is
Two weeks removed from getting blown out by Georgia in Atlanta, Dan Lanning got his first big victory leading Oregon. The Ducks had no issues with Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars, winning easily at Autzen. And just like that, Oregon finds itself in the top 15 and very much alive to win the Pac-12 this season. With four teams ranked inside of the top 25 this week, that ain’t a bad place to be.
(3-0). Washington Huskies. 18. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 818. Pac-12
Kalen DeBoer is reawakening the sleeping giant that is Washington football
It is still early, but we cannot deny the great job former Fresno State head coach Kalen DeBoer is doing in Seattle. He has Michael Penix Jr. and the rest of the Washington Huskies 3-0 and ranked inside of the top 20. Beating Michigan State at home in primetime is nothing short of incredible. We know how good the Spartans are under Mel Tucker. DeBoer is awakening this sleeping giant.
While it was good for Tennessee, Penn State, Oregon and Washington, it was not so much for these four college football programs…