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Notre Dame and Arkansas are set to move up the new college football rankings after both winning as underdogs both of the spotlight games between the AP’s Top 25 teams during the week. 4. In a day defined primarily by upheaval and narrowly avoided upheaval, it is only fitting that narrow underdogs with less than one touchdown were also successful.
The Razorbacks’ victory over Texas A&M marked one of two Top 10 teams to drop, paired with NC State’s double-overtime victory over Clemson to give the Fighting Irish and Razorbacks some room to move up the standings. Notre Dame’s resounding victory over Wisconsin will sure trigger some of the biggest moves to the top of the standings for this week’s top 25 voters in the PA, as the Fighting Irish overcame an injury from starting quarterback Jack Coan and have always raced against the Badgers, who are likely to come out of the standings after suffering their second loss of the season.
Arkansas’ position relative to the top 10 is uncertain. PA voters have sometimes adopted a replacement theory for these early-season upheavals between two ranked teams. For example, if the numbers 7 and 16 are both unbeaten and the lower ranked team wins, then it makes sense for the team to enter the debate for the same place as the team they beat. Arkansas also has an extremely impressive profile with wins over Texas and Texas A&M.
But the problem here could be the roadblock that are Ohio State and Florida, two teams that have won hands down and entered the season with higher expectations than the Razorbacks.
Here’s what we think the new AP Top 25 will look like on Sunday.
1. Alabama (last week – 1): No change at the top after a victory as expected against Southern Miss.
2. Georgia (2): There could be a transition of first-place votes from Alabama to Georgia given the Bulldogs’ dominance of victory over Vanderbilt, but not enough to lead to a top-two trade-off.
3. Oregon (3): The Ducks are currently in action against Arizona.
4. Oklahoma (4): It’s possible the Sooners will give up for a close game against West Virginia, but the lack of a strong performance from Iowa makes that much less likely.
5. Iowa (5): Tied at 14-14, things looked a bit risky for Iowa against Fighting Steve Addazios, but the Hawkeyes pulled out for a comfortable win that should keep their top five status under control.
6. Penn State (6): Not too much sweat after a victory against Villanova on Saturday in week 4.
7. Notre Dame (12): While the Fighting Irish have a more impressive win over a common opponent (Wisconsin) than Penn State, I think the overall profile with the Nittany Lions also having Auburn’s victory keeps Notre Dame positioned here just two spots from the top five. .
8. Cincinnati (8): The Bearcats were out in Week 4 and are back in action next week in a huge showdown at Notre Dame.
9. Ohio State (10): There are many reasons to be concerned about the overall view of Ohio State, but there is very little to be concerned about in terms of performance on the pitch against Akron.
10. Florida (11): Emory Jones continues to settle in as the leader of this Florida offense, and the Gators defense did a good job of locking Tennessee in the second half after a sharp start from the underdog Volunteers.
11. Arkansas (16): One of the best stories in all of college football has been how Sam Pittman and his team changed expectations at Fayetteville. The Razorbacks overcame an injury from starting quarterback KJ Jefferson and still ended up controlling the game against a top 10 foe, building the argument that they are one of the top 10 teams in the country.
12. Ole Miss (13): The Rebels were out in Week 4 and are back in action against Alabama in the SEC on CBS Game of the Week on October 2.
13. TODAY (15): The Cougars are currently in action against South Florida.
14. Texas A&M (7): I think the Aggies still land in the top 15, but that’s mostly thanks to voters’ respect for Arkansas. The wins aren’t going to anchor the profile, but I think the roster talent and preseason expectations are going to keep a high level from a standings perspective.
15. Coastal Carolina (17): Chanticleers should fit in the pecking order after snagging a 50-burger on UMass.
16. Michigan (19): Things were way too tight for Michigan’s comfort in the second half, but hanging on to the win over Rutgers should allow the Wolverines to keep pace with the rest of the teams in the 15-20 range.
17. State of Michigan (20): A thrilling overtime victory over Nebraska added to the mystique for the Spartans during this solid start to Year 2 with Mel Tucker.
18. Fresno State (22): Avoiding loss to UNLV was all they needed from Jake Haener, and once again, Haener delivered for the Bulldogs on Friday night.
19. UCLA (24): Dorian Thompson-Robinson showed a bit of fighting as she led the Bruins past Stanford in a key rebound game that keeps the Bruins right in the middle of the Pac-12 South title race.
20. Auburn (23): No one expected it to be this close with Georgia State, but TJ Finley saved the day after Bo Nix was knocked out of the game, and the Tigers will remain in the standings after avoiding the surprise.
21. Clemson (9): Part of the projection that Clemson remains in the leaderboard is knowing that there isn’t a ton of precedent for a team moving from the top 10 to off the leaderboard so early in the season, but there isn’t. not much precedent for these teams being 2-2. Even though the quality wins aren’t there, I think Clemson is holding up in the top 25.
22. State of Oklahoma (NR): The Cowboys’ defense has carried the team at times this start of the season, but Saturday was a solid performance for Spencer Sanders against a strong Kansas State team.
23. Maryland (NR): There’s a massive showdown with Iowa on the horizon, which shouldn’t but will certainly influence the anticipation of how this 4-0 Terrapins team fares against ranked opponents.
24. Baylor (NR): Now 4-0 after a win over Iowa State, the Bears are one of the Big 12’s first surprises and should certainly get ahead of the other teams that have turned up on the ballots in the past. first weeks of the season.
25. NC State (NR): Even though they fell to Mississippi State, the Wolfpack should feature in the standings based on Saturday’s win over Clemson. It’s the same kind of magnet theory that puts Fresno State in the rankings after beating UCLA, where voter confidence in the team that got angry helps the underdog who won.
Planned retirement: Iowa State (14), Wisconsin (18), North Carolina (21), Kansas State (25)
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