The College Football Top 25 will have a lot of shakeup this week after four Top 10 teams lost.
Wow, what a week. While everyone knew that at least three teams in the top 12 would end up losing because of ranked matchups, nobody saw five teams in the top 12 losing. AP No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Florida and No. 12 Ole Miss all suffered losses in a variety of ways that ranged from blow out losses to overtime thrillers.
In the Lawless Republic rankings, which do not take prestige or blueblood rankings into account. As a result, there were less drastic upsets as we didn’t have Notre Dame or Oregon ranked quite as high as the AP. Despite this, the rankings still have quite a bit of shakeup as we near the midway point of the season.
For the entire 2021 season I will put out my Top 25 poll, whether BYU Football is in it or not. Again, my polls are based off of what I see, not what the AP/Coaches Poll says. In fact, I don’t even reference them while making my ranking.
Below are my Week Six rankings with last week’s rankings in parenthesis.
WEEK FIVE RANKINGS
1. Georgia (3)
Who let the Dawgs out? Georgia made Arkansas look like a high school team on Saturday and through five weeks have still NOT ALLOWED a touchdown. This team is really, really good and it feels like this may be the year that Georgia wins it all.
2. Alabama (1)
3. Cincinnati (2)
Cincinnati beat Notre Dame but falls a spot, not because of what they did, but as a result of what Georgia and Alabama both did to their Top 12 opponents. It feels like the two SEC teams are head and shoulders above everyone else, but the Bearcat’s secondary looks dangerous.
4. Penn State (4)
5. Iowa (8)
6. Oklahoma (6)
7. BYU (9)
Oklahoma and BYU can both be put in the “keep winning and moving up”. Neither team has looked particularly dominate in many games this season to this point, but while other teams are losing games they shouldn’t, both these squads keeping finding ways to win.
8. Arkansas (5)
Despite losing to Georgia, I still really like the Hogs. Terrible matchup for Arkansas, but they won’t see another team like that all year.
9. Coastal Carolina (11)
10. Ohio State (12)
11. Oregon (7)
But…but…Oregon beat Ohio State, in Columbus! While that is a valid point, Ohio State lost to a ranked team while Oregon lost to an unranked team. Between choosing between those two, I’ve got to with the better loss.
12. Michigan (20)
Michigan keeps winning, but Michigan is going to Michigan and find a way to lose. To this point, Michigan hasn’t played a good team with Wisconsin now at 1-3 and Rutgers is 0-2 in Big 10 play. They make a huge jump out of teams ahead of them losing more than looking overly impressive.
13. Ole Miss (12)
Like Arkansas, there is no shame losing to a top two team. Losing by 21 is never fun, but for the moment, it is looking like Ole Miss is likely out of contention in the SEC West.
14. San Diego State (17)
15. UTSA (17)
16. Michigan State (21)
17. Kentucky (NR)
Kentucky is the Arkansas of the SEC East. As tough as it is to be underrated in the SEC, Kentucky may have just managed to do that. The Wildcats are undefeated and took down a Florida team that was a play or two away from beating Bama. While they likely will lose a few games, for now, they look like a legit team.
18. Arizona State (NR)
19. Oklahoma State (22)
Oklahoma State should have lost to Boise State off of a TERRIBLE whistle blow late in the game that prevented a scoop and score. I haven’t forgotten that. Great win against Baylor this week, but in my head, they have a loss.
20. Notre Dame (14)
Called it! All season, I’ve said that the Irish didn’t look like a Top 10 team and that they’d have to prove it. Against Cincinnati, their first good opponent of the season, they were outplayed and beaten in phases of the game. Welcome back to the high 20’s.
21. Texas (NR)
After a setback against Arkansas, the Longhorns have looked really strong and are back in the Top 25.
22. SMU (NR)
23. NC State (NR)
24. Virginia Tech (25)
25. Liberty
On the Fringe: Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Oregon State, Western Michigan
Dropped Out: Florida (10), UCLA (16), TCU (19), Baylor (23), Maryland (24)
***Editors Note – Rankings based on Arizona State beating UCLA. Article was published with ASU up 39-23 with 6:43 left in the game.***