1. Oregon: 123 points(4 first place votes). Coming back to defeat a really good Michigan State team earned the Ducks three more first place votes and a clear jump to the top of the poll. No play summed up their win other than this amazing interception:
2. Florida State: 115 points(1 first place votes). Their drop has less to do with them and more to do with Oregon. However, playing the Citadel might have been a costly creampuff. They lost multiple defensive linemen due to injury.
3. Oklahoma: 108 points. Tulsa didn’t give them much competition but their next three games: Tennesse, At West Virginia and At TCU should give them a real test.
4. Auburn: 106 points. They have enjoyed their creampuffs but go into Kansas State this weekend and face 6 more ranked teams down the stretch.
5. Baylor 97 points. No Bryce Petty, no problem. But they were creampuff feasting last saturday. They might win the big-12 this season, but their schedule might be their undoing come playoff time.
6(tie). Alabama: 91 points. Their creampuff bye was so weak that no one had a problem with calling the game 8 minutes early. They have obvious talent, but they need to answer a lot of questions before they play Ole Miss in a month.
6(tie). Georgia: 91 points. The Bulldogs get a bye before a big showdown with South Carolina on saturday. Interesting stat, but they haven’t scored more than 20 points in Columbia, SC since 1994.
8. TAMU: 89 points. The Aggies get a month of creampuffs(Arkansas included) that should keep them in the top ten(or drop them hideously fast if upset) until they face Miss State in Starkville in early october.
9. Southern Cal: 85 points. One of the big risers of the week for going into Palo Alto and defeating Stanford. Well, more like still being standing when Stanford completely self destructed in the SC red zone.
10. LSU: 81 points. LSU is still finding out what works for them on offense personnel-wise. Fortunately for them they have a month before they have to go into the Plains and face Auburn.
11. Notre Dame: 70 points. We’ve hit the continental shelf of the voting. A big 11 point drop off between 10 and 11. The Fighting Irish tore apart a helpless Michigan team to close out their rivalry(for now).
12(tie). UCLA: 61 points. UCLA will either be top 7 or bottom 5 a month from now. With Texas, Arizona State, Utah and Oregon up next, we’ll know the true strength of the Bruins before Columbus Day weekend.
12(tie). Ole Miss 61 points. They tore apart a poor Vandy team on saturday, but let’s be honest here: Vandy is basically nothing without James Franklin.
14. Michigan State: 49 points. Michigan State had the lead for 2.5 quarters, then they followed the Big-1G into the void. They still should be the favorite for their conference, but its doubtful that this gets them into the playoffs.
15. Arizona State: 48 points. Like UCLA, we’ll know a lot more about this team in a month. They have Colorado, UCLA, Southern Cal and Stanford on the schedule in succession.
16. Virginia Tech: 36 points. A big win over the depleted Buckeyes in Columbus jumps them from 0 to 16th in the nation. With a weak schedule the rest of the way, don’t expect them to rise much higher.
17. Louisville: 34 points. Bobby Petrino is probably casting his gaze north to Ohio State and wondering if Urban Meyer will suddenly get heartburn so he can avoid another poor season with the buckeyes.
18. Missouri: 33 points. Don’t sleep on the Tigers, but they shouldn’t sleep on UCF if they’re looking ahead to the Battle of Columbia trophy at the end of September. UCF is well coached and gave Penn State fits.
19. Stanford 32 points. Stanford just couldn’t stop pulling Tony Romos up and down the field all game long against Southern Cal and they still almost won.
20. BYU: 22 points. Beating Texas in Austin shouldn’t vault you from 0 to 18, but here we are. With their easy schedule, they could sneak their way into a second tier playoff game.
21(tie). Wisconsin: 19 points. Another team that could sneak into a big bowl game thanks to an easy schedule. LSU was their toughest potential opponent, and they probably won’t play anyone tough until Nebraska late in the season.
21(tie). Kansas State: 19 points. Don’t sleep on Bill Snyder. The man has won for decades cobbling together a team full of castoffs and unwanted players. Auburn is officially…*pushes button*...on upset alert.
23(tie). Tennessee: 17 points. Butch Jones might have them on the right track, but their schedule is beyond brutal. Besides Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, they play Oklahoma next.
23(tie). Miss State: 17 points. You have to feel for the Bulldogs. They have TAMU, LSU and Auburn in consecutive weeks in the next month. Even winning just one would be a big accomplishment for them.
25(tie). South Carolina: 16 points. The Gamecocks have had two things clearly pointed out to them in the first two weeks, 1-their young defense is bad against big WRs and 2-They have an amazing running game behind their 6 Oline setup. They’ll need both to do better if they want to beat the Bulldogs.
25(tie). Nebraska: 16 points. Struggling to beat a second division team in McNeese State doesn’t win you many points from the voters.
Also receiving votes: UNC(13), Okla State(13), Clemson(12), Duke(10), Utah(10), Pittsburgh(8), Florida(7), Ohio State(3) and Iowa(1).
Zeroed out: Texas, TCU, Michigan, Arizona and Cal