1. Oregon: 121 points (4 first place votes). They eventually piled on Wyoming, but they clearly were in second gear the whole game. With two more easier matchups before they play UCLA, they need to show that third and fourth gear while they don’t have to.
2. Florida State: 115 points (1 first place vote). Clemson shouldn’t present much of a competition for them, but they can’t be looking ahead to Notre Dame over the next month.
3. Oklahoma: 111 points. Hitting the road against West Virginia and TCU are both trap games for the Sooners.
4. Auburn: 108 points. Auburn plays 6 teams currently ranked in the top 15 this season, but no game might be more difficult than this thursday against Kansas State.
5. Alabama: 107 points. Florida struggled to beat a bad Kentucky team in Gainesville, so we're sure that they’ll do fine against Alabama on the road.
6. Baylor: 105 points. They have looked absolutely great so far, but they really haven’t played anyone. Hopefully this won't be a problem with their final few games when they play Oklahoma, Okla. State and Kansas State.
7(tie). Texas A&M: 86 points. Beating up on helpless Lamar and Rice means that we’ve hit the continental shelf of points again. This is another team with a brutal last half of the season, so they need to get in their big wins now.
7(tie). LSU: 86 points. They get Mississippi State at home this week, but don’t sleep on that matchup. Dan Mullen is a good coach with some weapons to work with.
9. UCLA: 67 points. We’ve hit the real border between the great teams and the teams that are still figuring it out. The points between LSU and UCLA really show that. Even with a healthy Brett Hundley, this team just doesn’t have it. Too many question marks still, especially on offense.
10. Notre Dame: 66 points. Another team that everyone is trying to figure out. The defense looks good, then it looks bad. Golston looks fantastic, then he struggles. The Stanford game in early October should be a great test.
11. Ole Miss: 64 points. They’re a popular pick thanks to demolishing Vandy a couple games ago, but when the music stops in October (when they face Bama, TAMU and LSU), they probably won’t be this high.
12. South Carolina: 58 points. Big Mean Spurrier is back and made Georgia howl. Their defense still needs a lot of work, but they’re in the SEC East driver’s seat since Missouri goes on the road to them this year and both UGA and them get Auburn.
13. Arizona State: 51 points. The Ole Miss of the West. They’ve beaten up on creampuffs, now they get Southern Cal, Stanford and UCLA back to back to back.
14. Missouri: 50 points. A contender in the SEC East thanks to a favorable schedule but they have to beat South Carolina at the end of the month.
15. Michigan State: 47 points. Drifting after their loss to Oregon. With a relatively weak schedule, they should make a decent bowl especially if they win the Big-10, but the SOS makes it hard for them to make the playoffs.
16. Georgia: 46 points. It’s a game of inches, and they fell short on Saturday. After every loss to South Carolina, the internal fingerpointing begins and it’s fallen on Mike Bobo for his goal line calls in the 4th quarter. It should be on Jeremy Pruitt for a horrible gameplan.
17. BYU: 40 points. They’re shredding their way through an absolutely weak schedule. This might be good for them come time to get into a second tier playoff game, but it’s hard to see them as a playoff contender due to it.
18. Mississippi State: 38 points. LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn. That’s their next three games in order. Nice knowing you guys.
19. Stanford: 32 points. It’s hard to see where Stanford goes from here. They aren’t going to contend without some luck, but they’re going to lose a ton to the NFL...again. Maybe Coach Shaw starts looking for a bigger program?
20. Nebraska: 26 points. It’s down to them, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin in the race to not make the playoffs.
21. Southern Cal: 22 points. Coffee’s for closers and closers don’t lose to a mediocre Boston College team on the road.
22(tie). Wisconsin: 18 points. They’re much like Stanford. They’re not going to contend, but their fanbase is sick of underwhelming. Expect changes.
22(tie). Kansas State: 18 points. Snyder has his usual “no top level talent but pieces that fit together well” team. Auburn should be wary.
24. Duke: 15 points. You weren’t the only one who made a basketball joke when you saw Duke playing Kansas this past Saturday.
25(tie). Clemson: 12 points. If they lose 5 this year, which is very possible, Dabo Swinney is done.
25(tie). Pittsburgh: 12 points. They might stumble their way into an ACC title game, but that would speak volumes about the...quality...of the ACC.
Also receiving votes: UNC 11, Okla State 11, Utah 9, Florida 8, WVU 8, Ohio State 7, TCU 7, Louisville 6, Penn State 6, UVA 4, Arkansas 4, BC 3, Tennessee 2, ECU 1, Arizona 1.
Zeroed out: Virginia Tech and Iowa.