When we have huge, landscape-shifting weeks in college football, the updated rankings can be some of the most difficult to sort out. Because while the early weeks have some simple moves of winners going up and losers falling, this point in the season brings enough complication that head-to-head results begin to conflict and it creates a puzzle for voters in the AP Top 25 poll.
In fact, according to CBS Sports Research, Week 5 was the first time more than three AP top-five teams lost this early in the season since 2008. Losses for No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 LSU and No. 5 Georgia have opened up the top of the rankings, allowing winners like Oregon and Ole Miss to make major moves at the top of the poll.
Alabama will certainly be on the rise after beating Georgia in Athens, logging a win that solidifies the Crimson Tide as a legitimate threat still to win the SEC. But while that victory could, in theory, make Alabama the highest-ranked one-loss team, the profile is also impacted by the fact their loss came to Florida State, which will be falling in the rankings after losing at Virginia.
Voters also have to wrestle with how much they are willing to penalize Penn State after losing at home to Oregon in double-overtime, as well as whether they are comfortable keeping Ohio State as the No. 1 team in the country considering the Ducks’ impressive road win in Happy Valley. There were 55 AP voters who had Ohio State in the top spot last week, and there wasn’t too much to complain about with how the Buckeyes won by double digits against Washington in Seattle, yet the statement made by Dan Lanning’s team on Saturday night on a big stage will kickstart a debate that should be reflected in a more balanced dispersion of first-place votes.
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