My AP top-25 ballot: Ohio State climbs, Florida enters the top 10 and Washington vanishes
Highlights from the ballot …
Another week with little drama on the field and limited movement on the ballot:
Six teams (from last week’s ballot) were idle while only one top-10 team lost.
*** Ohio State jumped three spots, to No. 3, after the dominating win over Michigan State, which followed all the Buckeyes’ other dominating wins.
They also received a not-insignificant resume boost from September victim Cincinnati, which beat UCF.
***Florida moved into the 8-hole following the victory over Auburn.
The Gators essentially replace Auburn in that spot; the top seven are fairly well established at this point.
Even though Notre Dame has a loss, the Irish deserve their position (No. 7) based on the close loss at Georgia and an otherwise flawless resume.
*** Washington was jettisoned after the bad loss at Stanford — bad because the Huskies were a huge favorite that was thoroughly outplayed by a mediocre team.
Without UW, the Pac-12 was left with three teams on the ballot (just a few weeks ago, there were six):
Oregon, Arizona State and Utah.
The Ducks’ resume took a minor hit with Auburn’s loss.
They’re slotted 12th this week — one spot behind the Tigers.
Removed from the ballot: Army, Washington, UCF and Michigan State
Added to the ballot: Baylor, Cincinnati, Memphis and Wake Forest
1. Clemson
2. LSU
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oklahoma
7. Notre Dame
8. Florida
9. Wisconsin
10. Texas
11. Auburn
12. Oregon
13. Penn State
14. Michigan
15. Arizona State
16. Iowa
17. Utah
18. Boise State
19. Texas A&M
20. Baylor
21. SMU
22. Cincinnati
23. Virginia
24. Memphis
25. Wake Forest
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