Power Rankings after Week 4
1. Alabama 4-0 (1st)
2. LSU 4-0 (3rd)
3. Oklahoma 3-0 (2nd)
4. Boise State 3-0 (6th)
5. Oregon 3-1 (7th)
6. Stanford 3-0 (8th)
7. Oklahoma State 4-0 (11th)
8. Texas A&M 2-1 (5th)
9. Wisconsin 4-0 (9th)
10. Florida 4-0 (13th)
11. South Carolina 4-0 (10th)
12. Nebraska 4-0 (14th)
13. Florida State 2-2 (4th)
14. Clemson 4-0 (NR)
15. Texas 3-0 (15th)
Out: Arkansas (12th).
Explanation: There was change in 13 of 15 spots in my power rankings, as the #1 and #15 teams were the only ones to remain in place this week. Florida State took by far the biggest tumble in the rankings, dropping 9 spots from #4 to #13. They are also the first 2-loss team in my power rankings this year. Oklahoma State rose the most of any team, climbing 4 spots from #11 to #7. Arkansas was the only team to fall out of my top 15, while Clemson jumped into the rankings.
1. Alabama: 4-0 (won vs. Arkansas, 38-14). Bama stays as my top team, as they routed Arkansas (was my #12 team). They face what may be their toughest test of the entire season this week, as they go on the road to play Florida (#10 in my rankings)
2. LSU: 4-0 (won at West Virginia, 47-21). LSU moves up a spot to #2 this week, as they went on the road and blew out West Virginia. They should destroy Kentucky this week and get ready to host the Gators (#10 in my rankings) after that.
3. Oklahoma: 3-0 (won vs. Missouri, 38-28). Oklahoma moves down a spot this week to #3, as the Sooners struggled to hold off Mizzu at home. I was frankly stunned that they only won by 10 points. For most teams, defeating a solid Missouri team by double digits would be impressive, but Oklahoma usually crushes the competition at home. This week they have a gimmie, as Ball State comes to town, but the following week they play rival Texas in the Red River Shootout (or classic or rivalry or whatever they call it).
4. Boise State: 3-0 (won vs. Tulsa, 41-21). Boise State jumps up 2 spots to #4 this week. The Broncos won easily over Tulsa and they should do the same at home against Nevada this week. They face some decent competition the rest of the way, but I’d be stunned if they lost a game this year.
Their challenge once again will be to win impressively against overmatched competition, try and avoid an upset, and hope that enough BCS conference teams lose for them to finally wind up in the national title game.
5. Oregon: 3-1 (won at Arizona, 56-31). Oregon climbs 2 spots to #5 this week, as the Ducks put up 56 points against Arizona on the road. They’re off this week. The Ducks are my highest ranked team with a loss.
6. Stanford: 3-0 (Idle). Despite being off last week, Stanford moves up 2 spots in my rankings to #6. They have 4 fairly easy contests in a row over the next month before a road game with the Trojans in LA on October 29th.
7. Oklahoma State: 4-0 (won at Texas A&M, 30-29). Oklahoma State made the biggest jump in the rankings this week, climbing 4 spots to #7. They had the most impressive victory of week 4, coming from behind to defeat Texas A&M (#8 in my rankings) on the road. They are off this week. Tough road contests against Texas (#15 in my rankings) and Missouri loom in the near future.
8. Texas A&M: 2-1 (lost vs. Oklahoma State, 29-30). A&M falls 3 spots in my rankings to #8 this week. I expected the Aggies to get past Ok State at home last week, and for much of the game it looked like they would, as they built a 20-3 halftime lead. However, the Cowboys came roaring back and the Aggies would find themselves down 10 points late in the 4th. They staged a late comeback but eventually fell short by a point. A&M actually has a fairly tough schedule the rest of the way, including this Southwest Classic against Arkansas in Arlington.
9. Wisconsin: 4-0 (won vs. South Dakota, 59-10). Wisconsin stays at #9 this week, as they blitzed FCS South Dakota last week by nearly 50 points. They have a huge showdown with Nebraska (#12 in my rankings) this week at home.
10. Florida: 4-0 (won at Kentucky, 48-10). Florida moves up 3 spots to #10 this week, as the Gators blew out Kentucky once again last Saturday. They now begin a 3-week gauntlet with a battle against Alabama (#1 in my rankings) at the Swamp this Saturday. They go to LSU (#2 in my rankings) and then to Auburn in their next two games.
Even if the Gators pull off an improbable 3-0 sweep over the next 3 weeks, they will still have games against UGA, at South Carolina (#11 in my rankings), and against FSU (#13 in my rankings) to come. If they were somehow to finish 12-0 they would still have to beat the SEC West champ in the conference championship game.
Simply put: if the Gators go undefeated this season and win the national championship it would be without question a bigger feat than anything they did under Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer.
11. South Carolina: 4-0 (won vs. South Carolina, 21-3). Despite a 21-3 win over a previously undefeated Vanderbilt team, the Gamecocks move down a spot to #11. They still haven’t looked to me like a truly dominant team. They do have a favorable schedule, but that’s a relative term when you’re dealing with the SEC.
12. Nebraska: 4-0 (won at Wyoming, 38-14). Nebraska moves up 2 spots to #12 after winning easily at Wyoming last week. The Cornhuskers’ season will likely be decided by their play over the coming 2 weeks, as they play Wisconsin (#9 in my rankings) at Camp Randall this week, and then host Ohio State (who will by then be at something close to full strength) on October 8th.
13. Florida State: 2-2 (lost at Clemson, 30-35). FSU lost for the second consecutive week last Saturday and therefore slid 9 spots in my rankings to #13 this week. The Noles were without QB EJ Manuel and had several others banged up last week, yet they still had a shot to win late on the road against Clemson (#14 in my rankings).
However, they’ve lost back to back games, they are still banged up, and now they even have to deal with some off the field issues. FSU is the only 2-loss team in my top 15 and they have a much needed off week in week 5.
14. Clemson: 4-0 (won vs. Florida State, 35-30). Clemson jumps into my rankings at #14, as they knocked off FSU (#13 in my rankings) for their 2nd straight impressive victory. We will find out this weekend whether the Tigers are for real or not, as they have to go on the road to play Virginia Tech.
15. Texas: 3-0 (Idle). Texas was idle in week 4 and stays at #15 in my rankings. The Horns have a tricky game at Iowa State this weekend, but the schedule gets a lot trickier after that, as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are their next two opponents.
Teams Falling Out of the Rankings
Arkansas: 3-1 (lost at Alabama, 14-38). The Hogs went to Tuscaloosa and got outclassed last week, and they drop out of my rankings from #12. Alabama is my #1 team and they were playing on the road in a very hostile environment, but I just haven’t been all that impressed with Arkansas so far.
Outscoring Missouri State and New Mexico 103-10 is fun for the fans but it really doesn’t prove anything. Against reasonable competition they haven’t been as impressive, struggling to hold off Troy at home, and then getting run into the ground by Alabama.
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