Week 10 AP Poll: State Football Powerhouses Collapse
All is not well in the Sunshine State when it comes to college football. Miami, Florida and Florida State were all ranked as of Week 2. South Florida joined in Week 3 when Florida dropped out.
Now in the Week 10 Associated Press poll, Miami is the only ranked team left in the state. The Hurricanes, however, have slipped to a tie at No. 10 with BYU. It will be difficult for coach Mario Cristobal’s squad to keep its playoff hopes alive. Miami still has to play a full slate of unranked ACC teams. Nothing short of an ACC championship will do for the former No. 2 team.
After the Hurricanes’ Week 8 loss to Louisville, Indiana took over the No. 2 spot. The Hoosier held onto that rank with a dominant 56-6 win against UCLA this Saturday.
The rest of the top six teams remain unchanged in this week’s poll. The Ohio State Buckeyes retain the No.1 spot while the Texas A&M Aggies hold steady at No.3.
The Aggies went into Death Valley and beat LSU, 49-25, to knock the Tigers out of the rankings. Quarterback Garret Nussmeier was sacked five times as LSU fans called for coach Brian Kelly’s firing. They got their wish when Kelly was fired Sunday after a 34-14 record with the Tigers. LSU owes Kelly a buyout of $54 million, the second largest in FBS history.
USF, meanwhile, dropped out of the ranking after blowing a 14-point fourth quarter lead at Memphis. The Bulls’ playoff aspirations are not dead, but the margin for error is now nonexistent.
The middle pack of ranked teams saw the most mobility. Vanderbilt is at its highest ranking in 88 years at No. 9. The Big 12 has five teams in the poll for the first time this season, led by BYU at No. 10.
The Texas Longhorns rose two spots after a 45-38 OT victory against Mississippi State. However, starting quarterback Arch Manning suffered a head injury and the Longhorns may be without him for the foreseeable future.
For one-loss teams, like Miami and Georgia, the goal is to prove dominance over their remaining conference schedules and avoid upsets that could further derail their playoff plans. The Bulldogs especially need to be wary of the Florida Gators coming off a bye-week with a new offensive scheme.
Overall, the poll is finally seeing some consistency and escaping volatility as teams enter the latter halves of their seasons. See the full poll below:
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Ole Miss
- Georgia Tech
- Vanderbilt
- Miami
- BYU
- Notre Dame
- Texas Tech
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Cincinnati
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Texas
- Michigan
- Houston
- USC
- Utah
- Memphis
Category: College Football, Gators Football
