Apparently winning by 31 points is not enough for Clemson football, as the Tigers dropped to number 5 in the AP Poll.
While I agree the Tigers were not overly impressive, they did play a power 5 opponent away from home, unlike some of the others.
It makes you wonder how many SEC and Big 10 teams will pass the Tigers this week with Furman on the schedule.
The Michigan Wolverines moved up four spots to number four as the pollsters were apparently impressed by Jim Harbaugh’s team 43 point victory over Colorado State.
Georgia passed Ohio State, rightfully so in my mind, to move to number 2 ahead of the Buckeyes, Michigan and Clemson in the top 5.
Michigan’s jump is a bit of a mystery as they jumped several teams that won and a Notre Dame one that lost fell three spots to number 8.
The ACC has five teams represented: Clemson at number 5, Miami at 15, Pittsburgh at 17, North Carolina State at 18 and Wake Forest at 23.
I generally agree that tougher schedules should be rewarded, but argue that crushing Colorado State does not warrant a four spot jump when only one of the four in front of you loses, and even that one was in a respectable game.
The move does, however, place two SEC and two Big 10 teams neatly in the top four of the rankings, where the odds are they’ll all four stay for a while.
Clemson football drops in AP Poll after 31 point win, which makes one wonder how far they’ll drop next week after playing Furman
While Michigan and Ohio State will play in the regular season finale, Georgia and Alabama are likely to meet in the SEC Championship game barring anything unusual.
The biggest loser, literally and figuratively, was Oregon, that got booted from the poll after a 49-3 beatdown from Georgia.
This year’s darling, Southern Cal, earned a top 10 ranking by beating Rice 66-14, and while the other media darling, Texas, didn’t quite make the top 25 (pollsters know who’s on Longhorn’s schedule this week), they were in the also rans, effectively number 28 after beating Louisiana – Monroe 52-10.