Now that the Week 4 slate is in the books, we now must turn our attention to what the AP Top 25 could look like heading into Week 5. With multiple ranked-on-ranked matchups this week, the top 25 should look vastly different by mid-Sunday afternoon. Although the Clemson Tigers may not end up ranked this week, it would not be shocking to see them get at least a few votes after getting to 3-1.
Clemson has won three in a row after getting embarrassed at LSU. While the 51-point road loss may be a cause for concern for some AP voters, there is no denying that the Tigers have improved over the last three weeks. They now have a defense, but will it be good enough to keep the vaunted Miami offense at bay? All we know is if the Tigers beat a top-10 team, they will surely be ranked in Week 6.
Here is what the AP Top 25 Poll could look like heading into the fifth week of the regular season.
- Texas Longhorns (1)
- Georgia Bulldogs (2)
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3)
- Indiana Hoosiers (5)
- Miami Hurricanes (6)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (7)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (8)
- Florida Gators (21)
- Ole Miss Rebels (4)
- LSU Tigers (10)
- BYU Cougars (9)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders (11)
- Utah Utes (15)
- Iowa Hawkeyes (17)
- Oregon Ducks (20)
- Mississippi State Bulldogs (24)
- USC Trojans (12)
- Tennessee Volunteers (14)
- SMU Mustangs (22)
- Oklahoma State Cowboys (NR)
- Penn State Nittany Lions (13)
- Houston Cougars (25)
- Michigan Wolverines (18)
- Missouri Tigers (19)
- Kentucky Wildcats (NR)
The biggest mover up this week could be Florida after the Gators handled Ole Miss in The Swamp. Look for Mississippi State and Oregon to rise as well after their big ranked wins over Missouri and USC, respectively. As far as the big fallers are concerned, do not expect for Louisville or Texas A&M to be ranked anymore. Ole Miss, USC, Tennessee, Penn State, and Michigan will all take a dive this week.
Clemson really needs for someone in the ACC ahead of them to fall soon
Even though Clemson has a loss to a ranked team on the season, it was in the non-conference, and it was on the road, too. While the Tigers have not beaten anyone of note yet, you cannot put a price on being 2-0 in conference play into this young season. Again, if they were to improve to 4-1 (3-0) after upsetting Miami at home next week, this should be a top-25 team in most estimations we would think.
As far as what we can expect out of Clemson's upcoming opponents and the rest of the ACC, Miami should now be a top-five team after handling Central Michigan in lieu of Ole Miss stumbling to Florida. Conversely, we might see Louisville fall out of the top 25 entirely with its second loss of the season. Losing to Ole Miss in Nashville is one thing, but to then lose to Wake Forest at home is different story.
So with that, Wake Forest could be ranked soon. The Demon Deacons could conceivably shoot past other undefeated teams in the ACC such as Duke, Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech. While those three teams are a combined 12-0 through four weeks, none of them have a win the caliber of Wake Forest. Furthermore, the Demon Deacons' only loss thus far was to Miami last week on a Friday night kick.
Virginia seems to be limited by what the AP voters want to do about West Virginia, the Cavaliers are still probably more in the mix to get to Charlotte than we want to give them credit for. As for SMU, even though the road loss to Louisville looks worse after this week, the Mustangs still feel like a top-three team in this conference up to this point. Clemson is improving, but other teams will need to fall.
With how chaotic the ACC has been, a top-eight team in the league like Clemson should get votes.
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