Brett McMurphy’s College Football AP Top 25 Ballot After Week 8

    Here is my latest Associated Press Top 25 ballot through the games of Oct. 20. Three more unbeatens fell by the wayside on Saturday. A couple of Ohio

    Here is my latest Associated Press Top 25 ballot through the games of Oct. 20.

    Three more unbeatens fell by the wayside on Saturday. A couple of Ohio teams suffered their first loss: Ohio State and Cincinnati.

    The Buckeyes dropped from No. 2 to No. 8 on my AP ballot, while Cincinnati went from No. 22 to not ranked. I also dropped NC State and Colorado from my AP Top 25 ballot.

    New additions to my ballot: Utah, Stanford and Wisconsin.

    The biggest mover from last week was Washington State, moving up from No. 18 to No. 11 after defeating Oregon.

    My ballot this week (where I ranked each team last week in parenthesis):

    1. Alabama (1)
    2. Notre Dame (3)
    3. Clemson (4)
    4. LSU (5)
    5. Michigan (6)

    6. Florida (7)
    7. Texas (8)
    8. Ohio State (2)
    9. Georgia (9)
    10. Oklahoma (10)

    11. Washington State (18)
    12. West Virginia (11)
    13. UCF (12)
    14. Kentucky (15)
    15. Texas A&M (17)

    16. Washington (14)
    17. Iowa (23)
    18. Oregon (13)
    19. Penn State (19)
    20. Utah (NR)

    21. Stanford (NR)
    22. USF (21)
    23. Utah State (24)
    24. Fresno State (25)
    25. Wisconsin (NR)


    Peeking ahead to this week:

    College Football Playoff impact game

    Florida vs. Georgia in Jacksonville

    The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party will have added emphasis on Saturday: the winner remains alive for the SEC East title and a spot in the SEC title game. The loser’s College Football Playoff hopes are extinguished. This is the 37th time in the last 39 meetings of this rivalry that at least one team is nationally ranked.

    Game of the “weak”

    UMass at UConn

    The Minutemen and Huskies are a combined 3-12 this season. A big reason: their defensive play. Or make that, their lack of defense. UConn ranks dead last in scoring defense, allowing 51.4 points per game, while UMass is the nation’s fifth-worst scoring defense, allowing 42.2 points per game.

    Stat of the week

    22. LSU’s win against Mississippi State on Saturday was the Tigers’ 22nd consecutive victory at home in the month of October. Unfortunately, LSU’s next home game isn’t until … Nov. 3. And that’s when No. 1 Alabama comes to Baton Rouge.

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