Week 10 of college football wrapped up with a number of contenders going down. Ole Miss, Georgia, East Carolina, Utah and Arizona each lost for the second time this season, while Big 12 contender West Virginia lost its third game in a narrow one against TCU.
No. 1 Mississippi State remained undefeated, as did No. 2 Florida State, but with Ole Miss' loss came an open slot in the top four -- at least in the Playoff rankings. The polls keep last week's top four of Mississippi State, Florida State, Alabama and Auburn, switching the Tide and the Tigers.
The official Playoff rankings come out Tuesday (here are the six big final scores that'll change those), but we'll try and hold you over until then with some polls!
Composite | Average | AP | Coaches | F/+ | Computer composite | ||
1 | Mississippi State | 1.75 | 1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Auburn | Auburn |
2 | Auburn | 2 | 2 | Florida State | Florida State | Oregon | Mississippi State |
3 | Alabama | 4 | 3 | Auburn | Auburn | Mississippi State | Alabama |
4 | Florida State | 4.25 | 4 | Alabama | Alabama | Ole Miss | Ole Miss |
5 | Oregon | 4.5 | 5 | Oregon | Oregon | Alabama | Florida State |
6 | TCU | 7.5 | 6 | TCU | Michigan State | Oklahoma | Oregon |
7 | Ole Miss | 8.25 | 7 | Michigan State | TCU | Ohio State | TCU |
8 | Michigan State | 8.75 | 8 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | Florida State | Kansas State |
9 | Kansas State | 10.25 | 9 | Kansas State | Kansas State | LSU | LSU |
10 | Ohio State | 11.5 | 10 | Baylor | Baylor | TCU | Oklahoma |
11 | LSU | 11.75 | 11 | Arizona State | Ohio State | Michigan State | Michigan State |
12 | Oklahoma | 12 | 12 | Ole Miss | Arizona State | Miami | Notre Dame |
13 | Notre Dame | 12.5 | 13 | Ohio State | Ole Miss | Clemson | Baylor |
14 | Baylor | 12.75 | 14 | LSU | Nebraska | Nebraska | Nebraska |
15 | Nebraska | 14.25 | 15 | Nebraska | LSU | Kansas State | Ohio State |
16 | Arizona State | 15 | 16 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | UCLA | Arizona State |
17 | UCLA | 17.25 | 17 | Georgia | Georgia | Louisville | UCLA |
18 | Clemson | 17.5 | 18 | UCLA | UCLA | Baylor | Georgia |
19 | Georgia | 18 | 19 | Clemson | Clemson | Georgia Tech | Clemson |
20 | Marshall | 23 | 20 | Utah | Duke | Georgia | West Virginia |
21 | Arizona | 23.25 | 21 | Arizona | Arizona | Arizona State | Marshall |
22 | Wisconsin | 23.75 | 22 | Duke | Utah | Notre Dame | Wisconsin |
23 | Duke | 24.75 | 23 | Marshall | Marshall | USC | Arizona |
24 | Utah | 25 | 24 | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wisconsin | Utah |
25 | USC | 26 | 25 | Wisconsin | West Virginia | Marshall | USC |
The four rankings we use:
The Associated Press Top 25: The longest-running and best-respected human poll. Didn't have any official bearing on the latter years of the BCS, and won't have any official bearing on the Playoff. Expect it to set the course for the committee, however, as most outlets (including SB Nation) will use the AP's rankings as the standard until the committee takes over in late October. Usually comes out Sundays around 2 p.m. ET.
The USA Today Coaches Poll: Formerly part of the BCS, and now just a poll. It tends to be more conservative than the AP's. Though polling athletic departments in order to rank other athletic departments is dubious, we still want multiple human polls in here, and it's the other big one. Releases early Sunday afternoons.
The Massey computer composite: A collection of ... every rating out there. By including it here, we're giving extra weight to the two human polls, since they're already two of the dozens of ratings included in the Massey.
Football Outsiders' F/+ rating: A synthesis of ratings by smart persons Bill Connelly and Brian Fremeau and our personal go-to overall team stat. It tends to come out later than the others.
Last week's composite Top 25:
Composite | Average | AP | Coaches | F/+ | Massey | ||
1 | Mississippi State | 2.25 | 1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Ole Miss | Alabama |
2 | Alabama | 2.5 | 2 | Florida State | Florida State | Auburn | Ole Miss |
3 | Auburn | 3.5 | 3 | Alabama | Alabama | Alabama | Mississippi State |
4 | Ole Miss | 4.75 | 4 | Auburn | Auburn | Mississippi State | Auburn |
5 | Florida State | 5 | 5 | Oregon | Michigan State | Oregon | Florida State |
6 | Oregon | 5.75 | 6 | Notre Dame | Oregon | Oklahoma | Georgia |
7 | Michigan State | 8.5 | 7 | Ole Miss | Notre Dame | TCU | Oregon |
8 | Georgia | 9.25 | 8 | Michigan State | Georgia | Ohio State | LSU |
8 | TCU | 9.25 | 9 | Georgia | Ole Miss | Clemson | Kansas State |
10 | Notre Dame | 11.75 | 10 | TCU | TCU | Michigan State | TCU |
11 | Kansas State | 12 | 11 | Kansas State | Kansas State | Florida State | Michigan State |
12 | LSU | 13.25 | 12 | Baylor | Baylor | LSU | Oklahoma |
13 | Ohio State | 13.75 | 13 | Ohio State | Ohio State | Nebraska | Arizona State |
14 | Oklahoma | 14.25 | 14 | Arizona | Arizona State | Georgia | Baylor |
15 | Baylor | 14.5 | 15 | Arizona State | Arizona | Louisville | Notre Dame |
16 | Arizona State | 15 | 16 | LSU | Nebraska | Miami | Clemson |
17 | Nebraska | 15.75 | 17 | Nebraska | LSU | Kansas State | Nebraska |
18 | Clemson | 17 | 18 | Utah | Utah | Arizona State | Texas A&M |
19 | Arizona | 19 | 19 | Oklahoma | East Carolina | Notre Dame | West Virginia |
20 | West Virginia | 21.5 | 20 | West Virginia | Oklahoma | Baylor | Arizona |
21 | Utah | 23 | 21 | East Carolina | Clemson | Stanford | Ohio State |
22 | Marshall | 23.75 | 22 | Clemson | West Virginia | Marshall | UCLA |
23 | UCLA | 24 | 23 | Marshall | Marshall | USC | Missouri |
24 | Duke | 27 | 24 | Duke | Duke | UCLA | Utah |
25 | East Carolina | 30.25 | 25 | UCLA | UCLA | West Virginia | USC |