Top 25: No movement up top, plenty below in Week 5 rankings

Last week’s action provided some interesting movement up top in the AP Top 25 poll following then-No. 2 Florida State’s destruction against Louisville. This week? Not so much.

The top seven spots remained unchanged in the latest rankings with undisputed No. 1 Alabama once again dominating in a 48-0 victory over Kent State, No. 2 Ohio State sitting out on a bye week and Louisville, Michigan, Clemson and Houston all cruising over lower levels of competition.

But below this top tier, there was plenty of shuffling going on among the rest of the nation’s best.

Things got a little hairy for Pac-12 powers Stanford and Washington, who both escaped with close victories in the final minutes of regulation and overtime, respectively. While Stanford sticks to its No. 7 spot after its rally against UCLA, Washington’s close call with Arizona dropped them two pegs to No. 10.

Jumping the Huskies were two of the weekend’s biggest winners in No. 8 Wisconsin and No. 9 Texas A&M.

FULL AP RANKINGS: Week 5 Top 25

Ohio State and Michigan remain the clear frontrunners in the loaded Big Ten, but the Badgers keep proving doubters wrong, continuing in Week 4 with a surprisingly easy 30-6 win over Michigan State. The road doesn’t get any easier for Wisconsin as the Wolverines and Buckeyes are the next two foes on its schedule.

As for Texas A&M, the Aggies further proved their legitimacy as a top 10 team with a convincing 45-24 win over Arkansas in Arlington. That was the Aggies’ third quality win of the year to go with their upset over UCLA in Week 1 and a victory over a competitive Auburn team last weekend.

For those still not buying in on the Aggies just yet, they have a matchup in two weeks with newly-ranked No. 11 Tennessee, which came back from a 21-point deficit Saturday to top rival Florida for the first time since 2004. We should know more after that one. 

Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ throttling over Georgia provided the biggest jump and fall in Week 5. The Rebels could easily be a top five team in the nation if not for two huge second half blown leads against then-No. 4 Florida State and No. 1 Alabama in Weeks 1 and 3. But while many 1-2 teams fold following that much early disappointment, Ole Miss shredded No. 12 Georgia for its first statement win and moved from No. 23 to No. 16.

A pair of losses is a lot to overcome for any team, but the talented Rebels have plenty of time to climb back into the discussion for a top bowl game by the season’s end.

With the Bulldogs’ 45-14 loss, however, they dropped all the way to the bottom of the barrel at No. 25. Georgia simply looked overmatched at every position against Ole Miss, and with Nick Chubb’s status moving forward in question following an ankle injury Saturday, the Bulldogs may soon be in further trouble.

Overall, the 20 ranked teams in action went 15-5 in Week 4 with four of those losses coming to other top 25 programs.

Two new teams enter the Top 25 this week in No. 21 TCU and No. 24 Boise State, as LSU and Oklahoma were the two to drop out of the rankings.

While 1-2 Oklahoma stood idly this week, previously-No. 18 LSU (2-2) fell flat against unranked Auburn after LSU’s game-winning touchdown was waved off due to the ball being snapped after the game clock ran out.

Both programs entered the season as Playoff candidates and top five teams but have faltered early on. It’s not too late to regain steam and bid for a mid-to lower-level ranking, but CFP hopes for the Sooners and Tigers have all but evaporated.