New AP Top 25 Rankings for Week 6: Gators Sink, Mizzou Jumps in College Football Poll

AP top 25 voters were faced with some notable decisions with one top-ten team losing badly, causing another shakeup in the new college football rankings.

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There may not be as much change in this week’s AP top 25 college football rankings as we saw the Saturday before, but one very surprising result in the top-ten and a few others elsewhere in the poll forced voters into some important decisions this week.

October’s first college football action saw plenty of teams taking the weekend off, including the No. 1 team in the country, but a pair of flops by what were thought to be SEC contenders forced pollsters to rethink some of their choices from a week ago.

AP Top 25 Rankings for Week 6

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First-place votes in parentheses

1. Texas (61)
2. Georgia (6)
3. Notre Dame
4. Miami (2)
5. Ohio State
6. Alabama
7. Indiana (1)
8. BYU
9. Ole Miss
10. LSU
11. Texas Tech
12. Utah
13. Oregon
14. Missouri
15. Tennessee
16. Florida
17. Mississippi State
18. Oklahoma State
19. USC
20. Iowa
21. UCLA
22. Houston
23. Boise State
24. SMU
25. Pittsburgh

How did we do? Our prediction for the AP Top 25 poll

Who Jumped in the Rankings?

Alabama (Up 1) jumped Indiana to move into the No. 6 hole after a dominant win at Mississippi State, but pollsters did not think enough of the performance to also vault the Buckeyes this week. That could change next week if the Tide performs against Georgia, and could make them No. 1.

Voters gave Missouri (Up 11) a serious promotion this week after it demolished seeming SEC hopeful Florida by a 45-17 count at home, putting Eli Drinkwitz’s team closer to the forefront of the SEC approaching the midway point of the season, combining a tough run defense and an aggressive vertical attack to put away the ambitious Gators.

Pittsburgh enters the AP top 25 this week after a narrow win at Virginia Tech that keeps it undefeated at 5-0 and atop the ACC standings, but how long will that last now? Star quarterback Mason Heintschel tore his ACL in that game and is out for the rest of the season...

Who the Pollsters Dropped This Week

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The biggest vote gainer in last week’s poll, Florida (Down 8) experienced the largest drop in the new rankings, losing 581 votes, after being pounded in that surprising result at Missouri in which its famed run game had nothing and its secondary was a sieve on the back end, putting Jon Sumrall’s team suddenly on the back foot after all that hype.

Likewise, another SEC insurgent in Mississippi State (Down 1) saw just a minor drop despite allowing 56 points at home in a loss to Alabama, signaling that voters still appreciate the Bulldogs’ other wins against Missouri and Minnesota enough to cushion a serious drop. Their schedule gets much harder, though.

Iowa (Down 6) couldn’t muster much of any offense at home, and even its stalwart defense was unable to contain Jeremiah Smith in a costly loss to Ohio State that throws a temporary wrench into their Big Ten championship ambitions.

What Teams Just Missed the Cut?

An unwelcome surprise for Kentucky, which came back to beat South Carolina on the road, only to see their previous No. 24 ranking evaporate to make room for Pitt. That was despite UK gaining 10 votes in the overall ballot, but the Panthers gained far more, going from 52 to 162.

Kentucky 160, Wake Forest 142, Wisconsin 88, Duke 83, Northwestern 59, Nebraska 48, Minnesota 19, Arizona 19, James Madison 12, North Dakota State 7.

Rankings: Coaches Poll | ESPN Top 25