Top 25 College Football Rankings: Wisconsin, Florida & Western Michigan Rise While Baylor, West Virginia Tumble
The new Top 25 College football rankings for Week 10 have been released, and while the top five positions are still the same as they were last weekend, there has been a lot of movement in several other key spots.
According to a CBS Sports report, Week 9 was a tough one for many Top 25 teams, even the ranked teams that won. While the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide had the week off, the rest of the top six teams all won, but every game was much closer than the experts believed they would be.
The No. 2 Michigan Wolverines defeated their cross-town rivals, the Michigan State Spartans, 32-23. Just like last season, Michigan raced out to a nice lead, but this year, the Wolverines made sure that this contest wouldn’t have a surprise ending.
Michigan’s Amara Darboh and De’Veon Smith led the Wolverines offensive attack in East Lansing. Darboh caught eight passes for a career-high 165 yards while De’Veon Smith rushed for two touchdowns. Jabrill Peppers was once again showing why he should be considered a Heisman favorite as the two-way star shined once again. Peppers made several key defensive plays, scored a touchdown on offense, and capped off the scoring for the game by picking up a loose ball on a failed two-point conversion by MSU and running it nearly 80 yards to the end zone for a two-point conversion.
The Wolverines, who improved to 8-0 overall, as well as 5-0 in Big Ten play, scored on every one of their possessions in the first half. The loss sent Michigan State to 2-6 on the season, 0-5 in the Big Ten. It is hard to believe, but the Michigan State Spartans have to be one of the biggest disappointments in college football so far in 2016.
Michigan wasn’t the only top five team that had a squeaker on Saturday.
No. 3 Clemson held on for a tough road win at Florida State, while the No. 4 ranked Washington Huskies won by seven over Utah. The biggest scares in the Top 10 came for No. 5 Louisville, who needed a last second 29-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson to Jaylen Smith with 13 seconds remaining as the Cardinals somehow managed a 32-25 win against the Cavaliers.
Now, on to the top teams that took it on the chin in Week 9.
No. 7 Nebraska could have made some serious noise with a win at No. 11 Wisconsin, but the always tough Badgers showed why they are one of the best in the country by taking down the Cornhuskers 23-17. The win helped Wisconsin jump up from No. 11 to the new No. 8 team in the country.
Other teams that ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard include No. 8 Baylor, No. 10 West Virginia, No. 12 Florida State, No. 13 Boise State, No. 18 Tennessee, and No. 22 Navy.
One team that deserves props is Western Michigan. Unranked when the season started, the Broncos cracked the Top 25 a couple weeks ago and have now jumped up from No. 20 to No. 17 in the country. Is it possible that if Western finishes undefeated, they will earn a spot in a New Year’s Day bowl game?
ROW…THE…BOAT
Western Michigan is the ONLY unbeaten team remaining from the Group of Five @WMU_Football pic.twitter.com/IYw4oZYSWH
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) October 30, 2016
Even with the week off, Western moved up three spots, thanks to Boise State losing to unranked Wyoming. Once again, the Top 25 college football rankings have been shaken up, and with only a few weeks left in the regular season, it is put up or shut up time for all the ranked teams in the land.
Here is a look at the new Top 10 teams in the country, according to the latest Top 25 college football rankings. You can see the entire new Top 25 list by clicking here.
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Clemson
- Washington
- Louisville
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Florida
[Featured Image by Andrew Weber/Getty Images]
