Smoking Musket Top 25 - Week 8
Rank | Team | Points | Previous | Movement |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | Points | Previous | Movement |
1 | Alabama (4) | 100 | 1 | - |
2 | Penn State | 94 | 4 | +2 |
3 | TCU | 91 | 10 | +7 |
4 | Georgia | 87 | 6 | +2 |
5 | Wisconsin | 84 | 8 | +3 |
6 | Ohio State | 77 | 9 | +2 |
7 | Miami | 72 | 13 | +6 |
8 | Oklahoma | 70 | 3 | -5 |
9 | Clemson | 69 | 2 | -7 |
10 | USC | 66 | 12 | +2 |
11 | Oklahoma State | 66 | 15 | +4 |
12 | Washington | 55 | 5 | -7 |
13 | South Florida | 50 | 17 | +4 |
14 | Virginia Tech | 48 | 19 | +5 |
15 | Michigan | 44 | 7 | -8 |
16 | NC State | 43 | 24 | +8 |
17 | Notre Dame | 34 | 23 | +6 |
18 | Michigan State | 32 | NR | - |
19 | Washington State | 29 | 11 | -8 |
20 | Auburn | 22 | 14 | -6 |
21 | UCF | 22 | 25 | +4 |
22 | West Virginia | 17 | 21 | -1 |
23 | Stanford | 16 | NR | - |
24 | SDSU | 8 | NR | - |
25 | Mississippi State | 4 | NR | - |
The biggest news for the Smoking Musket Top 25 is that six weeks into the college football season, our writers are finally starting to believe the Clemson Tigers just might be better than the Alabama Crimson Tide. Through the first five weeks, Alabama has been an unanimous selection at the top of the polls, but this week three writers have seen the work that Clemson has done so far and altered their ballots.
Clemson has more wins over Top 25 teams [Auburn Tigers, Louisville Cardinals and Virginia Tech Hokies] than the Tide [Florida State Seminoles], with two of those coming on the road. It is an impressive resume five weeks through the season.
The Oklahoma Sooners remain at #3 with Penn State Nittany Lions and Washington Huskies rounding out the top 5.
The Georgia Bulldogs, who come in at #6, appear to be headed to Atlanta to face Nick Saban’s Alabama squad in an SEC showdown. Thanks to not having to play Saban in the regular season, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs have a 45% chance of finishing with 11 or 12 wins this season.
The Washington State Cougars, on the back of their stunning upset of the USC Trojans on Friday night, are knocking on the door of a top ten rankings. The Cougars, who held preseason Heisman hopeful Sam Darnold to 164 yards and an interception, used defense and 340 passing yards to upset the Trojans in Pullman, Washington. Darnold did rush for a touchdown.
The aforementioned Clemson Tigers defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies this past weekend 31-17, making redshirt freshman Josh Jackson look...well like a redshirt freshman.
The West Virginia Mountaineers fall one spot during their bye week, not because of anything they did, just in large part because of the way the other teams performed. San Diego State Aztecs moved up a spot while no one else around them lost to help the Mountaineers keep climbing. WVU will take on the TCU Horned Frogs this weekend with ESPN College Gameday in town.