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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 Oklahoma Sooners killed the Big 12’s conference playoff hopes last year with back to back losses to Houston and the Ohio State Buckeyes. This year, Baker Mayfield and the Sooners were determined to rectify those games. Saturday, it came full circle as the Sooners defeated the Buckeyes 31-16 in Ohio Stadium.
The night game home loss caused the Buckeyes to tumble. Far. The Buckeyes fell 8 spots to the number 10 spot. The offense was anemic. The defense looked slow against the agile Mayfield. It was not a good showing for the Buckeyes.
Alabama remains the number one team in the land. There isn’t much to be gained from Alabama. At this point, Nick Saban has earned all of the goodwill and receives every benefit of the doubt. Alabama won’t take on a ranked team until the end of October when it faces Tennessee. Should Tennessee fail to be ranked, LSU in November would be the first real test for the Crimson Tide.
In the battle of Tigers, the Clemson version outlasted Auburn 14-6. It was a defensive battle as both team combined for 401 yards, or roughly 3 quarters of offense for Will Grier.
USC and Penn State help round out the top 5. Oklahoma State, thanks to their cushy non-conference schedule falls to number 6.
West Virginia falls out of the top 25 in week 3. They had a tenuous grasp on the 25th spot last week and playing East Carolina at noon doesn’t move the needle. The Mountaineers are the first team out, obtaining 12 points this week.
The Big 12 has four ranked teams: Oklahoma at #3, Oklahoma State at #6, Kansas State at #17 and TCU at #20.