College football week 8 AP Poll analysis

The AP finally ousted Texas A&M of the Top 25, Alabama is still #1

KURIA POUNDS, Evergreen reporter

The Associated Press released its Top 25 Poll for Week 8. After the red river rivalry game, between LSU vs. Florida and Alabama vs. Texas A&M, the rankings changed. After this past week, and the release, here is what is right and what is wrong with the AP Poll this week.

What is right with the AP Poll:

LSU deserves to be in the top four. They beat Texas on the road and now Florida at home in close, but good games. Even though they still have to play Alabama down the road, this team is definitely one of the best college football teams in the country. Led by Heisman candidate Joe Burrow, LSU will make the playoff if they keep up these impressive wins, even if they lost to Alabama.

Penn State in the top 7 now? Perfect. Yes, they had a close game against Iowa in Iowa City, but they are good. They add competition to the Big 10 this year. They still have to play Michigan and Ohio State, but if they run the table, they could also make it into the college football playoff, if chaos ensues.

Missouri is finally in the top 25. They haven’t played anyone seen as “better” than them yet, but the way they recovered after their week one loss to Wyoming on the road was impressive. They do still have Georgia and Florida on the schedule, back-to-back. However, if transfer quarterback Kelly Bryant can lead this team after his departure from Clemson, Missouri can make some noise in the SEC East.

Also, can we point out Texas A&M is finally out of the top 25? I told you they were not a top 25 team. It took three weeks, but it finally happened.

What is wrong with the AP Poll:

Why is Clemson ahead of Ohio State? Clemson did beat Florida State by 31 at home, but Clemson’s only “good” win of the season this year is against Texas A&M. They don’t have anyone ranked left on the schedule. As of right now, Texas A&M is the only ranked opponent they will face or have faced this year. They are the Notre Dame of last year, undefeated, but beating opponents that do not boost their resume. The top four teams should be Alabama, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Ohio State has only played Michigan State, who was ranked at the time of their game. Though Ohio State still has Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State on their schedule. For Oklahoma, they just beat Texas. Yes, their schedule is easy, but they still got to face an underrated Baylor team, Iowa State and Oklahoma State. This team is talented, especially after Clemson has fallen off after winning the national championship last year.

Georgia is not a top 10 team. They got embarrassed at home against South Carolina. They got exposed on offense, after Jake Fromm threw three interceptions at home. Their offense really struggled against a team that they were favored to beat by at least 20, even with their defense holding it down.

Can we get some more respect for the Pac-12 please? Oregon is dominant in the Pac-12 after their close loss to Auburn at a neutral site. Utah looked good as well, and they’re only at 12 and 13 because of them being in the Pac-12? Utah’s only loss is against USC at home without their best running back in a close game. At least put Oregon in the top 10.

Earlier, I was high on Baylor, but after this past game against Texas Tech, winning in double overtime, why are they going up four spots? They should stay in the same spot or have gone down one spot.

Washington is not a top 25 team. They beat Arizona, after coming off an embarrassing loss to Stanford on the road. They must play Oregon and Utah still, and those are back-to-back. Their offense in the first half looked horrible, like last week against Stanford. They couldn’t finish in the red zone in the first half of either game. If they continue with this, they will be down so much, that they cannot come back.

Notable matchups for this week:

12th-ranked Oregon plays 25th-ranked Washington

Temple faces 19th-ranked SMU

18th-ranked Baylor travels to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State

17th-ranked Arizona State plays 13th-ranked Utah

16th-ranked Michigan faces 7th-ranked Penn State