Miss. State takes over No. 1 in college football Power Rankings after Week 7

No team looks unbeatable after Week 7, but it's undeniable that Mississippi State has been the best of the bunch. The Bulldogs take over the top spot in our college football Power Rankings.

Growing up my interests didn’t fall too far from many other suburban kids. I played sports -- organized and in the street or the backyard -- watched cartoons, got into trouble and loved, loved, video games. (Now I mostly just get into trouble and still watch cartoons.)

I gravitated towards fighting and beat ‘em up games, which I wasn’t all that good at playing, but I had a lot of fun with them. I poured quarters into the usual suspects: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Mortal Kombat II," "Street Fighter II," "The Simpsons" and others, but I especially liked the "X-Men" arcade game. Everyone typically had a player they gravitated towards, and it became a kind of Buzzfeed quiz of the early 90s. (“I’m a Nightcrawler!” “My best friend is a Colossus!”)

Punt, Pass & Pork: What do we know at the season's midway point?

My problem was I never could focus on any one particular character. Everybody had a weakness. Everybody got boring after awhile. More and more I’m feeling the same way about the crop of top teams in the 2014 college football season. There are a few teams out there that can make a run through the robots, goons and super villains, but everybody’s stuck with something that keeps them from being unstoppable. There are no cheat codes this year.

So while a new top team emerges, it’s just as possible to see them get knocked to the deck, forced to pump another quarter in to continue and select another character -- until it’s Game Over and time to see which four teams can put their initials in with their high scores.

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1. Mississippi State Bulldogs

PREVIOUS: 4

RECORD: 6-0

Next game: Oct. 25 at Kentucky

2. Ole Miss Rebels

PREVIOUS: 3

RECORD: 6-0

Next game: Saturday vs. Tennessee

3. Florida State Seminoles

PREVIOUS: 1

RECORD: 6-0

Next game: Saturday vs. Notre Dame

4. Baylor Bears

PREVIOUS: 7

RECORD: 6-0

Next game: Saturday at West Virginia

5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

PREVIOUS: 6

RECORD: 6-0

Next game: Saturday at Florida State

6. Oregon Ducks

PREVIOUS: 10

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Saturday vs. Washington

7. Michigan State Spartans

PREVIOUS: 11

RECORD: 5-1

8. Auburn Tigers

PREVIOUS: 2

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Oct. 25 vs. South Carolina

9. Georgia Bulldogs

PREVIOUS: 13

RECORD: 4-1

Next game: Saturday at Arkansas  

10. TCU Horned Frogs

Next game: Saturday vs. Oklahoma State

11. Alabama Crimson Tide

PREVIOUS: 9

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Saturday vs. Texas A&M

12. Oklahoma Sooners

PREVIOUS: 12

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Saturday vs. Kansas State

13. Kansas State Wildcats

PREVIOUS: 14

RECORD: 4-1

Next game: Saturday at Oklahoma 

14. Ohio State Buckeyes

PREVIOUS: 17

RECORD: 4-1

Next game: Saturday vs. Rutgers

15. East Carolina Pirates

Next game: Oct. 23 vs. UConn 

16. Oklahoma State Cowboys

PREVIOUS: 18

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Saturday at TCU

17. Arizona State Sun Devils

PREVIOUS: 21

RECORD: 4-1

Next game: Saturday at Stanford

18. Nebraska Cornhuskers

19. USC Trojans

RECORD: 4-2

Next game: Saturday vs. Colorado

20. Arizona Wildcats

PREVIOUS: 8

RECORD: 5-1

21. Clemson Tigers

PREVIOUS: 23

RECORD: 4-2

22. Utah Utes

RECORD: 4-1

23. Washington Huskies

RECORD: 5-1

24. Minnesota Golden Gophers

RECORD: 5-1

Next game: Saturday vs. Purdue

25. Marshall Thundering Herd

PREVIOUS: 25

RECORD: 6-0

Next five: Stanford, Duke, UCLA, Colorado State, Kentucky