College football rankings: Coaches Poll top 25 for Week 11 announced
Another frenetic, wild day of college football is in the books after a few dramatic games forced another shake-up in this week's top 25 rankings.
Alabama and Tennessee were a pair of top 10 ranked SEC teams and would-be College Football Playoff contenders that went down in upsets on the road.
LSU and Georgia, respectively, knocked off those teams and put themselves in better position to contend for the SEC Championship and national playoff picture.
Meanwhile, Ohio State and Michigan stayed undefeated and appear to be on course for a huge meeting in Columbus later this month that should be a play-in game for the Big Ten getting into the playoff this postseason.
Here's your look at the latest top 25 rankings as we head into the Week 11 schedule of games, according to the coaches' vote.
College football rankings: Coaches Poll top 25 for Week 11 announced
The updated Coaches Poll college football rankings
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- Georgia (61 1st-place votes)
- Ohio State
- Michigan (2)
- TCU
- Tennessee
- Oregon
- USC
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- UCLA
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Utah
- North Carolina
- Penn State
- NC State
- Tulane
- Texas
- Liberty
- Illinois
- UCF
- Kansas State
- Washington
- Kentucky
- Notre Dame
Others receiving votes
Coastal Carolina 77; Cincinnati 70; Wake Forest 53; Oklahoma State 53; Baylor 46; Florida State 22; Syracuse 20; Kansas 12; Mississippi State 11; Troy 10; Louisville 9; UTSA 6; Pittsburgh 4; Minnesota 4; South Carolina 3; Oregon State 3; Maryland 3; Boise State 1
Coaches Poll top 25 biggest movers
Texas (Up 10). The Longhorns are on the way up the rankings after an impressive win at a good Kansas State team and head into a matchup with TCU that will help determine the Big 12 title chase.
Notre Dame (Up 8). A dominant, impressive win over a top-5 Clemson has the Fighting Irish back in the polls this week, and Marcus Freeman's team has three wins over ACC teams this season.
Clemson (Down 7). Still the favorites in the ACC, but not so much the College Football Playoff, after taking an ugly L on the road to the Irish and this offense took a major step backwards.
LSU (Up 9). Brian Kelly picked up the statement win of his young tenure by knocking off the Crimson Tide and officially in pole position for the SEC West.
Kentucky (Was unranked). The Wildcats return to the rankings this week, at least according to the coaches, after a win over East Division rival Missouri.
Dropped out of Top 25: No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Wake Forest, and No. 22 Syracuse after all lost over the weekend.
College football top 25 losers
Rankings reflect last week's AP poll
No. 2 Tennessee. Expect to also see the Volunteers drop from its top spot in the College Football Playoff rankings after a loss at Georgia that wasn't nearly as close as the 27-13 score suggested. Tennessee's vaunted offense, the nation's most productive in yards and points, came to a screeching halt in the face of the Bulldogs' consistent coverage while its pass defense, one of college football's worst statistically, folded in the wake of Georgia's deep receiving threats. Now, the Vols have to hope UGA wins the SEC title and for some confusion in order to stay in playoff contention.
No. 5 Clemson. Those offensive improvements behind the play of quarterback DJ Uiagalelei went up in smoke on the road against Notre Dame, which cashed in on some costly Clemson turnovers and turned them into points while Dabo Swinney once again tried a switch at quarterback, but that plan backfired when Cade Klubnik was intercepted right after coming in, leading to another Irish touchdown. It looks like no Clemson in the College Football Playoff again this year.
No. 6 Alabama. Another CFP dynasty took one on the chin this week as the Crimson Tide absorbed its second loss, a 1-point decision at LSU in overtime, and now this team has multiple losses before the Iron Bowl for the first time since 2010. There were issues with penalties again and Alabama's receivers aren't carrying the load the way they have in past seasons. Bryce Young still almost pulled this off with some brilliant quarterbacking on his own.
No. 13 Kansas State. After jumping nine spots in last week's rankings, the Wildcats fell behind Texas and went into halftime with a 31-10 deficit before mounting a comeback to make it a game late. It still wasn't enough despite Adrian Martinez hitting over 300 yards passing, but Deuce Vaughn was held to under 75 yards rushing and only one touchdown receiving, and the team was flagged nine times in an uncharacteristically undisciplined effort.
No. 14 Illinois. Taking the L at home to Michigan State isn't the best look for the Illini, who now have to wait another week to move towards clinching the Big Ten West title with the Purdue game coming up this weekend.
No. 18 Oklahoma State. Two straight losses to the Kansas teams in the Big 12 by a combined 85-16 have the Cowboys plummeting in the Big 12 standings. Not having Spencer Sanders in at quarterback has hurt the team and this defense, which started the season so strong, has steadily given way, allowing 37 or more points in their three losses.
No. 20 Wake Forest. The Deacons were held scoreless in two quarters in a loss at NC State, whose superb defense intercepted Sam Hartman three times, a week after Wake turned the ball over eight times, and now this team has lost two straight, moving to second-worst in the division.
No. 22 Syracuse. Originally, it was good history this team made, having won its first six games for the first time in 35 years. Now it's the bad history that the Orange are making, becoming the first ACC team to win its first six games and then lose its next three straight, this time to unranked Pitt, scoring just nine points in the process.
No. 24 Oregon State. After moving into the AP top 25 rankings last week, the Beavers promptly lost a close one at Washington on a late field goal. OSU hasn't been ranked for more than a week since 2012.
Undefeated college football teams remaining
And then there were four
Georgia (9-0). College football's defending national champs laid the wood on Tennessee, moving into pole position in the SEC East chase and virtually guaranteed a spot in the playoff.
Ohio State (9-0). It wasn't pretty even when accounting for the bad weather, but the Buckeyes hung around and dropped Northwestern, but they had trouble stopping the Wildcats from running the ball.
Michigan (9-0). Despite a scare from Rutgers early on, the Wolverines came back in a big way by scoring 38 unanswered points and this is looking like the most complete team in the Big Ten.
TCU (9-0). Another slow start for the Horned Frogs, and another second half comeback against Texas Tech and this is the last perfect team in the Big 12.
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