Pre Week 6 College Football Report

The only thing displaying more volatility this week than the College Football Polls were Wall Street and Congress. With so many of the Top 25 taking it on the chin, there was movement up and down in abundance. It was a good week not to play as every team that had a bye moved up at least 2 slots. Only one team (Ohio State) is in the same place as it was last week. Several new teams appear at the bottom and four teams are off the radar—for now.

The week’s schedule is also sort of strange. There’s at least one game every night starting tonight when Florida Atlantic travels to Middle Tennessee. Both teams are 1-3 so you better be a True Fan of the teams or the game to bother tuning in. Wednesday night is a little better with Louisiana Tech visiting #17 Boise State. Then Thursday we have three games: Pittsburgh at #10 South Florida, Oregon State at #15 Utah and Memphis at UAB. Friday night it’s Cincinnati at Marshall, and #8 BYU at Utah State.
Let’s take a look at the rankings and opponents for Week 6. (Poll numbers are those of the teams entering Week 6. The pre-Week 5 rankings are after the team’s name. Rankings are from the AP Writers’ Poll/the Coaches Poll/CBSSports.com in that order. NR= Not Ranked)
1/1/1 Oklahoma (2/2/2) The Sooners move up to #1 by virtue of their win over TCU and the collapse of Southern Cal. This week they face the Baylor bears on the road.

2/4/2 Alabama (8/10/9) The Crimson Tide makes a six slot jump after defeating Georgia. The Tide hosts the 4-0 Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday.

3/2/3 LSU (5/6/5) With three of the top four losing last week, the Tigers slide into the #3 slot. LSU has the week off.

4/3/4 Missouri (6/5/6) Missouri didn’t play and still moves up thanks to the upsets. The Tigers are back in action and on the road against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

5/5/5 Texas (7/7/7) The Longhorns whupped the Razorbacks of Arkansas and move up. Texas is on the road against Colorado.

6/6/7 Penn State (12/12/16) The Nittany Lions beat up on Illinois to jump six spots in the polls. PSU is on the road against the Boilermakers of Perdue.

7/8/9 Texas Tech (10/9/11) The Red Raiders were idle but they still move up 3 places. They are on the road this week against the Kansas State Wildcats.

8/7/6 Brigham Young (11/11/10) Ditto for the Cougars. A 3 place jump while watching TV. BYU is on the road against the Utah State Aggies on Friday night.

9/9/10 Southern California (1/1/1) The mighty have fallen…but they won’t stay here long. Will they? The Trojans host #23 Oregon on Saturday.

10/10T/12 South Florida (13/14/15) The SFU Bulls beat NC State on the road and move up a couple of slots. The Bulls host the Pitt Panthers on Thursday night.

11/10T/13 Georgia (3/3/3) Another team that saw its stock drop thanks to a defeat. (At least this was to a ranked Alabama team. So why the big drop of 8 places?) Time to lick their wounds as the Bulldogs are idle this week.

12/13/14 Florida (4/4/4) The Gators drop 8 places, too. But their defeat was to unranked Ole Miss—at home—which more than warrants such a fall. This week’s opponents are the Razorbacks of Arkansas on the road.

13/14/8 Auburn (15/16/12) The Tigers barely beat Tennessee by 2 points so they move up 2 slots. This week they will be tested by #19 Vanderbilt on the road.

14/12/11 Ohio State (14/13/13) The Buckeyes beat Minnesota but didn’t seem to impress many folks on the judging panel with their style. They are the only team in the same slot as last week. This week they play at the home of the #18 Wisconsin Badgers.

15/15/16 Utah (17/17/18) Another team to take advantage of the weird week. Though idle, Utah moves up 2 slots. The Utes host Oregon State on Thursday night.

16/16/15 Kansas (18/18/17) The Jayhawks, too, were beneficiaries of the changing market and moved up though having the week off. The Jayhawks play at Kansas State (The Cyclones).

17/18/17 Boise State (19/20/19) Ditto for the Broncos—up 2 despite (because of?) not playing. This week they host Louisiana Tech. On Wednesday night.

18/17/18 Wisconsin (9/8/8) Losers to unranked Michigan, the Badgers had the biggest drop of the week—9 slots. It won’t be any easier for the Badgers this week as they host #14 Ohio State.

19/19/23 Vanderbilt (21/25/25) The Commodores didn’t play, so of course they moved up 2 slots. It’s a big game for Vandy as they host #13 Auburn.

20/24/19 Virginia Tech (NR/NR/22) The Hokies beat Nebraska on the road to regain some lost respect. They are up on everyone’s list this week. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky come to town Saturday.

21/22/NR Oklahoma State (NR/NR/NR) Who? Oh, the Cowboys! Everybody loves cowboys. Unless they play in the NFL. The Cowboys host the Aggies of Texas A&M.

22/21/22 Fresno State (25/24/24) The Bulldogs beat up on UCLA to earn a raise this week. They are up 3 slots. The Bulldogs face the one team that may have more frequent flyer miles than they do when Hawaii comes to town.

23/20/20 Oregon (NR/22/NR) The Ducks beat up on Washington State 63-14. But then again, everyone seems to do that. Still, it earned them a jump in the polls. They may not last long unless they can topple #9 USC in Los Angeles.

24/23/21 Connecticut (NR/NR/NR) The Huskies beat Louisville 26-21 to improve their record to 5-0 and earn a slot in the Top 25. UConn is on the road to North Carolina on Saturday.

25/25/25 Wake Forest (16/15/14) Another team to take a hit as the Deacons weren’t so Demon-ish in losing to Navy 24-17. They have the week off to ponder their poor play.

NR/NR/24 Michigan State (NR/NR/NR) At 4-1 the Spartans are tied with Ohio St. for the second best record in the Big Ten, behind the 5-0 record of Penn State and Northwestern?! All are 1-0 in conference. They host the Iowa Hawkeyes this week with a chance to move up in the polls.

Gone from this week’s list are Clemson (20/19/21), Illinois (22/21/23), East Carolina (23/NR/20), and TCU (24/23/NR).