Every Monday, the staff at the Student Section will team with writers from other Bloguin sites to publish a Top 25 poll. Here’s the latest installment, with some notes and analysis about our panel’s choices.
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clemson (6) | 218 |
| 2 | Ohio State (3) | 214 |
| 3 | Alabama | 196 |
| 4 | Oklahoma State | 192 |
| 5 | Baylor | 189 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 175 |
| 7 | Stanford | 161 |
| 8 | Iowa | 158 |
| 9 | Utah | 150 |
| 10 | Florida | 142 |
| 11 | LSU | 138 |
| 12 | Houston | 115 |
| 13 | Michigan State | 114 |
| 14 | Oklahoma | 105 |
| 15 | TCU | 102 |
| 16 | Michigan | 87 |
| 17 | Temple | 70 |
| 18 | Navy | 66 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 64 |
| 20 | Florida State | 63 |
| 21 | Memphis | 44 |
| 22 | UCLA | 43 |
| 23 | Northwestern | 30 |
| 24 | Mississippi State | 29 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 16 |
| Others receiving votes: USC 15, Toledo 15, Mississippi 5, Washington State 2, Arkansas State 2, Texas A&M 1, Boise State 1, Bowling Green State 1, Oregon 1 | ||
| Voters: Matt Zemek, Kevin Causey, Kevin McGuire, Ryan Palencer, Joe Dexter, Bart Doan, Scott King, Allen Kenney, Terry Johnson | ||
Top 25: Notes and Observations
- Managing Editor Matt Zemek cast his first vote of the season this year, which helped break a lot of the 4-4 ties that we were having earlier in the season.
- Clemson’s impressive victory over Florida State persuaded several voters to vault them into the top spot this week.
- Yet, our panel is still convinced that the Buckeyes are a playoff team, as they appeared in the top four on everyone’s ballot for the first time this season.
- Baylor remains the most polarizing team in the rankings, appearing as high as No. 2 and as low as No. 11. In addition, half of the panel has the Bears in the bracket, while the other half has them failing to make the final cut (lower than sixth).
- Oklahoma State made the biggest jump this week, moving seven spots to No. 4 after throttling TCU.
- Although the College Football Playoff Selection Committee appears to disagree, our staff thinks that Houston still has an outside chance at crashing the dance, placing the Cougars at No. 12.
