Steve Wiseman AP ballot: Oregon takes a tumble out of top 10
The penultimate weekend of college football’s regular season was winding toward an expected finish when Arizona State delivered a bolt from the desert.
The Sun Devils survived Oregon’s 21-point fourth quarter by scoring 18 of their own to stun the Ducks 31-28, removing them from the group of one-loss teams with College Football Playoff hopes.
Ohio State’s 28-17 win over Penn State on Saturday meant two of the teams I had on my top 10 lost. But the Oregon one was the real stunner.
I kept Penn State among my top 10 as the Nittany Lions’ only losses are to two teams above them -- Minnesota and Ohio State.
But Oregon’s loss to unranked Arizona State means it has to fall.
Ohio State’s win gives the Buckeyes a legitimate case to be ranked No. 1. But LSU and Clemson remain above them in my eyes. All three teams are playing a higher levels than anyone else in the country. The four-team playoff will sort it out.
Most of this week’s upsets happened at the bottom of the ballot, where three teams I had among my final five teams last week were knocked off. So I am dropping them off.
Virginia Tech continued its remarkable turnaround from September, whipping Pittsburgh 28-0. I had the Panthers at No. 25 last week but Virginia Tech moves in while Pittsburgh is out.
Navy (8-2) was ranked before losing to Notre Dame last week. But the Midshipmen topped SMU, who I had at No. 20, 35-28. So welcome back Navy and goodbye SMU.
I kept Indiana on my ballot last week despite three losses. But the Hoosiers were whacked 39-14 by Michigan on Saturday to they need to go.
Iowa State (7-4), a team I had ranked in the preseason, makes a reappearance. The Cyclones’ losses are to ranked teams Iowa, Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Iowa State’ place on my ballot is tenuous, though, hence the placement at No. 25.
Here is the ballot I submitted to the Associated Press on Sunday morning, with last week’s ranking on my ballot in parenthesis:
LSU (1)
Clemson (2)
Ohio State (3)
Georgia (4)
Oklahoma (5)
Alabama (6)
Utah (7)
Minnesota (9)
Penn State (10)
Florida (11)
Baylor (12)
Michigan (13)
Oregon (8)
Notre Dame (14)
Iowa (15)
Cincinnati (16)
Auburn (17)
Memphis (18)
Wisconsin (19)
Boise State (20)
Appalachian State (22)
Oklahoma State (23)
Navy (NR)
Virginia Tech (NR)
Iowa State (NR)