The Top 5 of the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports remained unchanged this week, with the Ohio State Buckeyes still in the No. 2 spot behind the LSU Tigers. Clemson, Georgia, and Alabama round out the Top 5.
Ohio State’s win over current No. 12 Penn State was not enough to jump the Buckeyes over LSU, though Ohio State did gain a bit of ground on the Tigers. Last week, LSU’s lead was 65 points. This week, that gap shrunk a little, down to 51 points. The Buckeyes also picked up an extra first-place, up to seven from six last week. (Also, only 63 out of 65 voters submitted ballots this week.) Based on this, it’s hard to say if a win over No. 11 Michigan next week will be enough to get Ohio State up to No. 1. Ohio State was last ranked No. 1 in the Amway Coaches Poll during Week 10 of the 2015 season. The Buckeyes did spend one week at No. 1 in the CFP selection committee rankings this year.
Penn State fell from No. 9 to No. 12 with its loss to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions are one spot behind Michigan right now, even though they beat the Wolverines back in Week 8.
In a bit of a surprise, Utah jumped Oklahoma, like due to a combination of another dominant win and Oklahoma barely squeaking out another game. The Utes come in at No. 6, with Oklahoma at No. 7. Florida, Minnesota, and Baylor round out the Top 10.
The Big Ten leads the poll with six ranked teams, followed by the SEC with five. The Big 12, Pac 12, and AAC each have three ranked teams, while the ACC has two and the Sun Belt and Mountain West each have one. The 25th team is independent Notre Dame, who came in at No. 15 this week.
SMU, Texas A&M, and San Diego State dropped out of the rankings this week, while Virginia Tech, Navy, and USC moved in to replace them.