Which do you value more, a slow start and strong finish or a strong start and slow finish? In the eyes of the coaches voting in the weekly US LBM Coaches Poll this week, it is better to end the game on a high note rather than establish dominance early on. The evidence to back that up is Penn State moving ahead of USC within the top 10 of this week’s coaches poll, which was updated Sunday afternoon following the results of Week 5.
Penn State and USC swapped spots in the top 10 of this week’s US LBM Coaches Poll with Penn State moving up to no. 6 and USC dropping to no. 7. Penn State overcame a sluggish start on the road against Northwestern before walking away with a dominant victory on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, USC took a big lead on the road at Colorado only to sweat a few bullets in the second half as the Buffaloes made a surge in the second half of the Pac-12 contest.
There was some other slight movement within the top 10 this week, although Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State remained in the top three spots, respectively. Texas moved one spot ahead of Florida State following a win against Kansas (Florida State was idle) with the Longhorns moving up to no. 4 and Florida State dropping to no. 5. Alabama also returned to the top 10 this week following a big win at Mississippi State. The spot in the top 10 opened up Friday night when Utah was upset by Oregon State. Utah dropped 9 spots down to no. 19 this week.
Here is the full US LBM Coaches Poll for this week. Below is a detailed look at the current top 10.