Tag: top 25

Top-10 shakeup in latest US LBM Coaches Poll following wild Week 5

The latest US LBM Coaches Poll reflects the madness from Week 5 of College Football.

Week 5 of College football did not disappoint. On Friday, the Miami Hurricanes earned a win, that came down to the literal last second. On Saturday, fans were gifted what some consider the greatest regular season game of all time as the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, as ranked by the Week 4 US LBM Coaches Poll.

A series of other games impacted the college football rankings, including No. 10 Utah being upset by unranked Arizona. Every week seems to bring with it new surprises that completely change the landscape of the Top 25 rankings.

As fans look ahead to Week 6, see how the US LBM Coaches Poll Top 25 has shifted following a hectic Week 5 of college football.

US LBM Coaches Poll:

Ranking Team Record Points
1 Texas Longhorns 5-0 1,339 (29)
2 Alabama Crimson Tide 4-0 1,330 (19)
3 Ohio State Buckeyes 4-0 1,281 (7)
4 Tennessee Vols 4-0 1,163
5 Georgia Bulldogs 3-1 1,153
6 Oregon Ducks 4-0 1,090
7 Penn State Nittany Lions 4-0 1,062
8 Miami Hurricanes 5-0 981
9 Missouri Tigers 4-0 948
10 Michigan Wolverines 4-1 792
11 Ole Miss Rebels 4-1 743
12 LSU Tigers 4-1 725
13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4-1 702
14 Clemson Tigers 3-1 671
15 USC Trojans 3-1 660
16 Iowa State Cyclones 4-0 500
17 Oklahoma Sooners 4-1 470
18 Utah Utes 4-1 408
19 BYU Cougars 5-0 375
20 Kansas State Wildcats 4-1 242
21 Texas A&M Aggies 4-1 198
22 Louisville Cardinals 3-1 197
23 UNLV Rebels 4-0 180
24 Indiana Hoosiers 5-0 143
25 Illinois Fighting Illini 4-1 122

Schools Dropped Out

No. 20 Oklahoma State;

Others Receiving Votes

Boise State 103; Pittsburgh 51; Arizona 44; Rutgers 35; Iowa 29; James Madison 25; Duke 22; Kentucky 17; Oklahoma State 15; SMU 14; Nebraska 12; Navy 9; Colorado 9; Boston College 6; Army West Point 3; UCF 2; Liberty 2; Tulane 1; South Carolina 1;

Kentucky gets no votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll after beating Ohio

Kentucky football won big this week, but still didn’t receive any votes in the new US LBM Coaches Poll.

Kentucky football had a couple of tough weeks leading up to Saturday’s game against Ohio. After week one, they received votes in the US LBM Coaches Poll, but then got blown out by South Carolina. They narrowly lost to Georgia last week, but bounced back with a 41 – 6 win over Ohio this week.

On Sunday, the new US LBM Coaches Poll was released, and despite a blowout victory, the Wildcats still didn’t receive any votes.

Related: Social media reacts to Kentucky win over Ohio

The Georgia Bulldogs are still the top ranked team, followed by the Texas Longhorns, giving the SEC the top two teams in the country. The Alabama Crimson Tide are fourth, and the next Kentucky opponent, Ole Miss, comes in at number five.

Overall, the SEC dominates the new top 25. They have five of the top six teams, and eight teams ranked overall. Kentucky will need to battle through some really good teams if they want to get into the rankings. A win over the Rebels next week would be a good start.

Here is the full top 25:

Ranking Team Record Points
1 Georgia Bulldogs 3-0 1,350 (35)
2 Texas Longhorns 4-0 1,324 (18)
3 Ohio State Buckeyes 3-0 1,279 (2)
4 Alabama Crimson Tide 3-0 1,185
5 Ole Miss Rebels 4-0 1,145
6 Tennessee Volunteers 4-0 1,094
7 Oregon Ducks 3-0 1,016
8 Penn State Nittany Lions 3-0 967
9 Miami Hurricanes 4-0 912
10 Utah Utes 4-0 904
11 Missouri Tigers 4-0 887
12 Michigan Wolverines 3-1 692
13 LSU Tigers 3-1 632
14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 3-1 553
15 Clemson Tigers 2-1 542
16 USC Trojans 2-1 520
17 Louisville Cardinals 3-0 509
18 Oklahoma Sooners 3-1 404
19 Iowa State Cyclones 3-0 386
20 Oklahoma State Cowboys 3-1 326
21 Illinois Fighting Illini 4-0 307
22 BYU Cougars 4-0 167
23 UNLV Rebels 3-0 124
24 Texas A&M Aggies 3-1 119
25 Kansas State Wildcats 3-1 116

US LBM Coaches Poll features Top-10 shakeup after Week 3

See what changed in the US LBM Coaches Poll after a wild Week 3 of College Football

Week 3 of the 2024 college football season was a wild one. The top-ranked team nearly suffered a loss on the road to an unranked team, the latest US LBM Coaches Poll reflects the much-warranted fluctuation in the rankings.

A minor shakeup inside the top-10 shows just how volatile these rankings can be. Some teams looked dominant; others appeared feeble and capable of losing a few games.

As the season progresses, we will get a better idea as to what each team’s identity is and what they are capable of. For now, we just have to sit back and watch the teams and coaches navigate the early portion of the season.

US LBM Coaches Poll:

Ranking Team Record Points
1 Georgia Bulldogs 3-0 1,358 (42)
2 Texas Longhorns 3-0 1,301(10)
3 Ohio State Buckeyes 2-0 1,293 (3)
4 Alabama Crimson Tide 3-0 1,193
5 Ole Miss Rebels 3-0 1,153
6 Oregon Ducks 3-0 1,019
7 Tennessee Volunteers 3-0 1,009
8 Penn State Nittany Lions 2-0 968
8 Missouri Tigers 3-0 968
10 Utah Utes 3-0 834
11 Miami Hurricanes 3-0 831
12 USC Trojans 2-0 808
13 Oklahoma Sooners 3-0 697
14 Kansas State Wildcats 3-0 662
15 Oklahoma State Cowboys 3-0 642
16 LSU Tigers 2-1 466
17 Michigan Wolverines 2-1 439
18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2-1 404
19 Clemson Tigers 1-1 340
20 Louisville Cardinals 2-0 333
21 Iowa State Cyclones 2-0 235
22 Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-0 204
23 Memphis Tigers 3-0 176
24 Texas A&M Aggies 2-1 85
25 UNLV Rebels 3-0 78

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 Arizona; No. 22 Washington;

Others Receiving Votes

Illinois 75; Washington State 38; Arizona 37; Northern Illinois 34; Syracuse 32; UCF 27; Pittsburgh 17; Iowa 17; Boise State 17; Arizona State 15; North Carolina 14; North Carolina State 12; California 10; Indiana 7; Michigan State 6; Liberty 6; Boston College 6; BYU 3; Washington 2; Toledo 1; South Florida 1; San Jose State 1; James Madison 1;

Badgers one of many college football teams searching for form, but can they figure it out?

Do you think the Badgers will figure it out against Alabama?

There is good news and bad news after Wisconsin improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 27-13 win over South Dakota.

The good news: the Badgers are 2-0 for the first time since 2020. They avoided the fate suffered by No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday: an upset loss as a four-touchdown favorite.

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin’s uninspiring Week 2 win over South Dakota

The bad news: Luke Fickell’s team looks far from the contender many expected it to be entering the season.

Wisconsin’s opening wins against Western Michigan and South Dakota each saw the team tested late into the second half. Against Western Michigan, the Badgers trailed 14-13 early in the fourth quarter. Against South Dakota, the team saw a 14-point lead evaporate during the first drives of the third quarter.

Western Michigan is currently ranked as the 11th-worst team in the FBS after its 56-0 loss to Ohio State, and South Dakota isn’t much better. In summation: Wisconsin has been less-than-convincing against two low-level opponents.

But there is a glass half-full approach, if you chose to view the sport through that lens: most of the country has struggled through the first two weeks of the season. Just in the Big Ten…Penn State nearly lost to Bowling Green, Oregon barely defeated both Idaho and Boise State, Michigan got steamrolled by Texas and Iowa lost to Iowa State. Then there’s Notre Dame’s massive upset loss to Northern Illinois, Alabama‘s struggles against USF and Oklahoma nearly losing to Houston. Across the sport, few teams have showed true dominance.

So it’s reasonable to see Wisconsin’s early-season struggles and project a handful of losses when conference play begins. The Badgers do not look improved enough on offense to contend, and also may have taken a step or two backward on the defensive side of the football.

But that must be said while recognizing that top teams around the country have also shown flaws. Where Wisconsin has not lived up to expectation, others have failed just as much, or more.

What matters now is how Luke Fickell’s team responds. It needs a complete, four-quarter effort against Alabama on Saturday. That will require more of the Badgers offense that showed up in the first half against South Dakota, and a defensive effort that improves dramatically defending the rush.

If Wisconsin can do those things, playing a competitive game against Alabama would be viewed as a win entering the bye week and start of Big Ten play. It’s all still there for the Badgers. They just need to show more improvement than some of the other struggling teams on their schedule.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. 

Wisconsin drops out of Josh Pate’s ‘JP Poll Top 25’ entering Week 2

Wisconsin drops out of Josh Pate’s ‘JP Poll Top 25’ entering Week 2

Wisconsin’s performance during its Week 1 win over Western Michigan was not enough to keep it in the top 25 of prominent college football analyst Josh Pate’s ‘JP Poll’ entering Week 2.

The Badgers had entered the season ranked No. 23 in his top 25, one slot ahead of the rival Iowa Hawkeyes. The team’s pedestrian performance against the Broncos has dropped it out of the top 25 entirely. Iowa, meanwhile, used a blowout win over Illinois State to rise to No. 20 in Pate’s Week 2 edition.

Related: Wisconsin two-deep depth chart for Week 2 vs. South Dakota includes minor changes

Pate likes to pitch his top 25 as a ranking closer to Bill Connelly’s SP+ than to the AP Top 25. In other words, it works to reflect a team’s quality, not just its resume. That leads to a team like Texas A&M dropping its opener to Notre Dame but maintaining a ranking in the top 20.

For more contest, here is Pate’s full Week 2 ranking:

https://twitter.com/JoshPateCFB/status/1831140414994211277

A necessary takeaway is that Wisconsin plays Pate’s No. 4 (Alabama), No. 5 (Penn State), No. 7 (Oregon), No. 11 (USC) and No. 20 (Iowa) teams this season. Western Michigan was a light start to the schedule, but things are set to get tough for the Badgers starting in Week 3.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Wisconsin football omitted from PFF’s preseason top 25 ranking

Wisconsin football omitted from PFF’s Preseason Top 25 rankings

The Wisconsin Badgers failed to crack ProFootballFocus’ 2024 preseason top 25 ranking on Monday.

The outlet has six Big Ten squads within its top 25 hierarchy. Those include Ohio State at No. 2, Oregon at No. 3, Michigan at No. 8, Penn State at No. 9, USC at No. 21 and Iowa at No. 24. Georgia holds the No. 1 spot while West Virginia rounds out the list at No. 25.

Similar to several other preseason polls, including Fox Sports’ 1-134 ranking at the official preseason AP poll, the Badgers fell short of cracking the top 25. While the AP indicates UW received votes and landed in the mid-30s, PFF does not include details about where Fickell and Co. stand in its grouping.

Wisconsin will enter this season after consecutive 7-6 overall outputs from 2022 and 2023. Despite a newfound stability on the coaching sidelines and full confidence from offensive coordinator Phil Longo in freshly-minted starting QB Tyler Van Dyke, the Big Ten’s deep talent pool prevents the Badgers from entering multiple platform’s top 25.

The Badgers do face several heavy hitters throughout the 2024 campaign, including Alabama, USC, Penn State, Oregon and Iowa. Establishing a cohesive offensive attack early and often can separate this year’s group from the previous two and prompt voters to elevate UW in their next top 25 rendition.

FOX Sports analyst RJ Young ranks Wildcats just outside of top 25

Fox Sports analyst RJ Young ranks Kentucky football 28th in his preseason rankings.

RJ Young of Fox Sports ranks the Kentucky Wildcats number 28 in the preseason rankings he recently released. Here’s what he had to say about the Cats.

Mark Stoops has put the Wildcats into eight straight bowl games. If they make a ninth straight postseason appearance, defensive lineman Deone Walker will likely have quite a bit to do with it. At 6-foot-6, 348 pounds, he led the team in tackles for loss (12.5) and sacks (7.5) in 2023. Teams won’t double-team him as often, with former Georgia linebacker and two-time national champion Jamon Dumas-Johnson joining UK through the portal.

The jewel in Stoops’ 2024 transfer class has to be former five-star and UGA backup Brock Vandagriff, who could be the Wildcats’ most talented quarterback since Tim Couch, still the only 4,000-yard passer in UK history.

Maxwell Hairston was an “All-Slept-On” player in 2023, recording 68 tackles, five picks, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble from his cornerback position.

Related: Full preseason US LBM Coaches poll

Stoops hasn’t been able to break through and get this team into the top tier in the SEC, but those really aren’t the expectations with this program. As long as Stoops has the Wildcats in bowl games, people will be happy. And Kentucky has finished above .500 in seven of the last eight seasons.

This season, a successful year would once again mean around eight or so wins.

The Wildcats have a lot of experience and a very reasonable schedule. And they rarely lose games they’re expected to win, so they tend to have a high floor and be a trustworthy team to bet on.

[Check out RJ Young’s full ultimate 134 college football rankings here]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-kiGQnp04d/

Where Clemson, Florida State place in Fox Sports’ preseason 1-134 rankings

Clemson appeared several spots below Florida State in Fox Sports’ rankings, released Monday after the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

Hours after the release of the preseason AP Top 25 poll Monday, Fox Sports unveiled its “Ultimate 134” rankings of every FBS team ahead of the 2024 college football season.

Fox Sports’ rankings differ from the AP’s because they’re compiled by only one individual analyst instead of the cable of sportswriters who make up the AP poll. To that end, Fox analyst RJ Young sees a much bigger discrepancy between the ACC’s two premier programs, Clemson and Florida State, entering 2024.

The Seminoles are No. 5 in Young’s rankings, as opposed to No. 10 in both the preseason AP and US LBM Coaches Polls. Clemson is further back in Young’s rankings at No. 19, five spots below whey landed in the AP and coaches polls.

As part of his rankings criteria, Young uses strength of schedule, coaching staff continuity, returning starters, class of 2024 recruiting, “star” players, and results/success in the transfer portal.

Young praises Clemson for its continuity and stability under Dabo Swinney, now entering his 17th season as Tigers coach, but it’s the Tigers’ schedule that worries him about the 2024 team.

Per Young:

“Dabo Swinney has made the College Football Playoff six out of the last nine years. He has had four national title appearances during that span, and has won two of them. With the playoff expanding and no Nick Saban to worry about, Swinney and Clemson have a program that might take full advantage of its continuity.

“Getting past Florida State, Georgia and a Virginia Tech team that might turn heads this season, are the obvious obstacles for the Tigers. But they’ll be the first to tell you FSU was lucky to escape Death Valley with a victory last year, and no one has the goods on DJ Uiagalelei quite like Swinney. The Tigers’ linebacking corps might be the best in the country with Barrett Carter and five-star freshman Sammy Brown, and they’ll get after the quarterback.”

Clemson opens the 2024 season against Georgia with a “neutral site” game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in Week 1 (noon ET, ABC). Just over a month later, the Tigers head to Tallahassee for their annual showdown against Florida State. In early November, they visit Lane Stadium and Virginia Tech.

As for Florida State, Young says he believes Mike Norvell is capable of having a run similar to Bobby Bowden in the 90s when FSU won two national titles and played for three more between 1993-2000.

“Mike Norvell is close to putting FSU back where Bobby Bowden had them for the better part of the 1990s, replacing 10 NFL Draft picks with players of equal talent. The only returning skill player who started on offense for the Seminoles last year is tight end Kyle Morlock, so Norvell went shopping and came back with a former five-star QB in DJ Uiagalelei, as well as Alabama transfers Terrence Ferguson, Malik Benson and Roydell Williams.

This season looks like a gauntlet-run for the Noles, who play at Southern Methodist on Sept. 28, host Clemson on Oct. 5, and go on the road against Miami on Oct. 26.”

No other ACC teams made Young’s Top 25 rankings, although Miami landed at No. 26. NC State was No. 30, SMU was No. 32, and Louisville was No. 35.

Follow us at @Clemson_Wire on X and on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news, notes and commentary.

Wisconsin unranked in preseason AP Poll for first time since 2016

Wisconsin unranked in 2024 preseason AP Poll

The Wisconsin Badgers are unranked entering the 2024 college football season.

The team missed the top 25 of the 2024 preseason AP Poll. It is instead listed down in the ‘receiving votes’ category.

Related: Full previews for every Wisconsin football position group entering 2024 season

The Badgers’ 15 total votes are enough to rank No. 36 in the nation. For reference, the Iowa Hawkeyes are ranked No. 25 in the poll with 140 votes. 25 points are awarded for every first-place vote in the writers’ rankings, 24 for every second-place vote and so on until one point is awarded for a 25th-place vote.

The AP Poll results follow the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll in having the Badgers unranked. This is after the program’s recent string of 7-6 seasons.

It will be Wisconsin’s first time entering the season unranked since 2016, and only the third time overall since 2007. The program’s consistency was its calling card for during Bret Bielema and Paul Chryst eras. New head coach Luke Fickell is now tasked with returning the program to that standard.

Notable Big Ten teams in the top 25 include USC at No. 23, Michigan at No. 9, Penn State at No. 8, Oregon at No. 3 and Ohio State at No. 2. The Alabama Crimson Tide, Wisconsin’ Week 3 opponent, also enters at No. 5.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. 

Why the 2024 preseason AP Top 25 Poll is more important than ever before

The preseason AP Top 25 Poll will soon be revealed. See why this one is different from previous seasons.

The reveal of the preseason AP Top 25 Poll is always exciting, as it sets the stage for the upcoming season and is a sign that we are just weeks away from the action. However, this season, the weight of the AP Poll is much greater than in seasons past.

In 2024, college football will feature numerous changes. While name, image, likeness and the transfer portal continue to snowball into bigger aspects of the game, this season will debut an expanded College Football Playoff format (tripling in size from four to 12), and mass conference realignment goes into action.

The Pac-12 is no more; and the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 have all grown in size and reach, with all three consisting of teams on the East and West Coast.

As far as the SEC is concerned, they added two massive brands in the game, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns. Some internal changes will be noticeable, such as the new system of determining a conference champion (gone are the days of the east and west divisions) and the retirement of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

So what does all of this have to do with the preseason AP Poll? Well, as we enter into a new era of college football, this Top 25 ranking opens the door to the season. It will answer some questions while likely raising more. It can make or break a team’s whole season. For some, it could result in an uphill battle that’s far too difficult to overcome in just 12 games.

Though the College Football Playoff committee will select the 12 teams that will compete for a national title, those rankings don’t begin until later on in the season. For most of the season, the AP Poll rankings will determine the strength of each team’s resumé, the importance of each game, and can even focus national attention on a certain game or program.

With the future of college football upon us, these rankings usher us into the 2024 season. The full ranking will be revealed Monday, Aug. 12.