The best part of the college football polls every week is the discussion they bring. With that in mind, a rundown of the winners and losers from this week’s rankings.
College Football Rankings: The Winners And Losers Of The Week 10 Polls
Winners
Auburn is a winner in the Week 10 polls, moving up to second in the USA Today poll and leaping Boise State. Auburn’s the SEC’s leading candidate to make the BCS Championship Game, of course, but the Tigers hopping past the Broncos just makes it clear that the human polls, like the computers, will turn to the Tigers over teams from non-BCS automatic qualifier conferences as this season wears on.
The Big 12 also gets a win, with five ranked teams and two in the top ten. Despite Missouri’s loss, the conference is in prime position to send two teams to BCS bowls and reap the rewards from that success.
And, of course, the SEC can pat itself on the back with six teams ranked. The SEC is still down this season, but this may be the least depressing “down” year ever experienced by any entity, ever.
Losers
The biggest loser this week is Michigan State. A 10-spot fall hurts, but that’s what happened when a top-five team goes on the road and loses to a two-loss team by 31. The Spartans now go from hoping for losses by other undefeated teams and a chance to sneak into the BCS Championship Game to looking at a Rose Bowl berth if they finish with one loss.
Boise State also gets to cry foul about the Week 10 USA Today poll, because the coaches’ “lose and drop” logic seems not to apply only when it’s convenient and the Broncos or another mid-major team can get passed as a result.
And, as always, the coaches show up in the losers category for their merely casual acquaintance with logic. One-loss Missouri is six spots behind the Oklahoma squad it beat. Michigan State, just eviscerated by Iowa, comes in one slot ahead of the Hawkeyes. Arkansas drops a spot for no apparent reason, while Oklahoma State jumps two spots for beating Kansas State. This is not one of the coaches poll’s finer weeks. But then, none of them are.
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