Washington State and Michigan are on the Rise; Ohio State, N.C. State, and Oregon fall in College Football Poll

Alabama is the unanimous Number 1 team in the AP College Football poll following the weekend of October 20th. The Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 in conference games) once again clobbered its opponent, winning at Tennessee 58-21. Alabama has a bye week coming up, but will be at #4 LSU (7-1, 4-1) on November 4th in a great matchup of SEC West leaders.

The Number 2 team in the Poll is used to being either there or Number 1. Clemson (7-0, 4-0 in the ACC) easily handled previously unbeaten and 16th ranked North Carolina State 41-7. The Wolfpack (5-1, 2-1) dropped to #22.

Clemson moved up because the incumbent #2, Ohio State, was upset big time at Purdue 49-20. The Buckeyes (7-1, 4-1 in the Big Ten) never led in the game. Purdue (4-3, 2-1) has won four in a row after opening 0-3. Ohio State dropped all the way down to #11. The Buckeyes’ top nemesis, Michigan, beat #24 Michigan State 21-7. The Wolverines (7-1, 5-0) have won seven straight after losing their opener to Notre Dame. Michigan is in first place in the Big Ten East and controls its own destiny in the race to the Big Ten championship game. The Wolverines moved up to #5 in the AP Poll.

Out on the West Coast, #25 Washington State hosted #12 Oregon. The Cougars quietly entered the Top 25; this was their first game of the season against a ranked opponent. They were up for the task. Washington State jumped off to a 27-0 halftime lead, then nearly blew it, allowing 20 unanswered points before scoring one more touchdown with 3:40 left in the game to put it away at 34-20. The Cougars (6-1, 3-1 in the Pac-12) moved up to 14th in the poll, while Oregon (5-2, 2-2) dropped to 19th. The Cougars will be at #24 Stanford on October 27th.