Epic results on both coasts bring changes to one AP Top 25 football ballot
Surprises on two coasts, spread over two days, brought changes to the Associated Press Top 25 hierarchy.
In the east, Maryland delivered a punch to the ACC (without a pesky buyout fee this time) by rocking Syracuse 63-20. The only other ACC team in the top 25, expected to be the lone squad that could maybe, probably, kind of challenge Clemson got run over by Scottie Montgomery’s offense.
Goodbye, Orange. And the 2-0 Terps move on to my ballot.
In the west, a Biblical storm hit Seattle to knock out power and delay California’s game at Washington nearly three hours into Sunday morning’s wee hours.
When it finally ended at 4:22 a.m. Eastern time, the Bears pulled off a stunning 20-19 win over the Huskies, the Pac-12 favorite and the highest-ranked team from that league.
So Washington falls out and is replaced by the 2-0 Golden Bears. That’s at least for this week anyway.
Those were the only newcomers and departures for me.
I did some shuffling among the top 10 based on LSU’s impressive 45-38 shootout win at Texas. That earned the Tigers a bump up past Oklahoma into the top five.
On the other hand, Michigan’s unimpressive 24-21 double-overtime escape of a win over Army shows the Wolverines needed to fall a bit. That offense needs work or losses will be coming soon.
You’ll notice Texas and Texas A&M stayed right where they were despite losses. That’s because of who beat them. They weren’t supposed to beat LSU and Clemson. So they don’t get penalized.
At the bottom the ballot, while elevating Maryland and Cal, others in consideration were North Carolina,Colorado and Southern Cal. They are right there and will move in if they keep winning and somebody (inevitably) stumbles.
Here’s my new ballot filed Sunday morning (with last week’s ranking on my ballot in parenthesis)
Steve Wiseman’s AP top 25 football ballot
Clemson (1)
Alabama (2)
Georgia (3)
Ohio State (4)
LSU (6)
Oklahoma (5)
Notre Dame (7)
Auburn (10)
Michigan (8)
Texas (10)
Texas A&M (11)
Florida (12)
Penn State (13)
Utah (15)
Wisconsin (16)
Iowa (17)
Oregon (18)
Michigan State (19)
California (NR)
Boise State (21)
Central Florida (22)
Maryland (NR)
Washington State (23)
Mississippi State (25)
Virginia (24)
This story was originally published September 8, 2019 at 12:38 PM with the headline "Epic results on both coasts bring changes to one AP Top 25 football ballot."