BOOM
Four-star defensive tackle Emanuel Ruffin commits to Ohio State.
Ohio State still stands comfortably above the rest of college football ahead of Week 12 following the Buckeyes' 34-10 win on the road against Purdue yesterday. OSU earned the No. 1 overall ranking once again in the AP and Coaches Polls, as well as 55 of a possible 65 first place votes in the former compared to 59 of 63 in the latter.
Indiana held onto its No. 2 overall ranking after a scare against Penn State yesterday that required a go-ahead touchdown sequence down the stretch from Hoosiers wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. and quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Oregon fell one spot in the AP Poll after surviving its own potential upset on the road at Iowa, while Ole Miss replaced them in the rankings despite failing to cover a 50+ point spread against FCS opponent The Citadel.
Texas moved back into the top 10 of both polls during its bye week after defeating a Vanderbilt team last weekend that bounced back with an overtime win over Auburn yesterday. Michigan moved up three spots in both polls to 18th in the AP and 17th in the Coaches. USC also moved up three positions in both polls as the only other ranked Big Ten team, one spot ahead of Michigan in the AP and one behind in the Coaches.
Four teams tied for the biggest jump in the AP Poll as Cincinnati joined the Longhorns, Wolverines and Trojans among teams that rose three spots. Virginia suffered the most significant drop following an upset at the hands of Wake Forest yesterday.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OHIO STATE | 9–0 | 1610 (55) | – |
| 2 | INDIANA | 10–0 | 1549 (6) | – |
| 3 | TEXAS A&M | 9–0 | 1518 (4) | – |
| 4 | ALABAMA | 8–1 | 1427 (0) | – |
| 5 | GEORGIA | 8–1 | 1353 (0) | – |
| 6 | OLE MISS | 9–1 | 1248 (0) | ▲ 1 |
| 7 | OREGON | 8–1 | 1245 (0) | ▼ 1 |
| 8 | TEXAS TECH | 9–1 | 1211 (0) | ▲ 1 |
| 9 | NOTRE DAME | 7–2 | 1102 (0) | ▲ 1 |
| 10 | TEXAS | 7–2 | 961 (0) | ▲ 3 |
| 11 | OKLAHOMA | 7–2 | 928 (0) | – |
| 12 | BYU | 8–1 | 898 (0) | ▼ 4 |
| 13 | VANDERBILT | 8–2 | 821 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 14 | GEORGIA TECH | 8–1 | 788 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 15 | UTAH | 7–2 | 695 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 16 | MIAMI (FL) | 7–2 | 683 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 17 | USC | 7–2 | 645 (0) | ▲ 3 |
| 18 | MICHIGAN | 7–2 | 498 (0) | ▲ 3 |
| 19 | LOUISVILLE | 7–2 | 326 (0) | ▼ 5 |
| 20 | VIRGINIA | 8–2 | 313 (0) | ▼ 8 |
| 21 | TENNESSEE | 6–3 | 276 (0) | ▲ 2 |
| 22 | CINCINNATI | 7–2 | 224 (0) | ▲ 3 |
| 23 | PITTSBURGH | 7–2 | 201 (0) | – |
| 24 | JAMES MADISON | 0–0 | 167 (0) | – |
| 25 | SOUTH FLORIDA | 7–2 | 116 (0) | – |
As for the Coaches Poll, Pittsburgh experienced the most significant climb up seven spots out of unranked territory to 23rd overall. This seems a curious result given the Panthers had a bye during Week 11 and have not played since beating a now 3-7 Stanford team on November 1st. As with the AP Poll, UVA suffered the greatest plummet down eight rankings to 19th overall.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OHIO STATE | 9-0 | 1571 | 59 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | INDIANA | 10-0 | 1492 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | TEXAS A&M | 9-0 | 1465 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | ALABAMA | 8-1 | 1368 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | GEORGIA | 8-1 | 1322 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | OREGON | 8-1 | 1238 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | OLE MISS | 9-1 | 1216 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | TEXAS TECH | 9-1 | 1143 | 0 | 9 | +1 |
| 9 | NOTRE DAME | 7-2 | 1041 | 0 | 10 | +1 |
| 10 | TEXAS | 7-2 | 929 | 0 | 13 | +3 |
| 10 | OKLAHOMA | 7-2 | 929 | 0 | 12 | +2 |
| 12 | GEORGIA TECH | 8-1 | 823 | 0 | 14 | +2 |
| 12 | BYU | 8-1 | 823 | 0 | 8 | -4 |
| 14 | VANDERBILT | 8-2 | 751 | 0 | 16 | +2 |
| 15 | UTAH | 7-2 | 635 | 0 | 19 | +4 |
| 16 | MIAMI (FL) | 7-2 | 626 | 0 | 18 | +2 |
| 17 | MICHIGAN | 7-2 | 559 | 0 | 20 | +3 |
| 18 | USC | 7-2 | 528 | 0 | 21 | +3 |
| 19 | VIRGINIA | 8-2 | 336 | 0 | 11 | -8 |
| 20 | TENNESSEE | 6-3 | 312 | 0 | 22 | +2 |
| 21 | LOUISVILLE | 7-2 | 279 | 0 | 15 | -6 |
| 22 | CINCINNATI | 7-2 | 216 | 0 | 25 | +3 |
| 23 | PITTSBURGH | 7-2 | 144 | 0 | NR | +7 |
| 24 | MISSOURI | 6-3 | 132 | 0 | 17 | -7 |
| 25 | JAMES MADISON | 8-1 | 108 | 0 | NR | +3 |
Ohio State earned the No. 1 overall spot in the debut of the season's College Football Playoff rankings last Tuesday and seems likely to retain that honor in the next edition releasing this week. The Buckeyes will seek to reinforce that distinction and their top spot in the polls next Saturday night when OSU hosts UCLA at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
