Big Ten, Pac-12 Return to AP Top 25 Poll Spells Doom for Small Schools

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With the Big Ten and Pac-12 announcing their return to football this season, teams from both conferences are once again listed in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll. Three teams from the Big 10 and one from the Pac-12 were in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll.

Kansas State-Oklahoma AP Top 25 Poll
Kansas State’s upset of Oklahoma sent the Sooners plummeting in the AP Top 25 Poll. (Image: Getty)

Ohio State was the highest-ranked team from either of the conferences at No. 6. The Buckeyes, however, were No. 2 in the preseason, just a month ago. Even though the Big Ten and the Pac-12 pledged not to play in the fall, six teams from the Big Ten, and three from the Pac-12 were included in the preseason poll.

AP Top 25 Poll Week 5

  1. Clemson (2-0)
  2. Alabama (1-0)
  3. Florida (1-0)
  4. Georgia (1-0)
  5. Notre Dame (2-0)
  6. Ohio State (0-0)
  7. Auburn (1-0)
  8. Miami (3-0)
  9. Texas (2-0)
  10. Penn State (0-0)
  11. Central Florida (2-0)
  12. North Carolina (1-0)
  13. Texas A&M (1-0)
  14. Oregon (0-0)
  15. Cincinnati (2-0)
  16. Mississippi State (1-0)
  17. Oklahoma State (2-0)
  18. Oklahoma (1-1)
  19. Wisconsin (0-0)
  20. LSU (0-1)
  21. Tennessee (1-0)
  22. BYU (2-0)
  23. Michigan (0-0)
  24. Pitt (3-0)
  25. Memphis (1-0)

In Week 5, however, only Ohio State, Penn State (No. 10), Oregon (No. 14), Wisconsin (No. 19), and Michigan (No. 23) were ranked. Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, and USC are all listed outside the top 25.

Little Guys Casualties in Poll

With Big Ten and Pac-12 teams returning to the AP Top 25 Poll, smaller schools were bounced out in Week 5.

Louisiana-Lafayette was No. 19 a week ago, and despite defeating Georgia Southern 20-18 on Saturday, the Ragin’ Cajuns dropped out of the top 25. LLU was 3-0 on the season.

Another victim was Marshall, who was No. 25 in Week 4. The Thundering Herd had a bye last weekend, but still got bumped out of the poll. Marshall was 2-0 and had outscored their opponents, 76-7.

Virginia Tech is a Power 5 conference school that got knocked out of the poll, despite winning. The Hokies, who were No. 20, defeated NC State 45-24 on Saturday, but that wasn’t enough to impress the voters.

Oklahoma, LSU Take Dives

The Big 12 took a hard hit in the AP Top 25 Poll with Oklahoma. The Sooners came into Week 4 as the No. 3 team. Then Kansas State came into Norman, Oklahoma, and spanked the Sooners for the second consecutive year.

Voters in the poll didn’t look kindly on Oklahoma’s 38-35 home loss to a team that wasn’t even sure they had enough players because of COVID-19. They dropped the Sooners 15 spots to No. 18, thus effectively ending any hope the program had of contending for the National Championship.

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley told reporters after the upset that too many mistakes cost them the game.

“We just made critical errors that gave them a chance,” Riley said. “Give (head coach) Chris (Klieman) and Kansas State a lot of credit. When we made errors, he made us pay.”

Another team that took a dive was LSU. The defending National Champions hosted Mississippi State on Saturday for their opener, and were stunned by the Bulldogs, 44-34.

As a result, the Tigers dropped from No. 6 to No. 20, also ending their hopes of returning to the playoffs.

Florida, Miami Move up

There were some schools that benefitted, despite the inclusion of the Big Ten and the Pac-12 teams. Florida moved from No. 5 to No. 3 with its 51-35 victory over Mississippi.

Anther team that moved up was Miami. The Hurricanes throttled Florida State, 52-10 on Saturday. Miami went from No. 12 to No. 8.

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