Eight things the college football polls got wrong for Week 8

What was expected to be a rather straightforward weekend of college football turned into a carnage on Saturday as upset after upset went down across the country. We watched as a trio of unbeatens fell, all of whom had been in the top ten — Clemson, Washington, and Washington State. Another highly-ranked team in Auburn went down in a shocking defeat as well.

There’s a lot to sift through with the polls this week — and be warned, the coaches did not have the greatest week.

Why Penn State over Georgia at No. 2?

Clemson’s loss meant there was a vacuum behind Alabama for No. 2 in the nation, and there were two real obvious candidates — the unbeaten Penn State Nittany Lions and the Georgia Bulldogs. There’s a strong argument for both, but ultimately, it’s Georgia who has the better wins. The Nittany Lions have yet to knock off a ranked opponent, while Georgia’s road win at Notre Dame looks more and more impressive with each passing week. This will all be moot soon enough — Penn State’s next three games are against Michigan, at Ohio State, and at Michigan State — but for now, Georgia deserves the nod. Both the AP and Coaches have Penn State at No. 2, a spot ahead of Georgia.

No. 6 Ohio State can be pushed over No. 5 Wisconsin

Yes, we know, again: the Buckeyes are not unbeaten, while the Badgers are. The simple fact of the matter, though, is that Ohio State continues to look significantly more impressive, just as they have since their surprising home loss to Oklahoma. Wisconsin could only win by eight points at home against Purdue, while the Buckeyes went to Nebraska and won by 42 points. Neither team is particularly good — but Ohio State is eviscerating opponents. Like with Penn State, we’ll know soon enough; the Buckeyes have a tough schedule coming up after their bye week.

The coaches have Michigan too high at No. 15

A week after a surprising home loss to Michigan State, the Wolverines headed to Indiana for what looked like a pretty easy game to get themselves back on track. After all, the Wolverines are still very much in the Big Ten title race and subsequent playoff hunt. They responded by struggling mightily before ultimately winning in overtime. The writers took note, dropping the Wolverines two spots to No. 19 despite the victory. The coaches did not, giving them a bounce up to No. 15. The Wolverines haven’t played like a top 15 team for the last two weeks, although with Penn State looming, this error may be corrected quickly.

Coaches need to switch No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 10 USC

The coaches strike again. USC has recovered well from their loss to Washington State. Though they barely escaped Utah at home on Saturday, they very easily deserve to be back within the top 12, at the very least. The Cowboys have also recovered well from their defeat to TCU — a better team than Washington State — and throttled Baylor over the weekend, though admittedly that’s not much of a feat. For now, though, the Cowboys look the more convincing team. The spots should be flip-flopped with Oklahoma State ahead, like the AP Poll has it.

USF at No. 13? Too soon, coaches

For whatever reason, the coaches are in love with South Florida. The Bulls put together a solid 33-3 win over Cincinnati at the weekend, and that was apparently enough to bump them from No. 15 to No. 13, lifting them just ahead of idle Virginia Tech. The Bulls are 6-0 and there’s an argument to be made for putting them in the top 15, but this is getting a bit too high. They have yet to face a ranked opponent, which is not their fault, but still a fact. What makes them definitively better than, say, Virginia Tech or Notre Dame?

UCF is slightly underrated at No. 20

What’s the difference between UCF and USF? Really, the only thing is that South Florida was more highly thought of at the start of the season, giving them a head start in the rankings. The Knights have slowly crept their way up the polls as they’ve racked up the wins — they now sit at 5-0. Notably, their victory over Memphis — a 40-13 walloping on Sept. 30 — is more impressive than anything on South Florida’s schedule so far. If the Bulls are a top 16-team, UCF is either not far behind or equal. The seven spot discrepancy in the Coaches Poll is particularly egregious.

The writers didn’t hit No. 15 Washington State hard enough

There are upset losses, and then there are very ugly upset losses. Washington State suffered the latter on Friday, losing at California 37-3. Previously a consensus top ten team, voters were left to figure out what to do with the Cougars. The coaches hit them hard, dropping them nine spots down to No. 18. The writers were unjustly more forgiving. The Cougars fell seven spots, but stayed in the top 15 — just barely. They don’t deserve it. No. 18 is a good spot for them; as good as their win over USC was, this loss was a brutal performance.

When do the writers rank Texas A&M?

The coaches finally put Texas A&M in their top 25 this week after Kevin Sumlin’s squad knocked off the Florida Gators, a team that has been overrated since pretty much the start of the season. The Aggies sit at 5-2 now and are ranked No. 24 by the Coaches Poll. Their defeats were a total collapse at UCLA and a more respectable eight-point defeat against No. 1 Alabama. The writers still have the Aggies as the second team out, but they were willing to rank Memphis, who really don’t have as solid a resume as the Aggies do. It’s time for the writers to catch up. As bad as that season-opening defeat was, A&M has done enough since then to earn a ranking once again.