College Football Standings Shaken Over Weekend

By Mark Hoerrner

It was a huge weekend in college football as Week 7’s games shook up both the rankings and standings for a number of teams. The contests only serve to demonstrate how fluid the outcome of one game is in causing ripple effects for the entire pool of teams. It was a banner Saturday for the University of Florida, now ranked No. 2 behind NCAA Football powerhouse Ohio State University. A 23-10 victory over conferencemate Louisiana State University and a surprising tromping of Auburn University by Arkansas State led to a major shift in the college rankings.

It’s the first time in a very long time that neither Florida State University or five-time BCS champions, the University of Miami, were listed in the top 25.

Both LSU and the University of Georgia fell from spots in the top 10 rankings in all three major polls—AP, Harris and USA Today. In a game that is often the definition of a Southeastern Conference gladiator match, Georgia suffered a 51-33 loss to the University of Tennessee. As a result, UGA is now ranked 14th in the Harris and USA Today polls, but 16th in the AP Top 25 listing of college teams. LSU found itself spiraling down to 14th in the AP poll, but fell to 16th in the other two ratings.

As usual, LSU Head Coach Les Miles dissected his team’s loss.

"We have to respond to what has happened and enjoy the opportunity to improve and work hard at it and return to the team that we are very capable of being," Miles said in statement. "We all, staff and players, are very committed to being the team we are capable of being. The effort was good. If it was an effort issue, you would be able to point right at it. You have to put the ball up before you block on the goal line. You have to put the ball away before you run. If we would have done those two things, I'd have to say we'd be ahead."

As is usually the case, the two top-ranked teams are also the top two teams in the overall NCAA standings. Filling out the rest of the top five spots in the standings are the University of Southern California from the Pac 10 conference, the University of Michigan from the Big 10, and Big East juggernaut West Virginia University.