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The new polls are out. Let's see how things look.
AP | Coaches | Massey | |
1 | Mississippi State | Mississippi State | Auburn |
2 | Florida State | Florida State | Alabama |
3 | Auburn | Auburn | Mississippi State |
4 | Alabama | Alabama | Florida State |
5 | Oregon | Oregon | Ole Miss |
6 | TCU | Michigan State | Oregon |
7 | Michigan State | TCU | Kansas State |
8 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | LSU |
9 | Kansas State | Kansas State | TCU |
10 | Baylor | Baylor | Oklahoma |
11 | Arizona State | Ohio State | Michigan State |
12 | Ole Miss | Arizona State | Baylor |
13 | Ohio State | Ole Miss | Arizona State |
14 | LSU | Nebraska | Georgia |
15 | Nebraska | LSU | UCLA |
16 | Oklahoma | Oklahoma | Notre Dame |
17 | Georgia | Georgia | Nebraska |
18 | UCLA | UCLA | Clemson |
19 | Clemson | Clemson | Ohio State |
20 | Utah | Duke | West Virginia |
21 | Arizona | Arizona | Missouri |
22 | Duke | Utah | USC |
23 | Marshall | Marshall | Texas A&M |
24 | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Arizona |
25 | Wisconsin | West Virginia | Florida |
For a composite Top 25, visit SBNation.com
AUBURN
Amway Coaches' Poll and Associated Press
The win over Ole Miss bumped the Tigers up over Alabama in both polls, this week. The Tigers move up to #3. Aren't y'all glad we don't have the BCS right now? If this were last year, we would have no shot unless MSU or FSU lose. Instead, we're sitting in a golden spot all around with a record and a schedule that if we win out pretty much guarantees we'll be in the playoff picture.
Unless the committee gets to the very end and decides that Conference Championships matter more than anything else and we're left out of the SECCG because MSU doesn't lose twice. It could happen.
THE SEC
Amway Coaches' Poll
Mississippi State remains #1 and Alabama drops behind Auburn to #4 to complete the SEC's representation in the Top 10. Prior to this weekend, Ole Miss and Georgia were also ranked in the Top 10. We knew either Auburn or Ole Miss would drop depending on the results of last night's game, but who saw Georgia getting absolutely demolished by Florida? Georgia dropped nine spots all the way to #17. Ole Miss dropped to #13, while LSU moves up to #15. LSU and Alabama will face each other this weekend, which means one will drop in the polls.
AP Poll
The results were similar in the AP. MSU remains #1, Alabama is jumped by Auburn, Ole Miss drops to #13, UGA drops to #17, and LSU moves up to #18.
THE SCHEDULE
Kansas State keeps doing us favors by winning and moves up to #9 in both polls. They're about to hit one tough stretch of games, though. They will play at TCU, at West Virginia, and at Baylor to close out the season. That's some tough sledding. Louisiana Tech remains undefeated in their conference play and with their schedule look to remain that way up to a conference championship game against undefeated Marshall. Winning that game and being C-USA Champions would make Auburn's schedule look even better.
THOUGHTS
It's interesting how teams like TCU jumped Notre Dame in both polls. Both teams won on Saturday and both games were close. So why did TCU jump the Irish like that? Look no further than the College Football Playoff rankings. The committee has TCU in the Top 10 and the Irish further back, so suddenly their positions are swapped in the polls. And this is one reason why the Committee should not be releasing any rankings at all until the very end. All they're doing now is swaying the votes of those who vote in these polls.
If they truly aren't paying any attention to the polls (which is unlikely), then that's fine. However, if they are using the polls, then we're getting a serious case of "group think" happening here. The Committee ranks one team a bit higher than another because the polls have them higher, but then the polls adjust because of the Committee, and so on, and so on. It really just doesn't look good.
Right now Auburn remains in the driver's seat for a spot in the playoffs, though. A seat we would most definitely not be in right now if the BCS was still deciding the top two teams who would play for the championship. A playoff is infinitely better, but it still has some flaws. Either way, the Tigers just need to keep winning.
War Eagle.