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USATSI

Ever since their return to the college football rankings, teams from the Big Ten have been stationary objects in the pecking order. Voters from the Coaches Poll have moved teams up, down and around the league's handful of ranked representatives, waiting for some results to justify the preseason expectations. 

The Big Ten returned in Week 8 with its first of nine straight weekends of action with no byes or breaks, and the league delivered in a big way. There was a top-10 upset with Indiana taking down Penn State, a moment of validation for Michigan with its new starting quarterback Joe Milton and a near-perfect performance from Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who immediately reminded the country why he deserves a spot in the center of the Heisman Trophy conversation. 

The Coaches Poll voters had some reactions to the Big Ten action, moving Penn State down 10 spots to No. 17 and elevating Indiana from being unranked to No. 19. Michigan moved up three spots to inside the top 15 at No. 14 and Wisconsin also saw a three-spot improvement to No. 11 after its dominant win against Illinois on Friday night. Ohio State only moved up two spots after beating Nebraska, but in doing so jumped both Georgia and Notre Dame to take its place in the top three with Clemson and Alabama. 

Here's how the new Coaches Poll looks after Week 8 action: 

  1. Clemson (52 first-place votes)
  2. Alabama (8)
  3. Ohio State (2)
  4. Notre Dame 
  5. Georgia 
  6. Oklahoma State 
  7. Cincinnati 
  8. Texas A&M
  9. Florida 
  10. BYU 
  11. Wisconsin
  12. Miami 
  13. North Carolina 
  14. Michigan 
  15. Oregon
  16. Kansas State
  17. Penn State
  18. Marshall
  19. Indiana 
  20. USC 
  21. Coastal Carolina 
  22. Iowa State 
  23. SMU
  24. Oklahoma 
  25. Army 

Schools dropped out: No. 20 Virginia Tech; No. 21 Minnesota; No. 22 NC State

Others receiving votes: Auburn 118; Liberty 112; Memphis 88; Boise State 79; Minnesota 67; UL Lafayette 62; Utah 45; Louisiana State 37; Boston College 28; Purdue 26; Missouri 25; Northwestern 24; Virginia Tech 22; NC State 20; Tulsa 18; Texas 18; Arkansas 17; Appalachian State 16; Central Florida 13; Arizona State 10; California 8; West Virginia 6; Tennessee 6; Iowa 6; Wake Forest 5; Stanford 3; Houston 2.