Tomorrow's Top 25 Today: Wisconsin's big gain, Michigan's sharp fall in college football rankings
Projecting the new AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 4 of the 2019 season
The AP Top 25 college football rankings are going to see a shake up after a Week 4 that included some of the year's most anticipated games pitting top teams against each other. Most notably, Georgia secured its top-three status by holding on for a victory against Notre Dame, and Auburn went on the road and dominated Texas A&M as an underdog in Kyle Field.
But perhaps the biggest shakeup will be voters adjusting to the stunning result from the Big Ten as Wisconsin totally dominated Michigan at the line of scrimmage and cruised to a 35-14 win. By the time "Jump Around" came on at the end of the third quarter, Camp Randall Stadium had already checked off the game as a win and started to consider plans for the celebration. The opponent was elite, at least in terms of its iconic brand, but the contest was far from it, and the distance the Badgers created with a 14-0 first quarter and 28-0 halftime lead might also represent the gap between these two teams in 2019.
So while voters will reconsider Wisconsin, now 3-0, as the top threat to Ohio State in the Big Ten, they will also have to reckon with one of the season's big early questions: How good is Michigan? We take our best guess at how both teams will be handled following a shakeup Saturday in college football below.
Here's how we think the new AP Top 25 will look on Sunday.
1. Clemson (Last week -- 1): I don't know if this was high on the national radar, but Death Valley went Hollywood during halftime of the Tigers' 52-10 win against Charlotte. It turns out they were shooting scenes for an upcoming movie that apparently features a fictional version of Clemson running down the hill. We'll anxiously await the cameo, and until then, we'll continue to recognize the Tigers are the top team in the country.
2. Alabama (2): Tua Tagovailoa combines his own poise and experience with the best group of wide receivers in the country to produce some of the most efficient stat lines we've seen in college football. Saturday's win against Southern Miss came on 17-for-21 passing for 293 yards and five touchdowns.
3. Georgia (3): A really impressive performance from Georgia's defense paired with a commitment by the offense to get the passing game heated up. In the second half, the Bulldogs were able to quickly take control of a top-10 matchup that seemed to be up in the air after Notre Dame led early in Athens, Georgia.
4. LSU (4): Speaking of wild stat lines, Joe Burrow and the LSU offense are out of control. Engaging in a shootout with Texas can be a result of circumstances, but the Tigers have been absolutely blowing through every defense they've faced this season.
5. Oklahoma (5): The Sooners were off in Week 4.
6. Ohio State (6): An early 5-0 deficit against Miami (Ohio) put the Buckeyes' in-state nonconference showdown in the spotlight for a small portion of Saturday afternoon. J.K. Dobbins and Justin Fields quickly calmed the nerves as they kick-started the offense and scored the next 76 points of the game. Fields didn't even make it to the second half after scoring six touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) in the second quarter alone.
7. Auburn (8): Voters are going to keep things simple with Auburn. Gus Malzahn's team is 4-0 with wins against Oregon on a neutral field and on the road at Texas A&M. That profile is worthy of consideration for a high position in poll. The conversation of how to rate and handicap Auburn's success moving forward is a little more complicated, but luckily the "Auburn is good" hypothesis is put to the test weekly. Up next is Mississippi State at home then another huge road game at Florida on Oct. 5.
8. Wisconsin (T13): The dominant nature of Wisconsin's start to 2019 allows for the possibility that some voter(s) will throw the Badgers up in the top five after Saturday's win against Michigan. My thought here is that they'll fall short of a top six that has been the top tier so far this season but not more than a spot or two short and definitely up into the top 10.
9. Florida (9): No change for Florida, but overall good marks for Kyle Trask in his first start since high school ball. Trask and the Gators haven't shown enough consistency to challenge for best in the SEC, but even in their injury-riddled state they are a dangerous foe for anyone in the league.
10. Notre Dame (7): Voters will have to really feel strong about what they saw from Notre Dame to drop the Irish behind the likes of Texas and Oregon. I think when it comes to comparing losses -- and yes, it's that team of year where that kind of thing matters for the top 10 -- there isn't a "better" loss than against Georgia in Athens.
11. Texas (12): After five straight defeats in Austin against Oklahoma State, Texas has another box to check for its "back-ness." The real MVPs of this performance lie with a banged-up Longhorns defense that dialed in after halftime and came up with huge stops in the red zone that keyed Texas taking hold of the game and securing the victory.
12. Penn State (T13): The Nittany Lions were off in Week 4.
13. Oregon (16): It's an important sign of growth and development for Mario Cristobal's program to go on the road to Stanford and grit out a physical, low-scoring win. Last year, Oregon had this game won and couldn't close it out before the Cardinal stormed back and stole the victory in Autzen. Holding a 14-3 lead in the second half, Oregon was once again put to the test of sealing the deal and this time they got the job done.
14. Iowa (18): The Hawkeyes were off in Week 4.
15. Boise State (20): The Broncos picked up a quality win against Air Force, protecting the smurf turf against one of the few teams in the MWC to cause some problems for the perennial contenders.
16. Cal (23): There was some controversy as to the lack of a review in Ole Miss' game-tying effort in the final seconds of the Bears' 28-20 win in Oxford, but that's not going to carry enough of an impact across the AP electorate. Cal is 4-0 for the first time since 2015, and it has wins against Washington and Ole Miss. That's going to have you securely in the top 25 at this point in the season.
17. Utah (10): Voters should take the injury to Zack Moss into consideration when downgrading Utah following its loss at USC, but that's still going to come into play as the team is rated moving forward as well. A drop of more than 15 spots for a one-score road loss to USC seems unlikely given Utah's overall strength as a team and program.
18. Washington (22): There were several of us looking at Saturday afternoon's game in Provo, Utah, as a potential spot for a second-straight BYU win against a Pac-12 title contender. The Huskies came in focused and had one of their best performances of the season, doing Washington things like scoring touchdowns off turnovers, winning the special teams and showcasing an efficient and balanced offense that wears down its opponent over the course of the game.
19. Virginia (21): The general rising tide from teams in the 20s last week might not take Virginia with it thanks to its closer-than-expected win against Old Dominion. The 28-17 final looks kinder than the nerves of UVA fans who sweated through ODU leading for the entirety of the first three quarters.
20. Michigan (11): One of the top storylines moving forward in the Big Ten will be using Wisconsin-Michigan as the launching point for looking at the Badgers as a title contender and wondering where Michigan fits among its peers in the conference. The Wolverines probably will still sit ahead of Michigan State in the eyes of most voters, but right now its top 25 status is being held together by the quality of its one loss. The next shot at a quality win will be on Oct. 5 when Iowa visits the Big House.
21. UCF (15): I'm not ready to drop the Knights too far following their wild loss to Pitt. Undefeated teams, and a few Power Five teams with a loss, will take priority in the eyes of the voters, leaving the Knights at least a handful of spots lower than they were heading into the week.
22. Michigan State (NR): It won't take much for MSU to get bumped back into the 20s after putting up noticeably better offensive numbers at Northwestern than what voters saw at home during the 10-7 loss to Arizona State that got them bumped from the top 25.
23. Kansas State (NR): The Wildcats were off in Week 4 but could see a move into the consensus top 25 after finishing solidly as first of the others receiving votes. Kansas State is undefeated with a win at Mississippi State, and that resume was good enough to have them just a few points behind TCU last week and probably good enough to take their spot on the edge of the rankings.
24. Army (NR): The Black Knights ran through Morgan State 52-21 on Saturday, improving to 3-1 with their lone loss coming in overtime to Michigan. Considering Army was just on the outside of the top 25, it should slide into one of the final spots.
25. Iowa State (NR): After getting bounced from the top 25 for their loss to Iowa, I think hanging 72 points on Louisiana-Monroe is going to have a scoreboard-awe impact on the voters and get the Cyclones back into the rankings ahead of some other teams that are still undefeated.
Projected to drop out: Texas A&M (17), Washington State (19), Arizona State (24), TCU (25)
















