Week 6 Big Ten/AP Rankings

Yesterday was a day of upsets, beatdowns, and quirkiness. Florida State, LSU, and Georgia all lost. Michigan is back into the Top 25 after a dominating performance by Denard Robinson over Purdue. Nebraska has fallen out of the poll for the second time this year after a humiliating, blowout loss to Ohio State . Northwestern took a huge fall after losing to Penn State, showing us that their 5-0 record was really just hype.

A few things stood out to me for the Big Ten games yesterday--1. Never count Denard out. Yes, he had a poor performance against Notre Dame  . Yet, after a bye week and knowing he had to take control, he did. Breaking the rushing record for a Big Ten QB was great, but winning  Michigan's first Big Ten game, and doing it on the road was even greater. 2. I think most people are aware that Ohio State is still undefeated, and is still not going to the postseason. The Buckeyes seem to be using this season as a statement, and it's a loud one by Urban Meyer. 3. Michigan State's win over Indiana could be construed as 2 things--they're not as good as anyone thought or, 2. Indiana is getting better. I'm tending to lean more towards the former point. Now onto the poll:

1) Alabama (5-0) Even on a bye week, Alabama is still the consensus No. 1 team
2) Oregon  (6-0) It's almost getting to the point that if no other SEC team challenges Alabama, then we'll see an Alabama-Oregon national championship game. With the Ducks offense, that'd be a great game.
3) South Carolina (6-0) Spurrier and the Gamecocks are showing the country they're a team to contend with. Georgia came into the game with the highest SEC offense, and SC's defense shut them down.
4) Florida  (5-0) With Urban Meyer's players still in place, never count the Gators out. Even against floundering LSU.
5) West Virginia (5-0) Analysts are saying Geno Smith had an off day with 268 yds, 4 TDs, and no INTs. No interceptions at all on this season so far. Who wouldn't take that?
6) Kansas State (5-0)
7) Notre Dame (5-0) A dominating win over Miami was no surprise. The rise of Everett Golson and his confidence at QB is.
8) Ohio State (6-0) A record setting performance by Braxton Miller overshadows the efforts of RB Carlos Hyde. This team could be dangerous in the next few weeks, but that depends on a still leaky defense.
9) LSU (5-1) It was only a matter of time before LSU lost a game. They don't have a dependable QB, and it shows.
10) Oregon State (4-0)
11) USC (4-1)
12) Florida State (5-1) A last second loss to NC State plummets the Seminoles out of the top 10. Maybe Jimbo Fisher didn't have all of his stars aligned.
13) Oklahoma (3-1)
14) Georgia (5-1) Disappointing. Mark Richt needed the win over South Carolina to stay in the SEC title hunt. Now it'll be a second tier bowl.
15) Texas  (4-1)
16) Clemson (5-1) Over 600 yds by Clemson and still their defense needs some help.
17) Stanford (4-1) Needed overtime to get by Arizona, and sends RichRod to his 3rd straight loss. Sound familiar Michigan fans?
18) Louisville (5-0)
19) Mississippi State (5-0)
20) Rutgers (5-0)
21) Cincinnati (4-0)
22) Texas A&M (4-1)
23) Louisiana Tech (5-0)
24) Boise State  (4-1)
25) Michigan (3-2) Now that Michigan is back into the Top 25, maybe next week they can move up further if they beat Illinois, which is before the showdown against Michigan State. It's all Big Ten Legends games after the Illini. Impressive outing by Denard, and Toussaint as well.

Dropped from rankings: TCU,Nebraska , Washington, Northwestern, UCLA

Others receiving votes: Ohio, Baylor, Iowa State, TCU, Michigan State, Arizona State, Washington, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Arizona, Duke, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Penn State, Northwestern