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The newest polls are out, and they give both the B1G and the SEC something to brag about. The Up North Conference has the top two teams in the nation (but not much else), while the SEC has the most teams in the rankings of any league. Just don't tell anybody that, proportionately, the Big 12 has just as large a share of its conference in both polls and the Pac-12 matches that mark in one of them. The one Power 5 league that's really hurting is the ACC, which has Florida State and Clemson and that's it.
| Associated Press | Change | Points | USA Today | Change | Points | |
| 1 | Ohio St. Buckeyes (45) | -- | 1,482 | Ohio St. Buckeyes (61) | -- | 1,593 |
| 2 | Michigan St. Spartans (5) | -- | 1,397 | Michigan St. Spartans (2) | +1 | 1,493 |
| 3 | Ole Miss Rebels (10) | -- | 1,349 | TCU Horned Frogs | -1 | 1,401 |
| 4 | TCU Horned Frogs | -1 | 1,254 | Baylor Bears | -- | 1,394 |
| 5 | Baylor Bears | -- | 1,196 | Ole Miss Rebels (1) | -- | 1,348 |
| 6 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -- | 1,163 | Georgia Bulldogs | -- | 1,256 |
| 7 | UCLA Bruins | +2 | 1,156 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | +1 | 1,114 |
| 8 | Georgia Bulldogs | -1 | 1,147 | LSU Tigers | +1 | 1,106 |
| 9 | LSU Tigers | -1 | 1,075 | Florida St. Seminoles | -2 | 1,088 |
| 10 | Utah Utes (1) | +8 | 1,034 | UCLA Bruins | +1 | 1,076 |
| 11 | Florida St. Seminoles | -1 | 888 | Clemson Tigers | -1 | 971 |
| 12 | Clemson Tigers | -1 | 853 | Utah Utes | +5 | 893 |
| 13 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -1 | 850 | Alabama Crimson Tide | -1 | 867 |
| 14 | Texas A&M Aggies | -- | 776 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- | 803 |
| 15 | Oklahoma Sooners | -- | 747 | Texas A&M Aggies | -- | 786 |
| 16 | Northwestern Wildcats | +1 | 566 | Southern Cal Trojans | +2 | 566 |
| 17 | Southern Cal Trojans | +2 | 509 | Northwestern Wildcats | +2 | 511 |
| 18 | Stanford Cardinal | +3 | 486 | Wisconsin Badgers | +3 | 418 |
| 19 | Wisconsin Badgers | +3 | 309 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | +3 | 413 |
| 20 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | +4 | 281 | Stanford Cardinal | +4 | 401 |
| 21 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | NR | 211 | West Virginia Mountaineers | +5 | 230 |
| 22 | Michigan Wolverines | NR | 209 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | +9 | 145 |
| 23 | West Virginia Mountaineers | NR | 179 | Florida Gators | +11 | 141 |
| 24 | Cal Golden Bears | NR | 149 | Cal Golden Bears | +11 | 89 |
| 25 | Florida Gators | NR | 140 | Oregon Ducks | -11 | 89 |
| ORV | Toledo 68, Oregon 64, Arizona 48, Boise St. 38, Iowa 37, Texas Tech 36, Houston 23, Duke 18, Temple 17, Miami 14, Kansas St. 12, Memphis 11, NC State 10, Navy 9, BYU 5, Minnesota 5, Tennessee 4 | Michigan 84; Arizona 72; Kansas State 66; Miami (Fla.) 61; North Carolina State 52; Boise State 47; Duke 44; Iowa 44; Memphis 42; Texas Tech 22; Temple 18; Toledo 15; Auburn 8; Georgia Tech 6; Missouri 6; Minnesota 6; Houston 5; Kentucky 3; Indiana 2; Tennessee 2; Illinois 1; Brigham Young 1; Navy 1. | ||||
That's actually about what you'd expect from the polls as we get past the first month of the season. Among already-ranked teams, Utah is the big winner after hammering Oregon. Florida had double-digit gains in both polls, which might be "ranking the games based on scores and not actually watching them," but it's also hard to keep a 4-0 Power 5 team out of the rankings -- unless it's Indiana, apparently -- and Florida is 4-0.
Also appearing this week from the SEC is Mississippi State. But Missouri disappears from both rankings after losing to Kentucky and Auburn finally drops out of the coaches poll, though Auburn still get votes, because a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but some people do so anyway. (You could say much the same thing about Oregon hanging on in the coaches poll this week.)
That means the SEC has seven teams in the rankings, or half the conference, something that might not be sustainable in the long term. Ole Miss and Florida play this week, and a loss would almost certainly knock the Gators out of the Top 25. Mississippi State and Texas A&M also square off, and a loss by the Bulldogs will likely mean they're no longer ranked, while the Aggies are probably safe unless a terrible loss combines with other doubts about A&M to drum them out of the polls.
Now that TCU is right next to Baylor -- probably as a function of the too-close-for-comfort win against Texas Tech -- it will be interesting to see if we have the same dynamic develop between those teams last year. Because if the head-to-head is a narrow game that allows the loser to gain on the winner -- well, I'm sure everyone will keep their head just like they did last year.