Pool Poll: Four Teams Handed Their First Loss, While Three Coaches are Handed Their Pink Slips

 

The Hoosiers showed they are for real with a tough road win in Eugene.

    There were plenty of great matchups on Saturday and after the dust settled, 11 undefeated teams survived, while four others finally fell into the loss column. The biggest showdown was out West for a battle of Big Ten undefeated teams. Indiana dominated the Oregon to hand the Ducks a 30-20 loss. Curt Cignetti continues to check firsts off the list for the Hoosiers as they knocked a team in the Top 10 for the first time on the road in the history of the program and subsequently earned their highest AP ranking ever. 

    Ole Miss got caught in a trap game, narrowly escaping Washington State. The Buckeyes continued to roll over their last ranked opponent (Illinois) for quite some time, maybe until the Big Ten Championship if Michigan falls apart. Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, and Texas Tech all coasted to double figure victories. BYU needed double overtime to escape Arizona, Navy rallied late past Temple, and UNLV survived a scare by Air Force.

Arch Manning upended Oklahoma's perfect season bid.

    Not everyone was so lucky. Oklahoma was lulled into a false sense of security as they surrendered 23 unanswered points to Arch Manning in the Red River Rivalry. Alabama spoiled Missouri's perfect season and perhaps the ugliest first loss belonged to North Texas who were dismantled by 27 points at the hands of USF.

James Franklin is gone after 12 years at Penn State.

    Others who were not so lucky included James Franklin, Trent Dilfer (UAB), and Trent Bray (Oregon State). Franklin and the Nittany Lions lost a shocking third-straight game, this time to Northwestern. The Dilfer experiment was a disaster at UAB with the Blazers going 9-21 under his time as their head coach. The Beavers began 4-1 under Bray and then went a disastrous 1-13 including eight straight losses. Former Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith (Michigan State), Luke Fickell (Wisconsin), and Billy Napier (Florida) are currently feeling the pressure and could be next on the chopping block.

Here's a look at this week's Top 25, which includes seven new teams.

The Rebels had to fight off Wazzu to avoid a Homecoming disaster.

1. Ole Miss (6-0, 55.7 WA, 0 LA)

Last Week Rank: 1

Last Week: The Rebels were sweating as they didn't expect the Cougars of Washington State to put up much of a fight on Homecoming in Oxford. Perhaps Ole Miss was looking ahead to Georgia and had to stifle a series of laterals at the end of the game to hold on 24-21.

Up Next: Georgia (5-1, 20)

2. Ohio State (6-0, 56.8, 0)

Last Week Rank: 2

Last Week: The Buckeyes played Illinois for the first time since 2017 and retained the Illibuck trophy with a 38-16 win over the Illini.

Up Next: Wisconsin (2-4, 105)

3. Texas A&M (6-0, 79.2, 0)

Last Week Rank: 4

Last Week: The Aggies had no problems with Florida as they coasted to a 34-17 win.

Up Next: Arkansas (2-4, 114)

4. Miami (5-0, 83.6, 0)

Last Week Rank: 5

Last Week: bye

Up Next: Louisville (4-1, 33)

Don't doubt Indiana from here on out.

5. Indiana (6-0, 90.8, 0)

Last Week Rank: 1

Last Week: The Hoosiers scored a huge 30-20 win on the road over the Ducks.

Up Next: Michigan State (3-3, 78)

6. Georgia Tech (6-0, 98.8, 0)

Last Week Rank: 6

Last Week: The Yellow Jackets coasted 35-20 over Virginia Tech.

Up Next: Duke (4-2, 40)

7. Texas Tech (6-0, 100.8, 0)

Last Week Rank: 12

Last Week: The Red Raiders blew past Kansas 42-17.

Up Next: Arizona State (4-2, 38)

8. BYU (6-0, 107.7, 0)

Last Week Rank: 14

Last Week: The Cougars escaped Arizona with a 33-27 double overtime victory. Now it's time for a Holy War.

Up Next: Utah (5-1, 22)

9. Memphis (6-0, 109.3, 0)

Last Week Rank: 11

Last Week: The Tigers took the week off and can now plan for a new UAB head coach.

Up Next: UAB (2-4, 116)

The Rebels haven't skipped a beat under Dan Mullen.

10. UNLV (6-0, 114.3, 0)

Last Week Rank: 13

Last Week: The Rebels eked out a last-minute win over Air Force, something the number 11 team can relate to.

Up Next: Boise State (4-2, 49)

11. Navy (6-0, 116, 0)

Last Week Rank: 15

Last Week: The Midshipmen got a big 51-yard touchdown run with 39 seconds left by Blake Horvath and then he converted a 2-point conversion to seal the 32-31 victory over Temple.

Up Next: bye

12. Alabama (5-1, 34, 86)

Last Week Rank: 22

Last Week: The Crimson Tide played spoiler to Missouri's perfect season bid in a close 27-24 win.

Up Next: Tennessee (5-1, 17)

13. USC (5-1, 58.6, 50)

Last Week Rank: 25

Last Week: The Trojans knocked around the Wolverines with ease and have a chance to put a death nail in Notre Dame's playoff hopes.

Up Next: Notre Dame (4-2, 39)

14. USF (5-1, 65.8, 29)

Last Week Rank: 29

Last Week: The Bulls absolutely dismantled North Texas, 63-36, to add to their impressive resume early on this season.

Up Next: Florida Atlantic (3-3, 77)

The Huskies played with their opponent's emotions again.

15. Washington (5-1, 68.2, 7)

Last Week Rank: 26

Last Week: The Huskies again pretended to struggle against an east coast Big Ten team (Rutgers) and then crushed them in the second half to remain atop the conference.

Up Next: Michigan (4-2, 42)

16. Oklahoma (5-1, 70.4, 55)

Last Week Rank: 3

Last Week: Oklahoma looked more like Sam Houston State than one of the Top 5 teams in the country when they played Texas.

Up Next: South Carolina (3-3, 70)

17. Tennessee (5-1, 72.8, 40)

Last Week Rank: 24

Last Week: The Volunteers survived a close call with Arkansas.

Up Next: Alabama (5-1, 12)

18. Virginia (5-1, 83, 57)

Last Week Rank: 17

Last Week: The Cavaliers took a break to watch the Ole Miss/Washington State game to make sure they won't get caught off guard like the Rebels.

Up Next: Washington State (3-3, 81)

19. Tulane (5-1, 86.8, 7)

Last Week Rank: 30

Last Week: The Green Wave fended off ECU on Thursday night, 26-19, to stay in the playoff hunt.

Up Next: Army (3-3, 68)

This timeout has Auburn fans fuming conspiracy.

20. Georgia (5-1, 90.2, 56)

Last Week Rank: 33

Last Week: The Bulldogs clapped their way to a 20-10 victory over Auburn.

Up Next: Ole Miss (6-0, 1)

21. LSU (5-1, 93.6, 2)

Last Week Rank: 34

Last Week: The Tigers lived in the Gamecocks backfield so much that South Carolina ended up firing their offensive line coach.

Up Next: Vanderbilt (5-1, 27)

22. Utah (5-1, 93.6, 38)

Last Week Rank: 39

Last Week: The Utes obliterated Arizona State right out of the rankings, 42-10.

Up Next: BYU (6-0, 8)

23. Nebraska (5-1, 95, 46)

Last Week Rank: 37

Last Week: The Cornhuskers made it back-to-back weeks that the Maryland Terrapins choked away a lead late in the game.

 

Up Next: Minnesota (4-2, 53)

24. Cincinnati (5-1, 96.4, 39)

Last Week Rank: 35

Last Week: The Bearcats slugged their way past UCF to stay afloat in the busy Big 12 race.

Up Next: Oklahoma State (1-5, 126)

WKU is in control of CUSA.

25. WKU (5-1, 97.4, 51)

Last Week Rank: 20

Last Week: The Hilltoppers took the week off to prepare for midweek Conference USA action.

Up Next: FIU (2-3, 103)

Dropped Out: Oregon, North Texas, Missouri, Iowa State, Illinois, Fresno State, Vanderbilt, and Arizona State

Watchlist: Oregon, Vanderbilt, Missouri, San Diego State, North Texas, Houston, James Madison, Louisville, Iowa State, Illinois, Fresno State, Hawaii, Arizona State, Notre Dame, and Duke

FCS Top 10:

The Bison are back on top after a lengthy run by Lehigh.

1. North Dakota State (6-0)

2. Lehigh (7-0)

3. South Dakota State (6-0)

4. Montana (6-0)

5. Presbyterian (6-0)

6. Tennessee Tech (6-0)

7. Tarleton State (7-0)

8. Harvard (4-0)

9. UC Davis (5-1)

10. Jackson State (5-1)

Bottom 10

Da'Realyst Clark and Kent State made sure UMass stayed in the bottom spot.

127. UTEP (1-5)

128. Charlotte (1-5)

129. South Alabama (1-5)

130. Northern Illinois (1-5)

131. Air Force (1-5)

132. Boston College (1-5)

133. Georgia State (1-5)

134. Oregon State (0-7 *officially eliminated from bowl contention)

135. Sam Houston State (0-6)

136. UMass (0-6)