Clemson remained number one in this week's poll, but Alabama jumped undefeated Ohio State after their dominating win over number two LSU. The real questions begin with number four Notre Dame getting the nod to move into the top 4 with Jeff Long saying Notre Dame is a "solid" number four. Remember Notre Dame has been playing without eight key players all lost to season-ending injuries, including their starting quarterback and running back.
Following Notre Dame in the polls is a team finally getting some recognition in the Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa has run through this season undefeated, but no one seemed to want to talk about Iowa. Kirk Ferentz's team is one of the top teams in strength of record and has played solid football every game this season. The committee clearly respected their win over Northwestern, which they won 40 - 10.
A team that continues to get no respect by the committee, even dating back to last year, is Baylor, who remained at number six in the rankings. Going in to last weekend's game, many people questioned how Baylor would handle losing their starting quarterback and having backup Jarrett Stidham step in. Baylor answered those questions on offense, but still continue to struggle on defense, needing a late field goal to beat Kansas State. Many Baylor fans feel they aren't getting enough love, but Baylor still has yet to play a team with a winning record and the committee notices things like that.
The biggest jump came for the Cowboys of Oklahoma State moving up to eighth but many people still believe that is not a high enough ranking for them, after they dominated TCU. The Big 12 continues to feel penalized from the committee, but with a backloaded schedule the Cowboys still have a chance to get some quality wins.
The Big Ten leads the number of teams in the Top 25 followed by the AAC, which has four teams. Memphis dropped to 21st after a loss to Navy, which jumped up to 20th in the rankings. Houston would be the team with the best chance right now to get a chance at New Year's Six Bowl. Houston sits at 24th and is coming off a huge win against Cincinnati. They are looking like the most dominant team from the AAC.
The best part about these rankings being week to week is that they are ever changing and next Tuesday there could be a whole new top four with upsets always looming. That's what makes college football the best sport in America.