After plenty of drama and upsets on Saturday, there figured to be quite a shakeup in the latest AP Top 25 Polls. Both Michigan and Michigan State were at the heart of it all — particularly the latter when they were demolished by Ohio State, 48-3 — and both saw their positions in the latest poll change because of it.
Michigan is ranked No. 19 in the latest AP Poll. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/hsIyGhTg8N
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) November 12, 2017
Michigan (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) turned in their third consecutive victory of at least 21 points with a 35-10 win over Maryland in College Park on Saturday. Despite their three wins coming against rather pedestrian conference opponents, it’s very encouraging to see this level of comfort if you’re a Wolverines fans.
In theory, it should provide the team with some confidence and momentum as they head into a very important road game at Wisconsin (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) next Saturday.
Michigan State falls nine spots to No. 22 in AP rankings.
— Matt Wenzel (@mwenzel2) November 12, 2017
The same sort of confidence factor can not be said for Michigan State (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten). Unlike Michigan where almost everything went right for the Wolverines, absolutely nothing went right for the Spartans against Ohio State. The Buckeyes, largely fueled by allowing 55 points to Iowa the week prior, took advantage of MSU’s youth and inexperience and showed the Spartans they are not quite all the way back yet.
The Spartans’ -9 in the polls was the largest dip of any team this week.
Michigan State now returns to East Lansing for their final home game of the regular season. They will welcome in the aforementioned Terrapins of Maryland (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten) on Saturday, hoping to respond in the same manner that Ohio State did against them this weekend.
POLL ALERT: Miami up to No. 2 behind Alabama in Top 25; Oklahoma, Clemson, Wisconsin next. Full poll: https://t.co/Oj2Sx40UpN
1. Alabama
2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Oklahoma
4. Clemson
5. Wisconsin
6. Auburn
7. Georgia
8. Ohio State
9. Notre Dame
10. Oklahoma State pic.twitter.com/TuTHkKW6KU— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) November 12, 2017
Elsewhere in the new AP poll, a pair of top-5 teams suffering blowout losses resulted in some very notable changes in the top 10.
Miami (9-0, 6-0 ACC) had the biggest improvement in their standing from last week, they jump five five spots to No. 2 behind only Alabama. While it helped that Georgia (-5 spots to No. 7), the Hurricanes put together a masterful showing against No. 3 Notre Dame on Saturday. The result dropped the Fighting Irish to No. 9.
