Can you believe we’re already through eight weeks of the 2017 college football season? Time is just blowing right by.
The first reveal of the College Football Playoff rankings will be next Tuesday, October 31 and our rankings pieces will reflect that. This will be the final such time we highlight the Associated Press polls.
After this weekend, the seven top-10 teams who were in action on Saturday all picked up wins. Overall, outside of two big drop-offs in the polls, the top 25 remains largely unchanged.
POLL ALERT: No. 9 Notre Dame climbs into top 10, Alabama, Penn State still 1-2; Michigan out, Iowa State in https://t.co/bJslXKUcgB pic.twitter.com/H9S0hvRMbk
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) October 22, 2017
As for the two Mitten-made schools, No. 18 Michigan State and No. 19 Michigan, the former saw a slight uptick in their position while the latter took another big nosedive in the polls.
MSU up to No. 16 in the AP poll; Michigan falls out of the rankings.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 22, 2017
Michigan State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) needed just about every minute of their Homecoming game on Saturday to eke out a 17-9 victory against Indiana. The Spartans have now won four straight games overall since a 38-18 drubbing defeat vs. Notre Dame in Week 4.
It’s the fifth game this season that the MSU defense has allowed 14 points or fewer this season. It’s a defense that ranks 12th in the nation (4th in the Big Ten) in fewest points allowed per game. Conversely, it’s the fourth consecutive game for Michigan State in which they have won by one possession.
As for Michigan (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten), they drop out of the rankings entirely after getting blasted in Happy Valley by Penn State on Saturday. It was easily the toughest test (on paper) for either team, but the Nittany Lions handled a very strong Michigan defense in the manner they have worked other opponents this season.
The Wolverines’ defense allows 42 points and over 500 yards of offense to Penn State after allowing on average just over 14 points and 223.8 yards of offense through their first six games played.
Michigan had been ranked in the AP poll every week since Sept. 27, 2015.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 22, 2017
Elsewhere in the latest polls, Notre Dame moves into the top 10 after rolling over arch-rival Southern Cal on Saturday in South Bend. The Fighting Irish check in at No. 9. The Trojans, meanwhile, drop 10 spots down to No. 21 overall.
And the biggest beneficiary of Michigan falling out of the polls is Iowa State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12). The Cyclones currently sit in 2nd place in the conference, behind only No. 4 TCU. It’s the first time since September of 2005 that ISU is in the AP Top 25.
And a big shout out to No. 1 Alabama. They check in at the top spot for the 98th week in program history, putting them in a tie for 3rd all-time with Notre Dame behind only Ohio State (105) and Oklahoma (101).
Looking ahead to next week, there are four games featuring two ranked teams pitted against one another. Perhaps none are bigger than a top-10 showdown in the Big Ten between No. 2 Penn State and No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus. The winner will undoubtedly be in the driver’s seat to win the East Division and be in the talk for the College Football Playoff.