My AP Top 25 Rankings: Ole Miss, UCLA drop as LSU, South Carolina, UTSA join the party
The biggest winners in college football this weekend were TCU, Oregon and Oklahoma State.
All three teams are now in my top 10 coming off impressive victories on Saturday. The Horned Frogs surged up to No. 7 following a 38-28 victory over Kansas State. Oregon continues to look fantastic when playing anyone other than Georgia and moved up to No. 8 after its win over UCLA. Oklahoma State also checked in at No. 10 following a come-from-behind victory over Texas.
The biggest losers of the week were Mississippi and UCLA. I was very high on Ole Miss entering the weekend, and think Lane Kiffin might still have one of the best teams in the SEC. But it dropped to No. 15 after a lopsided defeat at LSU. UCLA dropped to No. 16 after its loss at Oregon. There is no shame in losing to the Ducks, but I expected the Bruins to put up a better fight than they did.
Three new top 25 teams
Say hello to LSU, South Carolina and UTSA.
The Tigers deserve to be ranked after they beat Florida and Mississippi in back-to-back weeks. They check in at No. 21 on my ballot this week. South Carolina also returned to my rankings after a string of games that featured wins over Kentucky and Texas A&M. The Road Runners are now at No. 25. They suffered early losses to Houston and Texas but have been perfect otherwise.
Saying goodbye
Three new teams means we had to bid farewell to three quads from last week’s rankings.
South Alabama, Mississippi State and NC State all dropped out this week. I apologize for believing in the Bulldogs. Mike Leach got his team off to a hot start this season, but it was all smoke and mirrors. They have been completely out-classed by the the best teams in the SEC.
On deck
If I ranked 30 teams instead of 25 I would strongly consider the following teams: Baylor, Maryland, North Carolina, NC State and Oregon State.
Kellis Robinett’s Top 25
1. Tennessee (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Clemson (4)
5. Michigan (5)
6. Alabama (6)
7. TCU (8)
8. Oregon (11)
9. Wake Forest (10)
10. Oklahoma State (13)
11. USC (12)
12. Utah (14)
13. Illinois (16)
14. Penn State (20)
15. Ole Miss (9)
16. UCLA (10)
17. Cincinnati (19)
18. Syracuse (15)
19. Kentucky (21)
20. Tulane (24)
21. LSU (NR)
22. South Carolina (NR)
23. Kansas State (17)
24. Texas (18)
25. UTSA (NR)
Last week’s ranking in parentheses.
This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 8:39 AM with the headline "My AP Top 25 Rankings: Ole Miss, UCLA drop as LSU, South Carolina, UTSA join the party."