My AP top 25 ballot: LSU, Oklahoma State, North Texas are this week’s biggest winners | The Kansas City Star

Well, that was an exciting weekend of college football. Can’t say I saw some of those results (BYU over Wisconsin) coming. There’s significant movement on my AP top 25 ballot this week.

Here’s a look at how I voted:

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I can’t apologize enough for leaving the mighty LSU Tigers off my preseason ballot. Like many others, I was skeptical of Ed Orgeron and thought they were headed for a lackluster season. But after a 3-0 start that includes wins over Miami and Auburn, I was asking my media brethren in the K-State press box Saturday night if LSU deserved to be ranked No. 1. Seriously, you could argue that it has the best collection of wins in college football after three weeks.

After some thought, I ranked LSU at No. 5. As much as I like what the Tigers are doing, I like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma more. Still, they made a big jump from No. 12 last week.

Oklahoma State was the other big winner this week. I slipped the Cowboys into my top 25 last weekend and they soared all the way up to No. 10 after they clobbered Boise State. I think the Broncos are the best team outside the power conferences, and Oklahoma State handled them with ease.

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Wisconsin was the biggest loser this week, though Auburn and Boise State also took tumbles.

What a bad loss for the Badgers. BYU is OK and all. The Cougars beat Arizona in their opener and were competitive with California in Week 2. They aren’t horrible. But a playoff contender, which we all thought Wisconsin was, shouldn’t lose to BYU at home.

I was so down on Wisconsin this morning that I considered dropping them off my ballot. They hung on at No. 22 for a drop of 14 spots. But the Badgers are in the danger zone.

Auburn dropped nine spots to No. 14 following its loss to LSU and Boise State fell to No. 21. No shame in losing at Oklahoma State, but I thought the Broncos would play better than they did.

Say hello to ...

North Texas.

As much as it breaks my heart to kick Hawaii out of the polls following its loss to Army, I am excited to say I found a deserving replacement in North Texas. The Mean Green are an exciting team to watch (did you see their punt return against Arkansas?) and are off to a 3-0 start with wins over SMU and Arkansas.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"> FAKE FAIR CATCH <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/ConferenceUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ConferenceUSA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/gdeh0TdTZO">pic.twitter.com/gdeh0TdTZO</a></p>&mdash; Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1041065992653365248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

North Texas absolutely shredded Arkansas on the road Saturday, winning 44-17. It checks in at No. 25 this week.

Duke also joins the club at No. 24. The Blue Devils have beaten Army, Northwestern and Baylor to start the season. Not bad.

Say goodbye to ...

Mississippi and Hawaii. Maybe we’ll see them again.

My AP top 25 ballot:

1. Alabama

2. Clemson

3. Georgia

4. Oklahoma

5. LSU

6. Ohio State

7. West Virginia

8. Stanford

9. Mississippi State

10. Oklahoma State

11. Notre Dame

12. Virginia Tech

13. Penn State

14. Auburn

15. Washington

16. TCU

17. Miami (Fla.)

18. Central Florida

19. Oregon

20. Michigan

21. Boise State

22. Wisconsin

23. Colorado

24. Duke

25. North Texas