2013 Week 5 NCAA Football Top 25: The Tailgater Poll

Autumn is officially in the air, and conference showdowns littered the schedule on the last weekend of September. Four games matched two teams from The Tailgater Top 25 Poll against one another — #19 Ole Miss at #1 Alabama, #16(t) South Carolina at #22 UCF, #16(t) Oklahoma at #25 Notre Dame, and #5 LSU at #14 Georgia.

We also saw #2 Oregon, #7 Ohio State, #13 Washington and #14(t) Oklahoma State in their first conference action of the season; all but the Cowboys managed to win against their league rivals, Mike Gundy’s team falling 30-21 at West Virginia. That result led to the most precipitous drop in the Tailgater poll this week, as Oklahoma State went from 14th completely out of the top 25 into the land of “Also Receiving Votes”.

Before we analyze any further, though, here’s how our ballots combined to form the Week 5 poll after the conclusion of the first month of the 2013 regular season:

 

RANK	TEAM	POINTS	LAST WK
1	Alabama (2)	74	1
2	Oregon (1)	73	2
3	Stanford	68	3
4	Clemson	67	3
5	Florida State	61	6
6	Ohio State	60	7
7	UCLA	53	8
7	Louisville	53	8
9	Georgia	48	14
10	Baylor	43	12
10	Washington	43	13
12	LSU	42	5
12	Texas A&M	42	10
12	Miami (FL)	42	11
15	Oklahoma	37	16
16	Northwestern	31	18
17	South Carolina	28	16
18	Texas Tech	21	22
19	Florida	20	20
20	Fresno State	18	21
21	Michigan	15	22
22	Arizona State	7	NR
22	Maryland	7	NR
22	Northern Illinois	7	NR
25	UCF	5	22
25	Michigan State	5	NR

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Oklahoma State (4), Virginia Tech (1)

 

The other major fall in the rankings was endured by LSU, who lost a 44-41 shootout at Georgia and fell seven spots from 5th to 12th. The drop left only Alabama and Georgia in the top ten this week — the first time this season that the league has featured fewer than three teams in the top ten.

The biggest beneficiary of the movement this week is the Pac-12, which now has four teams — #2 Oregon, #3 Stanford, #7(t) UCLA and #10(t) Washington — within the top ten slots of the poll. Georgia also enjoyed a five-spot bump after beating the Tigers between the hedges, the largest individual climb up the ladder this week. (Texas Tech had the second-biggest surge, climbing from 22nd to 18th this week without even playing a game.)

The movement was most noticeable at the bottom of the poll, where four new teams climbed into the rankings this week to replace four others that lost this weekend. Arizona State, the team that finally led USC to fire Lane Kiffin after a 62-41 beatdown of the Trojans in Tempe, joins undefeated Northern Illinois and Maryland in the poll for the first time this year. All three are tied for 22nd with seven points in the polling. Michigan State also re-entered the poll after a week’s absence, tied with UCF for the final slot in the top 25.

That said, you’ve probably got a different opinion than us. With the spirit of contention in mind, you will find our individual ballots below. Leave your personal picks, acrimonious invective, base insults, insulting suggestions, or belligerent rants down  in the comments below. You’re also always welcome to hit up any of us on Twitter to offer a piece of your mind…

 

ZACH BIGALKE @zbigalke	MATT STROBL @mmstrobl	JOHN MITCHELL @jlmitchell93
Oregon Alabama Clemson Stanford Florida State UCLA Baylor Ohio State Louisville Washington Georgia Miami (FL) LSU Texas A&M Northwestern Fresno State Oklahoma South Carolina Texas Tech Florida Arizona State Maryland Northern Illinois UCF Michigan	Alabama Oregon Stanford Clemson Ohio State Florida State Louisville UCLA Washington Miami (FL) Oklahoma Georgia LSU Texas A&M Northwestern Baylor South Carolina Texas Tech Florida Michigan Michigan State Oklahoma State Fresno State Arizona State UCF	Alabama Oregon Stanford Clemson Ohio State Florida State Georgia Texas A&M Louisville LSU UCLA Baylor Oklahoma Miami (FL) South Carolina Washington Northwestern Michigan Florida Texas Tech Fresno State Northern Illinois Maryland UCF Virginia Tech