Nebraska drops out of AP Top 25, Tennessee rises after weird Week 4

There were six overtime games — three of which involved ranked teams.

Most of you watched at least one of them: Nebraska’s loss against Illinois.

Spoiler: that loss had Nebraska out of the Top 25 this week, and sent Illinois jumping up in the poll.

What else happened? Well, there were plenty of movers and shakers this week.

There are 63 voters on the AP Top 25 panel. There’s at least one voter from each state that has an FBS team and a handful of national folks. For the state of Nebraska, there’s one voter.

Each week I’ll break down my ballot compared with the actual Top 25 and write on some pressing topics.

Without further ado, here’s my ballot ahead of Week 5: 

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Mississippi
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
7. Penn State
8. Miami
9. Missouri
10. Oregon
11. Utah
12. Michigan
13. Louisville
14. Notre Dame
15. USC
16. LSU
17. Clemson
18. Illinois
19. Iowa State
20. Oklahoma
21. BYU
22. Oklahoma State
23. Kansas State
24. Indiana
25. Washington State

And here’s the actual AP Top 25:

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Alabama
5. Tennessee
6. Mississippi
7. Miami
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Utah
11. Missouri
12. Michigan
13. USC
14. LSU
15. Louisville
16. Notre Dame
17. Clemson
18. Iowa State
19. Illinois
20. Oklahoma State
21. Oklahoma
22. BYU
23. Kansas State
24. Texas A&M
25. Boise State

Tennessee: This is what I wrote about the Vols last week: “Now, if Tennessee blows the doors off of No. 15 Oklahoma next week and things stand firm for the Rebels and the Crimson Tide, we’ll have more shuffling to do.”

Well, we had some shuffling to do. I moved Tennessee above Alabama into the Top 5 but below Mississippi. I’m incredibly impressed with what Josh Heupel’s squad continues to do. As far as the Vols are concerned, my eyes can’t stop moving ahead to Oct. 19, when Tennessee plays Alabama.

BYU: The Cougars embarrassed the Kansas State Wildcats late on Saturday night and moved to 4-0 on the season. I had BYU at No. 21, while the Cougars made their season debut at No. 22.

Boise State: Hello, Broncos. Boise State is ranked for the first time since 2020. Boise State has been making waves in the Mountain West all season long and has a Heisman hopeful in Ashton Jeanty leading the way. A force to be reckoned with, for sure.

It’s an old Big Eight family reunion. The only former Big Eight member that had a great week on the gridiron was Iowa State.

Missouri: Missouri was lucky Vanderbilt didn’t pull off a miracle at Faurot. Sure, Mizzou technically came away with the victory, but they dropped a little bit in my ballot (at No. 9) and even more in the actual AP Top 25 (No. 11).

Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Sooners had their “Welcome to the SEC moment” on Saturday, as Heupel came back to his alma mater and… Tennessee dismantled Oklahoma. Oklahoma dropped to No. 21 in the Top 25.

Kansas State: The Wildcats were ranked at No. 13 before BYU showed Kansas State who’s boss. With the loss, Kansas State plummeted 10 spots to No. 23 — the biggest drop of the week.

Oklahoma State: The Big 12 logjam was broken up a little bit after Utah and Oklahoma State squared off, with Cowboys’ comeback bid coming up short. 

Nebraska: The Huskers’ loss to Illinois ended Nebraska’s brief stint back in the AP Top 25. 

Northern Illinois: A surprising loss to Buffalo just two weeks after their surprising win over Notre Dame? The Huskies are back on the outside looking in.

A weird week at No. 24 and No. 25. I had Indiana at No. 24 and Washington State at 25. The actual poll at Texas A&M at No. 24 and Boise State at No. 25.

Life on the edge is very, very close this week.

Texas A&M had 77 points. Boise State had 69 points. Washington State had 67 points. Indiana had 63 points. 

No. 2 Georgia at No. 4 Alabama: Man, what a game this could be. This could be an instant classic. It’ll also break up the SEC logjam atop the rankings. This will be a must-watch for any and every college football fan. Saturday’s kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.

No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn State: Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that this matchup would have been a ranked-on-ranked game? Well, here we are. And not only that, this game will have Big Ten title implications. Can Illinois pull off a stunner in Happy Valley, or is Penn State just that good? Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. on Saturday on NBC.

No. 20 Oklahoma State at No. 23 Kansas State: Both teams are coming off their first loss of the season. Who bounces back? Who has one loss turn into two? Kickoff is at 11 a.m. on Saturday on ESPN.

No. 15 Louisville at No. 16 Notre Dame: The unbeaten Louisville Cardinals will travel to South Bend to face a Notre Dame team that is still looking for a quality win. This would do it… if the Irish can pull it off. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Peacock, which follows the Nebraska-Purdue game.

Washington State at No. 25 Boise State: Only two points separated these two teams in the rankings this week, with Wazzu on the outside looking in. Get ready for some throwback Pac-12 After Dark action here. Saturday’s kickoff is at 9 p.m. on FS1.