October 21, 2019
The college football rankings were scrambled over the weekend with one of the biggest upsets of the year taking place in of all places Champaign, Illinois. Wisconsin was stunned by the Fighting Illini as a last-second field goal booted the Badgers from the ranks of the unbeaten. The 24-23 loss to Illinois dropped Wisconsin from 6th to 13th in the rankings. Could it be they were looking ahead to Ohio State next weekend?
Speaking of the Buckeyes, they routed Northwestern 52-3 and jumped over Clemson(4) into 3rd behind Alabama(1) and LSU(2). Oklahoma continues to hold down the 5th spot in this week’s poll.
Wolverine Disappointment
The Michigan Wolverines came into Penn State Saturday night for the annual “White Out” game at Beaver Stadium in State College, PA. In what looked to be a blowout, the Nittany Lions took a 21-0 lead before Michigan scored a touchdown just before halftime.
Coming out for the start of the 2nd half the Wolverines were an inspired bunch, holding Penn State to one second-half score while the Michigan offense caught fire and closed to within 28-21. Driving late with a chance to tie the game up and possibly send it to overtime, a fourth-down Shea Patterson pass to Ronnie Bell slipped through his arms. Leaving the Michigan comeback three yards short of a miracle turn around.
Penn State made a first down and then ran out the clock on the Wolverines comeback attempt. Pollsters, giving Michigan credit for the effort, only dropped them to 19th from their 16th ranked position coming into the game. Penn State, taking advantage of Wisconsin’s huge stumble, moved to 6th in this week’s poll.
Michigan State
The Spartans had a week to rest and lick their wounds from the beating Wisconsin delivered the previous weekend. They had to be wondering where the Badger team that pummeled them 38-0 disappeared to on their way to Illinois.
Michigan State gets a visit from the Nittany Lions coming off their big win over Michigan, we’ll see if the friendly confines of Spartan Stadium give Penn State trouble as they attempt to extend their unbeaten streak and add to their playoff consideration resume.
Starting next week the first rankings for the College Football Playoffs (CFP) will be released on Tuesday, November 5th. Our coverage will pick up these standing for the remainder of the season.
This Weeks AP Top 25 Rankings
Updated October 20th, 2019
| RANK | TEAM | TREND | POINTS | NEXT GAME | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Alabama (24) 7-0 |
— | 1486 | vs
 |
||
| 2 |
 LSU (16) 7-0 |
— | 1462 | vs
 |
||
| 3 |
 Ohio St. (13) 7-0 |
1 | 1429 | vs
 |
||
| 4 |
 Clemson (9) 7-0 |
1 | 1408 | vs
 |
||
| 5 |
 Oklahoma 7-0 |
— | 1343 | @
 |
||
| 6 |
 Penn St. 7-0 |
1 | 1224 | @
 |
||
| 7 |
 Florida 7-1 |
2 | 1138 | vs
 |
||
| 8 |
 Notre Dame 5-1 |
— | 1058 | @
 |
||
| 9 |
Auburn 6-1 |
2 | 1054 | @
|
||
| 10 |
Georgia 6-1 |
— | 1031 | vs
|
||
| 11 |
 Oregon 6-1 |
1 | 979 | vs
 |
||
| 12 |
 Utah 6-1 |
1 | 852 | vs
 |
||
| 13 |
Wisconsin 6-1 |
7 | 767 | @
|
||
| 14 |
 Baylor 7-0 |
4 | 732 | vs
 |
||
| 15 |
 Texas 5-2 |
— | 627 | @
 |
||
| 16 |
 SMU 7-0 |
3 | 587 | @
 |
||
| 17 |
 Minnesota 7-0 |
3 | 577 | vs
 |
||
| 18 |
 Cincinnati 6-1 |
3 | 468 | @
 |
||
| 19 |
Michigan 5-2 |
3 | 440 | vs
|
||
| 20 |
 Iowa 5-2 |
3 | 347 | @
 |
||
| 21 |
 App. St. 6-0 |
3 | 286 | @
 |
||
| 22 |
 Boise St. 6-1 |
8 | 225 | @
 |
||
| 23 |
 Iowa St. 5-2 |
4 | 185 | vs
 |
||
| 24 |
 Arizona St. 5-2 |
7 | 134 | @
 |
||
| 25 |
 Wake Forest 6-1 |
4 | 118 | vs
 |
Courtesy of CBS Sports
