dailygazette
The most debated topic among Associated Press Top 25 college football poll voters last weekend was how to assess Missouri's 28-point rout of Florida. At kickoff on Saturday, the Tigers were ranked No. 25 with one loss, while the Gators were No. 8 and undefeated. Missouri's 45-17 triumph made a strong case for the Tigers to be ranked ahead of the Gators, given the comfortable head-to-head win early in the season. Indeed, in the poll released Sunday, Missouri climbed to No. 14 and Florida dropped to No. 16.
Yet 11 media members on the AP voting panel held a different view, keeping Florida ahead of Missouri on their ballots. Their reasoning hinged on three factors: Florida's 52-28 demolition of then-No. 4 Mississippi, Missouri's 31-24 loss to Mississippi State the previous week, and the fact that Missouri's loss to MSU appeared worse after Alabama went to Starkville and crushed the Bulldogs 56-23.
Spencer Ripchik, a voter from the Dominion Post in Morgantown, West Virginia, had Florida as high as No. 3 on his ballot last week. That was based on the Gators following their win over Auburn with a convincing victory over a top-five Ole Miss team that was itself coming off an impressive win over LSU. "I'm one of those people who rewards heavily for quality wins and beating teams who have beaten a lot of teams, and Florida did that, so I moved them up quite high on my rankings," Ripchik said. This week, Ripchik dropped Florida to No. 14 on his ballot, six spots behind where he placed Ole Miss, and he had Missouri at No. 20. "You can't punish Florida too much for having that loss even though it was a really bad loss to Missouri," Ripchik said. "They had such a good win the week before, it's hard to punish them that badly. At that point, you'd have to put Missouri really high up and Florida down below it. But Missouri also had a loss to Mississippi State." Ripchik added, "If Missouri had beaten Mississippi State and was undefeated, they for sure would be ahead of Florida."
Kate Rogerson of KTVD-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina, had Florida No. 14 and Missouri No. 23 on her ballot. She didn't rank the Tigers until Sunday. "When it comes to head-to-head, yes, Mizzou beat Florida, but I think Florida beating Ole Miss is more significant because Ole Miss is still in the conversation for top of the SEC and going to the College Football Playoff," she said.
Haley Sawyer of Southern California Media Group had Florida No. 14 and Missouri No. 17. She put the Tigers back on her ballot after having dropped them following the loss to Mississippi State. "Florida last week beat Ole Miss pretty dominantly," Sawyer said, "and that's a win that still carries a lot of weight even two weeks later."
Joe Arruda of the Hartford Courant had Florida No. 10 and Missouri No. 17. "It felt weird to do with the obvious head-to-head result and I definitely considered the other option, but this made the most sense with how my ballot shook out," Arruda wrote in a text to the AP, adding that wins over Auburn and Ole Miss give the Gators the stronger resume. "I know for me personally, it was hard to give them such a massive jump after 39 voters did not even have Missouri on their ballots last week," he wrote in a text. "Despite yesterday's blowout win, I still gave Florida the nod over them because of their Ole Miss win."
Let's talk Georgia, finally
Few No. 2 teams have been as quiet as Georgia. There hasn't been much buzz around the Bulldogs as they've methodically plowed through their first five opponents. That's about to change with their visit to No. 6 Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide are the first ranked opponent Georgia will play, and it's always a big game when these teams meet. They've squared off in five Southeastern Conference championship games since 2012 and in the 2017 and 2021 national championship games. This will be the ninth top-10 matchup in 10 meetings. Both offenses are in overdrive. Georgia is outscoring opponents 70-7 in the first quarter, 154-26 in the first half and 257-67 total. Alabama has yet to score fewer than 45 points in a game.
Something Bruin?
No. 21 UCLA this week gets its biggest stage since Chip Kelly's 2023 team was ranked for six weeks and posted the program's most recent winning record. The Bruins take their 4-0 record to No. 13 Oregon, which has won five straight and 16 of the last 19 in the series. Oregon is the only currently ranked opponent on the Bruins' schedule until they play crosstown rival Southern California in the regular-season finale. First-year coach Bob Chesney brought offensive coordinator Dean Kenney with him from James Madison, and the two have built the most powerful rushing offense in the Big Ten with James Madison transfer Wayne Knight leading the way. The Bruins already have one more win than they did in 2025 and are well on their way to exceeding the expectations for a team picked 13th in the Big Ten preseason media poll.
Group of Six race
It's too soon to concede a Group of Six playoff spot to Boise State, even though the No. 23 Broncos have built up the most capital by far with AP voters. Bowl Subdivision newcomer North Dakota State shut out Wyoming 28-0 at home to go 5-0, and the Bison have received votes in four straight polls. The Bison play pivotal road games two of the next three weeks at UNLV and New Mexico. New Mexico also is in play. The Lobos' only loss is at Oklahoma, and they could meet NDSU twice if both make the MWC title game. Then there's James Madison, bidding for a second straight playoff bid, this time under first-year coach Billy Napier. JMU beat Marshall 45-17 to go 5-0 and has received votes in every poll.
Originally reported by dailygazette.