Wordsleuth's Top 25 College Football Rankings Week 5

Wordsleuth, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Oct 1, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

Wordsleuth's Top 25 College Football Rankings Week 5. After the fifth weekend of college football action there has been a major shakeup in the rankings. In this week's Top 25 College Football Rankings several teams have taken a plunge, while some others have moved into a good position. The Top 25 College Football Rankings for Week 5 are:

Wow, what a weekend for college football. 7 out of the top 13 teams have lost and there are many teams hungry to take their place at the top of the polls.

Remember, just because one team is undefeated and another has a loss does not automatically make the undefeated team higher. In the AP poll this week a lot of lesser teams took a big jump to a place that they do not deserve to be.

Case in point is Kentucky. They do not deserve to be ranked as high as they are in the AP poll because they have not proved themselves. It looked like their win over Louisville was a big victory, but Louisville's loss to Syracuse the next week proved that was wrong.

The rankings this week see LSU take the top spot and California, Ohio State, Wisconsin and South Florida getting the most benefit from the big losses this weekend by moving into 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 8^th respectively. West Virginia takes the biggest tumble in the polls after losing to South Florida for the second consecutive year.

To see previous week's rankings click below:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Now to Wordsleuth's Top 25 College Football Rankings Week 5:

1. LSU

LSU moves into the top spot after a nice second half against Tulane. LSU went on the road to Tulane, and in there eyes making their first of two trips to the Superdome, and struggled in the first half. They shut out Tulane in the second half and cemented their spot at number 1.

2. USC

USC moves down a spot in the polls because of their lackluster performance against the Washington Huskies. While Washington is a very underrated team, USC should have done a better job dominating this game. The USC defense did not do a good enough job of exploiting the inexperience of Washington freshman quarterback Locker, and they almost paid the price.

3. California

California went on the road to Oregon and won there for the first time in about 20 years. This was a very impressive win for California, and the win, coupled with some big losses, vaults the Golden Bears into 3^rd place in the polls. The question is, would we be seeing Oregon here if that ball hadn't gone out the back of the end zone?

4. Ohio State

Ohio State left much to be desired at half time against Minnesota on Saturday. The Buckeyes then came out and played the kind of football that has become expected of them over the years and took control of the game in the Metrodome. The Buckeyes look like they have some work to do, but for now they are number 4 in the country.

5. Wisconsin

Wisconsin had their hands full with a very underrated Michigan State on Saturday. State played them until the very end, even when it looked like they were out of the game. Wisconsin showed some fight, but they were lucky to escape Upset Saturday unbeaten.

6. Oklahoma

Oklahoma really blew the game against Colorado over the weekend and they started the domino effect that we all saw play out. Oklahoma should have won this game, but it seemed that they took their lead for granted and did not play the kind of football that would be expected of them. In the end Oklahoma lost a conference road game, not a cardinal sin, and they are still better than Boston College, South Florida and Kentucky so they are now number 6 in the country.

7. Florida

Is anyone truly surprised that the Gators lost to Auburn on Saturday. It seems as if Tommy Tuberville and Auburn just have their number. Don't forget that Florida lost to Auburn last season on their way to the championship. This Florida team is still pretty great and deserves to be no lower than 7.

8. South Florida

The South Florida program is just an amazing accomplishment. Only 11 years ago there was no coach, no offices, no players and no program and now they are in the Top 10 of college football. South Florida completely dominated West Virginia for the second straight year and they looked fantastic. Matt Grothe looks to be a Heisman candidate in a year or two and their freshman running back took it to WVU. South Florida now has to prove itself to the rest of the Big East.

9. Boston College

Boston College won again over the weekend, albeit to UMASS. I am still not convinced that the ACC is all that great this season and because of that Boston College's ranking suffers in this poll. If you look at the ACC almost any team can beat almost anyone on any given day and most of the teams are more equal than they appear to be on the surface. That is not a good sign for Boston College and they sit at number 9 this week.

10. Texas

Where is Texas right now? It is very hard to tell, especially with the health of quarterback Colt McCoy in question. The Longhorns loss this weekend could spell doom as they enter the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma next week as underdogs. Another loss will have Texas tumbling.

11. Kentucky

Andre Woodson has looked amazing so far this season and he looks to be the semi-annual big-time player lifting his team to new heights player (see Jay Cutler). Kentucky is good, but they are not as good as many seem to believe. Don't forget that they still have some very challenging SEC games ahead of them. Kentucky will be dipping in the polls very shortly.

12. South Carolina

The Gamecocks continue to look good under head ball coach. Steve Spurrier appears to have turned South Carolina around as they are now 4-1 on the season. That is good enough to earn them the 12^th spot in the rankings, but big SEC matchups loom on the horizon.

13. Georgia

Georgia put up a nice little victory on Saturday and they have been hanging around the middle of the poll for a few weeks now. If Georgia can pick up some nice SEC wins in the next few weeks they could be a Top 10 team.

14. Virginia Tech

What to say about Virginia Tech? Their quarterback switch will pay off very soon, as Tyrod Taylor has been looking better every week. While the Hokies have not won convincingly, they have gotten the all-important W every week and their only loss is still the one to LSU. Tech has some big ACC games coming up and that should determine their fate more clearly.

15. West Virginia

West Virginia lost again at the hands of the South Florida Bulls. For the second straight season the Mountaineers have hand national title hopes derailed by South Florida. This time around West Virginia was just dominated on both sides of the ball with South Florida forcing 6 WVU turnovers. If Pat White is out for an extended period of time, than this West Virginia team will be hurting.

16. Oregon

Oregon looked like they would be tough to beat this weekend and that they would end up in the Top 10 this week, but a bad break kept them from tying the game against California over the weekend. The Ducks need to regroup fast and make a strong showing for the second half of the season, or this loss could really hurt them.

17. Hawaii

Hawaii and Colt Brennan just keep rolling. While the WAC isn't a power conference, if Hawaii can run the table they might be in line for a BCS bowl bid ala Boise State last season.

18. Rutgers

Rutgers joined some fellow big name teams by being upset on Saturday. Rutgers lost at home to a Maryland team that had something to prove after a bad loss to Wake Forest. Rutgers has a lot to prove now and they drop to number 18.

19. Clemson

Clemson lost on the road to Georgia Tech. This was not at all shocking but it will drop Clemson to number 19 in the rankings. The ACC just isn't that good of a football conference right now.

20. Missouri

Missouri is putting together a great football season so far. With a great quarterback and a great offense Missouri should be a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 North all season long.

21. Cincinnati

Cincinnati looks pretty good early in the season. They are now 5-0 and they are sporting their longest winning streak in decades. The Bearcats have played some pretty decent teams, but soon it will be time to test themselves in the Big East and it will be make or break time for the Bearcats.

22. Purdue

The Boilermakers and Curtis Painter let the Fighting Irish have it on Saturday in the first half. They built a commanding lead and then they looked content to just try to hold on. Painter is another in the line of very good Purdue quarterbacks and The Boilermakers should be a team to be reckoned with in the Big Ten.

23. Arizona State

Arizona State has been flying under the radar in the PAC-10, but it looks like they are now on the radar. The Sun Devils have a great offense and could be a decent challenge to the powers of the conference, USC and Cal.

24. Kansas State

Kansas State pulled off another upset this weekend, this time beating up on the Longhorns of Texas. After Colt McCoy left the game, the Wildcat defense took over and Kansas State never looked back, winning by 20 points. Kansas State will be a tough team to play for anyone in the Big 12.

25. Illinois

Ron Zook has really built himself a pretty good little team in Illinois and the country started to see that when they defeated Penn State over the weekend. Illinois has the ability to stay in this Top 25 poll until the end of the season and finish off with a nice bowl game if they play to their potential. Also, how can you route against a guy named Juice Williams?

Next 6 Closest:

Nebraska

Miami

Florida State

Auburn

UCLA

Michigan State

Recap: