One of the craziest weekends in college football history resulted in pandemonium in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Four teams rated in the top 10 suffered defeats, and 10 teams that were in the top 25 of last week's AP poll lost.
The epicenter of that anarchy was the state of Mississippi, thrust into the national spotlight by the surprisingly successful college football teams at Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Momentous SEC West showdowns resulted in a dominant win for Mississippi State over Texas A&M and a stunning win for Ole Miss over Alabama.
The events of what could go down as the greatest sports day in the history of the state of Mississippi were enough to create a seismic shift in the College Football Playoff race. But the disarray didn't end there. Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma was upset by TCU. Two days before that, Oregon's hopes and dreams of being a part of the inaugural College Football Playoff were likely thwarted by a familiar nemesis, Arizona.
When the smoke cleared from all that turmoil, the result was three SEC West teams in the top four in both the AP Top 25 and the CFB 24/5 Top 25 Power Rankings. While SEC wonk will likely salivate at the prospect of three teams from that conference populating the four-team playoff field, the hefty status currently enjoyed by the triumvirate of Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss will likely not last long. Auburn visits Mississippi State on Saturday in what will be the biggest game of the season to date. Ole Miss will hit the road to play Texas A&M in College Station. Another playoff race-shifting game will take place in Waco, Texas, where Baylor will host TCU. There's some football fun to look foward to next weekend, so plan your Saturday accordingly.
The entire order of the AP poll:
Others receiving votes: Clemson 92, Marshall 78, USC 61, Louisville 36, LSU 35, BYU 26, West Virginia 18, Arkansas 14, Wisconsin 7, California 6, Penn State 5, Kentucky 4, Rutgers 4, North Dakota State 3, Minnesota 2, South Carolina 1, Virginia 1.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
