Thanks to the sudden, and somewhat unexpected, rise of Mississippi State and Ole Miss, the SEC has reached a new milestone in the latest AP Top 25 poll. The SEC became the first league to place four teams into the top five. All five of those teams come from the SEC West division.
Thirteen times since 2001 a conference placed three teams in the top five of the AP Top 25 poll, and the SEC has done it 16 times since 2009. While SEC wonks 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 Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama will likely not last long. Mississippi State and Alabama still have to play each other (Nov. 15, prepare accordingly, it should be great), and Mississippi State and Ole Miss renew their annual Egg Bowl rivalry on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Ole Miss also has a showdown against LSU in Baton Rouge coming up Saturday.
On a smaller scale, the state of Arizona is experiencing a Mississippi-like resurgence. Arizona State and Arizona rate at No. 14 and No. 15, accordingly in the AP Top 25. The two schools rank No. 12 and No. 15 in the latest CFB 24/7 Top 25 Power Rankings. Both schools hit the road and visit the great state of Washington in hopes of keeping the dream alive.
Speaking of dreams, East Carolina (No. 18) and Marshall (No. 23) are threatening to be non-Power Five entrants' "automatic bid" into the playoff bowls.
College football fans are getting dangerously close to the first installment of the College Football Playoff field, as determined by a 13-person selection committee. The first of which will be released on Oct. 28, so mark your calendars. The placement of teams in the AP Top 25 can oftentimes generate some heated discussion among fans, but it is necessary to note that the AP poll is for recreation purposes only. In contrast to the BCS era (or the pre-BCS era when the poll actually determined national champions), the AP poll no longer factors into the mathematics of which teams get to play for the national championship. Complicated formulas factoring in polls and computer rankings have zero bearing on the four-team College Football Playoff field.
The entire order of the AP poll:
Others receiving votes: Duke 108, Oklahoma State 91, Minnesota 61, Colorado State 12, Louisville 4, Missouri 4, Stanford 4, Maryland 3, North Dakota State 3, Texas A&M 1.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
