An incredible weekend in college football, both on the field and in the competition. Week 5 saw three match ups between Top 10 teams, another Top 25 match up, and every single team in the Top 25 in action. On the field, we saw the “HobHail Mary” in Athens, a fierce FSU comeback stymied by a last second field goal, another last second field goal in Ames, and a lengthy goal-line stand in Berkeley. The night cap in Clemson didn’t disappoint, either, as the game of the week and Heisman showdown went down to a fourth-down conversion in the final few seconds of the game.
Does Week 5 rival the excitement of Week 1? That’s debatable. What’s not debatable is the shake up that this weekend has had on our Top 25.
Last Word on College Football Top 25: Week 5
Our top five remains largely unchanged with Clemson making the biggest movement, up to third after their big win against Louisville. For their part, the close loss didn’t hurt the Cardinals too much, dropping them four spots but remaining in the Top 10. Washington‘s demolition of Stanford moved them up to number six.
Of the three Top 10 losses this week, Stanford’s hurt the worst. Wisconsin‘s close loss to Michigan dropped them to the eleventh spot.
Several new teams enter the poll this week, including North Carolina, upstarts Colorado and Western Michigan, and West Virginia.
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LAST WORD ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOP 25: WEEK 5
| Rank
|
Team
|
Points
|
Previous
|
|
1. |
|
398 | 1 | |
| Alabama continues to steadily march towards key games with Texas A&M, Tennessee, and LSU en route to another SEC West championship. Is there anyone that can challenge the Tide for Conference supremecy? -Mike Loveall
|
||||
2. |
|
378 | 2 | |
| J.T. Barrett broke the Ohio State school record for career touchdown passes with 59 as Ohio State dominated 58-0 against Rutgers. Next week, the Buckeyes will face Indiana at home. –Rob Gritzer
|
||||
3. |
|
372 | 5 | |
| Now this is the Clemson team we’ve all come to expect. They crushed any doubts that the Tigers still control the Atlantic. With a clear path to the ACC championship game and the playoff hunt last night’s win added the spark Clemson needed to continue their season. – Justin Gordon
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4. |
|
345 | 4 | |
| Michigan’s defense looked strong, as always, and the offense did just enough to beat Wisconsin. When you get a Top 10 win, no complaints about how it happened. -Yesh Ginsburg
|
||||
5. |
|
330 | 5 | |
| Houston is churning along, with no real threats until the Louisville game. Unfortunately for the Cougars, that game is not as valuable as it could have been, but Louisville will still almost definitely be 9-1 and in the Top 10 when they come to town. -Yesh Ginsburg
|
||||
6. |
|
306 | 11 | |
| The Huskies seized control of the Pac-12 North race by throttling former bully-on-the-block Stanford on Friday night. Next, Jake Browning and company travel to Eugene to take on struggling rival Oregon. -Donald King
|
||||
7. |
|
298 | 3 | |
| Louisville came up just short against Clemson 42-36. The Cardinals head into a much needed bye week at 4-1 -Jonathan Bailey
|
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8. |
|
283 | 9 | |
| The Vols ended more streaks this week, although they needed a 42-yard hail mary, known as the “DobbsHail Mary” to win against Georgia. Tennessee can all but lock up the SEC East with a win against the Aggies next week -Mike Loveall
|
||||
9. |
|
278 | 10 | |
| The Aggies fought injuries to Myles Garrett and Ricky Seals-Jones to beat a determined South Carolina team on the road. They’ll need to improve next week when Tennessee and College Gameday visits College Station for a battle of two 5-0 teams. -Matthew Atkinson
|
||||
10. |
|
239 | 13 | |
| Happy days are here again in Coral Gables. Not many expected the Canes to be undefeated headed into their match-up against a wounded Florida St. One of their few big test this season, a win next week will put Miami in firm position to advance towards Orlando. -Justin Gordon
|
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11. |
|
211 | 8 | |
| Unable to produce points, the Badgers fell to Michigan this week 14-7. This week, the Badgers will have a bye week before facing #2 Ohio State at home the following week. -Rob Gritzer
|
||||
12. |
|
199 | 15 | |
| The Huskers were on upset alert against Illinois. Then running back Terrell Newby got going, rushing for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Nebraska ultimately prevailed, 31-16. After a bye in week six, they travel to Bloomington to face Indiana for the first time since 1978. -John Bava III
|
||||
13. |
|
194 | 7 | |
| Stanford went into Husky Stadium injured on Friday evening, and left with its pride bruised as well. The Cardinal welcome Washington State to The Farm in Week 6, when it will try to get back on track. -Donald King
|
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14. |
|
193 | 16 | |
| Ole Miss avoided another second half collapse against Memphis. There are still reasons to be concerned. The offensive line is hit or miss. The defense is struggling. Chad Kelly made some bad decisions that should have cost them the game. The Rebels have a much needed bye week. -Kate Pearson-Halyburton
|
||||
15. |
|
184 | 14 | |
| Baylor was threatened by Iowa State for 59:59 seconds, but the Bears pulled out a last second win with a field goal. QB Seth Russell ran in two scores himself and Terence Williams another as Baylor took what Iowa State gave them to turn the game around. -Sean Garmer
|
||||
16. |
|
144 | NR | |
| The Tar Heels scored a big upset over Florida State and are sitting with only one loss to Georgia. Carolina still has a shot to return to the ACC Championship Game and make some New Year’s noise. -Mike Loveall
|
||||
17. |
|
135 | 17 | |
| A slow start that kept the game close through the first 30 minutes, before Boise State pulled away to a 21-10 win over Utah State. RB Jeremy McNichols picked up 100 yards rushing in the second half and QB Brett Rypien had 125 of his 163 yards passing and two TDs in the last 30 minutes of the game. -Tony Siracusa
|
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18. |
|
124 | 24 | |
| Arkansas easily handled Alcorn State with a 52-10 win behind 3 passing and 3 rushing TDs. The Arkansas defense got in the mix with a 75-yard pic-six. Arkansas will have their hands full next week with No. 1 Alabama. -J.W. Gravley
|
||||
19. |
|
114 | 22 | |
| The Gators earned an ugly 13-7 win at Vanderbilt to move to 2-1 in SEC play. The Commodores ran for 147 yards in the absence of several Florida defensive linemen. The Gators will need those guys back with LSU visiting next week. Florida should see the return of starting QB Luke Del Rio. -Zach Jones
|
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20. |
|
88 | 22 | |
| The Sooners survived a furious 4th quarter rally to defeat TCU 52-46. Paced by Baker Mayfield’s 4 TD performance, OU moved to 1-0 in Big 12 play. Up next is the Red River Rivalry against Texas in the Cotton Bowl. -Jason Rhea
|
||||
21. |
|
71 | 12 | |
| Florida State overcame a 21 point first half deficit just to have its comeback slip away on a last second field goal as time expired. The Seminoles now head in to their rivalry game against undefeated Miami winless in conference play. –Jonathan Bailey
|
||||
22. |
|
59 | NR | |
| Don’t look now, but the Buffaloes are the surprise team of the 2016 season. With two wins in the Pac-12 South, they have the inside track to a division championship and their only loss is to Michigan. -Mike Loveall
|
||||
23. |
|
55 | NR | |
| The unique Dana Holgerson has the Mountaineers competitive in a weak Big 12 Conference. Could West Virginia make some noise on the national scene late in the season? -Mike Loveall
|
||||
24. |
|
37 | NR | |
| The Broncos moved to 5-0 on the season after a 49-10 blowout of Central Michigan. Corey Davis caught two touchdown passes for 72 yards and in so doing became the MAC’s all-time leading receiver in career yards (4,245). Next up is a home date against Northern Illinois. -John Bava III
|
||||
25. |
|
32 | 19 | |
| After a big win against USC, the Utes drop a critical game against Cal. The loss to a Pac-12 North team hurts the Utes in the South race. Is this a replay of 2015, with a fast Utah start and a dwindling second half? -Mike Loveall | ||||
OHIO STATE
CLEMSON (1)
MICHIGAN
HOUSTON
WASHINGTON
LOUISVILLE
TENNESSEE
TEXAS A&M
MIAMI
WISCONSIN
NEBRASKA
STANFORD
MISSISSIPPI
BAYLOR
NORTH CAROLINA
BOISE STATE
ARKANSAS
FLORIDA
OKLAHOMA
FLORIDA STATE
COLORADO
WEST VIRGINIA
WESTERN MICHIGAN 
UTAHOthers Receiving Votes: Oklahoma State (29), Michigan State (24), Virginia Tech (20), Air Force (13), TCU (9), California (7) LSU (7), Troy (5), Auburn (5), Maryland (5), Oregon (5), USC (2), North Dakota State (2).
A lot of movement in the Top 25 this week, particular with the new teams in the lower half of the poll. Will Week 6 see a similar shake up, or will the status quo finally hold serve for one week in the college football season?
Week 6 promises to be another great weekend in a season that seems to provide weekend after weekend of great college football.
Previous LWOS Polls:
Preseason Top 25
Week 1 Top 25
Week 2 Top 25
Week 3 Top 25
Week 4 Top 25
About the poll: Sixteen Last Word on College Football writers submit ballots and points are awarded on a inverse-scale (a first place vote receives 25 points, a 25th-place vote receives 1 point).
Main Photo:
