News/Commentary

Alabama, Clemson, Penn State Ranked 1-2-3 in FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll

October 8, 2017 by CFP Staff

NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is among the voters.

Alabama, which has remained in the top spot since the preseason poll, and Clemson, held onto their respective positions as No. 1 and No. 2 for the fourth consecutive week. Oklahoma, which had been ranked No. 3, fell to No. 11 after its upset loss to Iowa State. Ranked teams Michigan and Louisville also faced defeats this week, respectively falling from No. 7 to No. 15 and No. 16 to unranked.

The big beneficiaries of this week's upsets included Penn State, Georgia and Washington, all moving up one notch and respectively filling the No. 3 through No. 5 positions. Three teams advanced three spots: TCU now at No. 6, Washington State at No. 8 and Miami (Fla.) at No. 12. The rest of the ranked teams landed within one rung of their previous week's positon, and Notre Dame appeared in the poll for the first time this season, replacing Louisville.

The Big Ten continues to lead all conferences in the poll with four teams. The Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC had three each, and the ACC had two with Notre Dame representing the independents.

Voters in the poll consist of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers who were selected to create a balanced-geographical perspective.

Congrove's top 5 this week had Clemson No. 1, followed by Alabama, Penn State, Wisconsin and Georgia. The rest of his ballot had TCU 6th, followed by Washington State, Washington, Oklahoma (dropped from 3rd), Ohio State, USC, Miami (Fla.), Auburn, San Diego State, USF and Georgia Tech.

FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll
(For games through October 7, 2017)

  Team Points 1st LW
1. Alabama 758 38 1
2. Clemson 727 10 2
3. Penn State 647 --- 4
4. Georgia 603 --- 5
5. Washington 562 --- 6
6. TCU 481 --- 9
7. Wisconsin 465 --- 8
8. Washington State 397 --- 11
9. Ohio State 375 --- 10
10. Auburn 335 --- 12
11. Oklahoma 269 --- 3
12. Miami (Fla.) 242 --- 15
13. Oklahoma State 169 --- 13
14. USC 167 --- 14
15. Michigan 111 --- 7
16. Notre Dame 71 --- ---

Others receiving votes:

Virginia Tech (65), Michigan State (27), San Diego State (22), South Florida (17), Central Florda (7), Louisville (5), N.C. State (4), Georgia Tech (1), Iowa State (1).

This week's key games:

Arkansas at No. 1 Alabama; No. 2 Clemson at Syracuse (Friday); Missouri at No. 4 Georgia; No. 5 Washington at Arizona State; No. 6 TCU at Kansas State; Purdue at No. 7 Wisconsin; No. 8 Washington State at California (Friday); No. 9 Ohio State at Nebraska; No. 10 Auburn at LSU; No. 11 Oklahoma vs Texas (Dallas); Georgia Tech at No. 12 Miami (Fla.); Baylor at No. 13 Oklahoma State; Utah at No. 14 USC; No. 15 Michigan at Indiana.