College Football Rankings - Considerable Reshuffling After Big Ten Opens Play

October 25, 2020 by Staff

The Big Ten debuted over the weekend with one of the most, if not THE most, scintillating games of the year, as Indiana upended Penn Stat3 36-35 in exciting, and somewhat controversial, overtime fashion. The win propelled the Hoosiers to No. 6 in this week's Congrove Computer Rankings, released Sunday morning.

The top four remains the same, but a considerable amount of reshuffling occurred as the Big Ten teams were separated.

Alabama stays at No. 1 after a convincing 48-17 win over Tennessee. Clemson remains 2nd in the wake of a 47-21 victory over Syracuse.

Wisconsin and Ohio State stay at 3 and 4, respectively, while Notre Dame moves into the 5th-place after Penn State is evicted from that spot and sent all the way down to 16th.

The Badgers, Buckeyes and Irish all had easy wins over the weekend. Wisconsin repelled Illinois 45-7 on Friday, while Ohio State  (52-17 vs. Nebraska) and Notre Dane (45-7 at Pittsburgh) were unchallenged on Saturday.

Michigan was a surprising 18-point winner at Minnesota, 42-24. That outcome boosted the Wolverines up to 7th and kicked the Gophers down to 19th.

Three PAC-12 schools climb two notches to occupy 8th-through-10th. In order, they are Oregon, Southern California and California. The PAC-12 begins play November 4.

The Mountain West joined the Big Ten in opening play this weekend and produced a stunning 17-6 win by San Jose State at home over Air Force. The Falcons, who were favored by 7, fell from 48 to 64 while the Spartans rose from 79 to 68.

Another team nicknamed the Spartans pulled off a shocker in the Big Ten as Rutgers prevailed 38-27 at Michigan State, breaking a 21-game conference losing streak. That game was the debut of both head coaches - Mel Tucker in his first-ever game with the Spartans, and Greg Schiano in the first game of his second stint with the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers jumped from 62nd to 51st with the win while Michigan State plunged from 34th to 49th.

The highest-ranked MWC school this week is Boise State at No. 33. The Broncos breezed to a 42-13 win over visiting Utah State.

The top-ranked school from a Group Of Five conference is Cincinnati (American conference) at No. 21 after crushing previously undefeated SMU 42-13.

See the latest CCR Top 127.