Week 5 did not blow up the top of the AP rankings, but it did sharpen the mess underneath it. Texas, Georgia and Notre Dame all held serve, and that means the very top of the poll should stay mostly intact when the new rankings come out. The biggest swing could be Miami, which turned Clemson’s trip into a lopsided loss and may be heading into the top three.
Here’s how the next AP Top 25 could shake out for Week 6:
Texas Longhorns (1)
Georgia Bulldogs (2)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3)
Miami Hurricanes (4)
Ohio State Buckeyes (5)
Indiana Hoosiers (6)
Alabama Crimson Tide (7)
Florida Gators (8)
Ole Miss Rebels (9)
BYU Cougars (10)
LSU Tigers (11)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (12)
Utah Utes (13)
Iowa Hawkeyes (14)
Oregon Ducks (15)
Mississippi State Bulldogs (16)
Tennessee Volunteers (17)
USC Trojans (18)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (19)
Houston Cougars (20)
SMU Mustangs (21)
Boise State Broncos (22)
UCLA Bruins (23)
Kentucky Wildcats (24)
Missouri Tigers (25)
A few teams near the top could shuffle, but the overall picture is still pretty stable. Florida is the one that takes the biggest hit after getting smoked by Missouri in Columbia.
Mississippi State slides after getting rattled at home by Alabama. Iowa fought Ohio State hard in Kinnick, but the Buckeyes still had the upper hand.
USC and SMU both survived, but neither looked especially convincing doing it.
The bigger story, though, is the ACC’s second tier, and it’s a mess.
Clemson is 3-2 overall and 2-1 in league play, but the Tigers are not in the conversation for second-best team in the conference. SMU may be sitting in the projected top 25, but the Mustangs are hanging on by a thread.
Duke, Wake Forest and even Pittsburgh can make a real push past them. Duke was off this week, and the Blue Devils have been strong so far.
Wake Forest has just one loss, and that came against Miami. Pitt is 5-0, though its situation is still uncertain.
Miami remains the clear front-runner in the ACC by a wide margin. After that, everything is wide open.
SMU has held the second spot mostly by default, but that grip is slipping fast. Duke and Wake Forest look like better bets right now, and even Pitt without Mason Heintschel the rest of the way could have a stronger case than SMU.
One thing is clear: Clemson is not getting a single top 25 vote. Louisville, now with three losses, is out of the picture too. Virginia Tech should not be in the mix either, and Virginia has also fallen hard after getting its skull caved in by Florida State.
In Other News...
Tony Elliott Just Added To Clemson Fans' Biggest Dabo Succession Fear
Virginias 38-7 loss to Florida State was another rough reminder of how hard Tony Elliotts rebuild has been, especially after the Cavaliers had already shown a little life by beating North Carolina State earlier in the season. Florida State overwhelmed Virginia at the line of scrimmage, getting a school-record five rushing touchdowns from Ashton Daniels and piling up 10 sacks, a performance that left Elliotts team searching for answers on both sides of the ball.
For Clemson fans, the bigger concern is what Elliotts struggles might mean in the long view of the programs coaching tree and any eventual Dabo Swinney succession talk. Elliott was once viewed as one of the most prominent names tied to Clemsons future, but the inconsistent results at Virginia have only complicated that conversation and added another layer to a fear Tigers fans already know well. [Read more 🡒]
Clemson Just Got A Painful ACC Reality Check
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The bigger concern for Clemson was how difficult it was to generate much of anything offensively against a Miami team now sitting at 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. The Hurricanes left little doubt about the gap on this night, while Clemson was left to sort through what went wrong after a lopsided loss at home. In a league where every result can reshape the standings quickly, this one served as a blunt reminder of where the Tigers stand and how much cleaner theyll need to play from here. [Read more 🡒]
Dabo Swinneys Postgame Message Raised A Bigger Clemson Concern
Clemsons home loss to No. 4 Miami did more than drop the Tigers to 3-2 on the season. It also reinforced how far this group still has to go against ranked competition, with the 41-13 defeat leaving Clemson 0-2 in those games and searching for answers after a night when Miamis talent showed up early and often.
Afterward, Dabo Swinney sounded as if he was trying to balance accountability with perspective, talking about freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds development while also pointing to the need for continued growth, focus and better production in the running game. Swinney said he has seen improvement in toughness and physicality since the opener, but the bigger concern now is whether those gains are enough to keep Clemson from getting stuck in the same place when the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]