College football’s weekly rankings are supposed to reward results, but the Week 5 AP Poll left a few teams stuck in the wrong lane.
Kentucky might be the clearest example. The Wildcats entered the weekend at No. 24, went on the road as a slight underdog, beat South Carolina for the first time since 2021, and still disappeared from the poll entirely.
That’s a rough break for a team that did what it was asked to do away from home. Meanwhile, SMU remained in the rankings after a loss to Louisville, a team that is now 2-3.
UCLA climbed two spots despite having the week off. Pittsburgh also moved ahead of Kentucky, helped by a 5-0 start, even though the Panthers still haven’t beaten anyone in ESPN’s Top 40 in FPI.
Kentucky overachieved, then overachieved again - and it still wasn’t enough.
Indiana got dinged too, dropping one spot after a 47-15 win over Rutgers. The Hoosiers are unbeaten, and while they lost some style points by playing Northwestern close, that game looks a lot less strange after Northwestern’s beatdown of Penn State.
Even so, the ranking shuffle put Indiana behind Alabama. At the same time, Notre Dame slipped ahead of an awful North Carolina team 37-26 as a three-touchdown favorite, and the Irish’s undefeated record was treated as stronger than Indiana’s.
That’s the kind of logic that makes the Week 5 poll look shaky.
Florida’s slide was another head-scratcher. The Gators were thumped 45-17 by Missouri, and nobody’s pretending that was a good day.
But the way voters handled it felt inconsistent. Florida had just hosted No.
4 Ole Miss and blasted the Rebels 52-28 the week before. Ole Miss fell five spots to ninth and stayed there after being off in Week 5.
Florida, beaten by a team in the bottom five of the top 25 on the road, dropped eight spots. The message was plain enough: voters didn’t want Florida to sit ahead of Missouri, so the Gators absorbed the bigger hit.
Fair or not, that’s how it played out.
Then there’s North Dakota State, a team that looks every bit as deserving of attention as some of the names ahead of it. The Bison are 5-0 in the Mountain West and received only seven total points.
They shut out Wyoming 28-0, are allowing fewer than 10 points per game, have averaged 33.6 points per game, and have turned it over only three times all season. If they can get through New Mexico and UNLV in the next three weeks, maybe the voters will finally take notice.
If not, they might just keep rolling all the way to the College Football Playoff.
In Other News...
Indianas Latest AP Ranking Just Sparked A New Disrespect Debate
Indianas climb in the polls hit another familiar snag this week, with the latest Associated Press ranking slotting the Hoosiers seventh even after a 32-point win over Rutgers and a 21-game winning streak that keeps rolling along. The contrast with the Coaches Poll was hard to miss, since Indiana stayed at fifth there, and it only added to the feeling around the program that its rsum is not being treated the same way as some of the other teams clustered near the top.
Alabamas rise to sixth after a dominant win over Mississippi State only sharpened the debate, especially for a Hoosiers team that has done just about everything asked of it on the field. For Indiana, the number beside its name has become its own weekly talking point, and the gap between what the team is doing and where it is being placed is starting to feel like part of the story every time the rankings come out. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Revealed What Stood Out Behind Indianas Rutgers Win
Curt Cignetti had plenty to point to after Indianas 47-15 win over Rutgers, and the postgame conversation started with the defense. The Hoosiers were disruptive and steady on that side of the ball, giving the offense room to work while the running backs drew attention for their health status and the way the staff managed touches in the game. Cignetti also touched on special teams and the atmosphere around the matchup, making it clear this was one of those wins that revealed more than the final score.
Rutgers still made Indiana earn it for stretches, and Cignetti acknowledged both the Scarlet Knights competitiveness and what Greg Schiano has accomplished there. For Indiana, the larger takeaway was how the performance fit together across the board, from the defensive effort to the offensive approach and the way the team handled the games flow. There was enough encouragement in the result to carry forward, even with a few longer-term questions still worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Left Fans One Tough Choice After Rutgers Blowout
Indianas 47-15 rout of Rutgers at SHI Stadium gave the Hoosiers plenty to celebrate, but it also left fans with a familiar postgame problem: trying to sort through a long list of standout performances and decide which ones mattered most. The offense piled up big numbers and the defense kept Rutgers from ever finding its footing, which made the teams player-of-the-game conversation more crowded than usual.
Turbo Richards 204 rushing yards put him squarely in the spotlight, while Jamari Sharpes coverage work helped define the defensive side of the win. With both units making a strong case, Indiana is leaving the final call to its fans, who get to weigh in on who deserves the game ball after one of the seasons most convincing victories. [Read more 🡒]