If you liked the top of my Associated Press Top 25 ballot last week, you will absolutely love it this week. The top seven teams on my AP ballot are the same as last week — Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Michigan and TCU.
However, there are plenty of changes throughout the rest of my ballot. Oregon moves up to No. 8 after defeating UCLA, and Oklahoma State moves into the top 10 after outlasting Texas.
Three teams dropped off my Top 25 ballot from last week: Texas, Mississippi State and Purdue. Those teams were replaced by LSU, NC State and South Carolina.
Here's my Top 25 ballot compared to Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
Brett McMurphy's Week 9 AP Top 25 Ballot
AP denotes Brett McMurphy's Associated Press Top 25 ballot.
PR denotes Collin Wilson's College Football Betting Power Ratings.
1
Tennessee
5
2
Ohio State
1
3
Georgia
2
4
Clemson
6
5
Alabama
3
6
Michigan
4
7
TCU
7
8
Oregon
8
9
Oklahoma State
13
10
Utah
12
Collin and I agree what the nation’s top eight teams are up to this point, but we don’t have them ranked in the same order.
Of the top eight, our biggest difference is Tennessee. I have the Vols ranked No. 1 for the second consecutive week, while Collin only rates UT at No. 5. I ranked Ohio State, Collin’s No. 1 team, at No. 2.
11
Wake Forest
24
12
USC
14
13
UCLA
28
14
Penn State
11
15
Ole Miss
23
16
Kansas State
22
17
Syracuse
34
18
Illinois
40
19
North Carolina
33
20
Kentucky
20
As usual, there's not as much agreement on the next 10 teams on my AP ballot. Of the teams I ranked between 11 and 20, only three are also in the same range in Collin’s ratings.
I have USC at No. 12, Collin at No. 14; Penn State at No. 14, Collin at No. 11; and we both have Kentucky at No. 20. The biggest difference is Illinois. I ranked the Illini at No. 18, while Collin has Illinois rated at No. 40.
21
Tulane
50
22
LSU
16
23
Cincinnati
15
24
NC State
52
25
South Carolina
42
We are not close to any agreement on the bottom five.
Collin rates Cincinnati and LSU in his top 16, but I have LSU at No. 22 and Cincinnati at No. 23. The biggest disagreement is Tulane. I have the Green Wave at No. 21, while Collin has Tulane back at No. 50.
Also, Collin had seven teams in his top 25 power ratings that I did not rank on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 9 Texas, No. 10 Florida State, No. 17 Arkansas, No. 18 Baylor, No. 19 Oklahoma, No 21 Notre Dame and No. 25 Mississippi State.
