My Associated Press Top 25 ballot has a much different view at the top this week: Rocky Top. Tennessee moves up to the top spot after the Vols’ 52-49 win over Alabama.
On my ballot, the Vols, ranked No. 5 last week, jumped Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson. Ohio State dropped one spot to No. 2 on my ballot, while Georgia and Clemson remained at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Alabama fell to No. 5, one spot ahead of No. 6 Michigan.
The rest of my Top 10 consists of No. 7 TCU, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 10 Oregon.
After a weekend in which six undefeated teams lost, I have three new teams on my Top 25 ballot this week: Kentucky, Tulane and Purdue.
Here's my Top 25 ballot compared to Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
Brett McMurphy's Week 8 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
6
2
Ohio State
1
3
Georgia
2
4
Clemson
4
5
Alabama
3
6
Michigan
5
7
TCU
8
8
UCLA
28
9
Ole Miss
16
10
Oregon
9
While I ranked Tennessee No. 1, Collin doesn’t have the Vols in his top four. He puts the Vols at No. 5 behind Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama and Clemson.
Among the top-10 teams on my ballot, Collin also has Michigan, TCU and Oregon rated in his top 10. Our biggest disagreements are UCLA and Ole Miss. I ranked the Bruins at No. 8, while Collin rates them down at 28. I have the Rebels at No. 9, with Collin rating Ole Miss at No. 16.
11
Oklahoma State
13
12
USC
15
13
Kansas State
23
14
Syracuse
45
15
Utah
11
16
Wake Forest
30
17
Illinois
42
18
Texas
7
19
North Carolina
36
20
Penn State
14
There isn’t much agreement for the teams I ranked Nos. 11-20. Only four — Oklahoma State, USC, Utah and Penn State — are among Collin’s teams rated 11-20.
The biggest differences between my ballot and Collin’s ratings among these schools are Syracuse, Illinois and North Carolina. While I have them rated in my top 20, Collin rates Syracuse No. 45, Illinois No. 42 and North Carolina No. 36.
21
Kentucky
26
22
Mississippi State
12
23
Purdue
29
24
Tulane
49
25
Cincinnati
18
There’s no surprise that Collin and I have no agreement on my final five teams.
Kentucky and Cincinnati are the only teams Collin and I have ranked somewhat similarly. The biggest disagreement is Tulane, which I ranked No. 24 and Collin put at No. 49.
Also, Collin had eight teams in the top 25 of his betting power ratings that I did not rank on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 10 Florida State, No. 17 Baylor, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 21 Arkansas, No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 24 Pitt and No. 25 LSU.
