There weren’t any changes at the top of my Associated Press Top 25 ballot this week with the top five remaining the same: Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Michigan.
The biggest changes near the top were Oklahoma State and Penn State, both dropping out of my top 10 after losses to Iowa State and Illinois, respectively.
Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s updated college football betting power ratings agree with my top two teams — Georgia and Alabama — but not much after that.
Here’s my updated AP ballot compared with Wilson’s current power ratings entering Week 9 of the college football season.
Brett McMurphy's AP Top 25 Ballot Entering Week 9
AP denotes Brett McMurphy's Associated Press Top 25 ballot.
PR denotes Collin Wilson's College Football Betting Power Ratings.
1
Georgia
1
2
Alabama
2
3
Oklahoma
4
4
Cincinnati
5
5
Michigan
11
6
Oregon
17
7
Ohio State
3
Of the top seven teams on my Top 25 ballot, I have Collin’s top five teams.
The biggest discrepancy is Ohio State. I have the Buckeyes at No. 7 — in part to their head-to-head loss to Oregon — while Collin has Ohio State No. 3 behind only Georgia and Alabama.
I have the Ducks, whose only loss this year was at Stanford without offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, at No. 6, compared to Collin’s No. 17 rating.
8
Michigan State
32
9
Iowa
16
10
Kentucky
24
11
Notre Dame
15
12
Ole Miss
7
Of the next five teams on my ballot, the biggest disagreement is Michigan State. I have the undefeated Spartans at No. 8, while Collin has MSU at No. 32.
I also have Iowa, Kentucky and Notre Dame ranked much higher than Collin’s ratings, and Collin has Ole Miss at No. 7 — five spots higher than my No. 12 ranking for the Rebels.
13
Wake Forest
39
14
Oklahoma State
20
15
SMU
34
16
Pitt
12
17
Texas A&M
9
18
San Diego State
67
19
Auburn
8
Collin and I are in the same ballpark for a few of my teams I ranked between No. 13 and No. 19. We are similar in our rankings of Oklahoma State, Pitt, Texas A&M and Auburn.
My ranking of undefeated San Diego State at No. 18 remains the biggest difference of any team on my ballot, as Collin rates the Aztecs at No. 67.
20
UTSA
70
21
Baylor
37
22
Iowa State
10
23
Penn State
13
24
Houston
48
25
Arkansas
21
There are even more differences between Collin and I on the final six teams on my AP ballot.
Collin has a pair of two-loss teams — Iowa State and Penn State — among his top 13, while I have the Cyclones and Nittany Lions at No. 22 and No. 23 respectively.
Collin also has six teams in the top 25 of his power ratings that I don’t have on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 6 Florida, No. 14 Arizona State, No. 18 Texas, No. 19 Utah, No. 22 NC State and No. 25 North Carolina.
