UPDATED POWER RANKINGS; NEW #1

 

All Hail the King! Georgia reclaims the top spot in this week's rendition of the power rankings. The Bulldogs pulled just ahead of Ohio State after being in second for some time. Alabama's power rating was lowered slightly after the close win in Oxford, but the Tide have a comfortable margin of safety ahead of Tennessee. Although, the Vols would be deserving favorites at home against Alabama if they met again. Michigan is comfortable in fourth just off the pace with Tennessee. The Wolverines could catch Tennessee if they easily dismantle Illinois next week. But, the Vols would really need to fall flat at South Carolina. 

Just on the edge of the top five is USC. The Trojans lack of a serious defense is all that is keeping them from going up. However, a predictable win against lowly Colorado Friday night did nothing to help. Fellow PAC-12 member Utah swapped spots with Clemson again after blowing out Stanford. However, the change was due more so to Clemson's ineptitude on offense. The Tigers handled Louisville, who was without Malik Cunningham for most of the contest, but still committed too many turnovers in spots where they really could have asserted dominance. This team will be quite interesting to watch going forward.

The ratings finally give Ole Miss their due after the Rebels nearly pulled off an upset over Bama. One or two plays go differently and Ole Miss would have a legitimate chance at the CFP. Now, a NY6 might not even be possible because of the number of teams with 2 or fewer losses. LSU sits right off Ole Miss and actually dropped a spot; the drop is more so a jump by Ole Miss. 

TCU moved up a bunch just like Ole Miss. A great defensive effort helped the Toads leap seven spots. TCU has every right to finish unbeaten. A playoff appearance could come down to the Big 12 Championship serving as a de facto elimination game. Great job Sonny Dykes!

The remainder of the Top 25 had no eye-catching changes besides perhaps Washington moving in after a great road victory in Eugene. Obviously, the Ducks dropped a few spots because of the loss. Baylor dropped seven spots in the rankings. The Bears never showed against K-State and looked as if they were unaware the Wildcats had one of the nation's top running backs. The game was a slaughter start to finish. 

Other Changes of Note

UCLA did not really drop all that much from being upset by nearly three touchdown underdog Arizona. The Bruins were rated about right all year long but were overrated by the press and public. Still, the loss was surprising in and of itself. Only one PAC-12 team remains viable for the CFP: USC. Expect more cannibalism in that conference. 

North Carolina skyrocketed up the rankings with probably the largest change of the year. The Tar Heels held on for dear life in Winston-Salem. Still, UNC is not nearly as good as their record suggests and this is reflected in their number. 

College Football Twitter darlings, Tulane, lost at home to UCF. The Green Wave really never got going despite a respectable comeback. This one did not feel as close as the final score. Tulane likely reached its ceiling and it was not even at UCF's floor. The Green Wave are having a tremendous season nevertheless. 

Let's finish with Jim Mora and his UConn Huskies. The team many suggested should drop to FCS has shocked the country by attaining bowl eligibility in Mora's first season. It's stunning how much of a difference simply caring can have. Former coach Randy Edsall seemed to be only cashing a check in his second stint in Storrs. Mora is a perfect fit for the gig. Hopefully for the Husky faithful, no more established program finding itself in need of a coach comes knocking. For now, UConn should enjoy the season and hope they beat Army to avoid missing a bowl invite (bowl eligilbilty does not guarantee an invite

The following rankings reflect power ratings. The ratings are updated every week to reflect each team's performance against both its on-field opponent and the betting spread, or line.

Ranking	Team	Prev. Ranking
1	Georgia	2
2	Ohio State	1
3	Alabama	3
4	Tennessee	4
5	Michigan	5
6	USC	6
7	Utah	8
8	Clemson	7
9	Ole Miss	15
10	LSU	9
11	TCU	18
12	Penn State	14
13	Oregon	10
14	Texas	11
15	Oklahoma	13
16	Florida State	21
17	Mississippi State	17
18	Arkansas	20
19	Baylor	12
20	Kentucky	16
21	Kansas State	26
22	Oregon State	25
23	Wisconsin	19
24	Washington	32
25	Notre Dame	22
26	Central Florida	30
27	UCLA	24
28	North Carolina	46
29	Florida	37
30	Wake Forest	23
31	Iowa	33
32	Minnesota	34
33	Cincinnati	27
34	Oklahoma State	39
35	Illinois	28
36	Iowa State	35
37	Louisville	36
38	Texas A&M	29
39	Washington State	38
40	Texas Tech	41
41	Tulane	31
42	Purdue	45
43	East Carolina	54
44	Pittsburgh	51
45	SMU	53
46	Maryland	43
47	West Virginia	52
48	South Carolina	40
49	Missouri	49
50	Syracuse	48
51	NC State	42
52	Kansas	50
53	Michigan State	47
54	BYU	55
55	Air Force	56
56	Boise State	58
57	Auburn	59
58	Appalachian State	57
59	Liberty	44
60	James Madison	65
61	UTSA	61
62	Miami	64
63	Fresno State	66
64	Western Kentucky	68
65	Toledo	60
66	Arizona	77
67	Marshall	69
68	Troy	70
69	Northwestern	63
70	South Alabama	71
71	UAB	83
72	Houston	67
73	Army	76
74	Duke	78
75	San Diego State	82
76	Arizona State	73
77	Nebraska	80
78	California	74
79	San Jose State	72
80	Virginia	75
81	North Texas	79
82	Coastal Carolina	62
83	Stanford	81
84	Memphis	85
85	Georgia Southern	86
86	Louisiana Lafayette	92
87	Georgia State	84
88	Vanderbilt	103
89	Indiana	88
90	Southern Mississippi	91
91	Kent State	89
92	Ball State	106
93	Rutgers	94
94	Navy	107
95	Miami Ohio	93
96	Tulsa	87
97	Wyoming	90
98	Ohio	110
99	Old Dominion	96
100	UNLV	97
101	Georgia Tech	98
102	Virginia Tech	99
103	Boston College	108
104	Central Michigan	101
105	Buffalo	100
106	Northern Illinois	102
107	Utah State	104
108	Eastern Michigan	95
109	UConn	117
110	Rice	105
111	UTEP	109
112	Florida Atlantic	111
113	Middle Tennessee State	112
114	Louisiana Monroe	120
115	Texas State	115
116	South Florida	113
117	Arkansas State	114
118	Western Michigan	118
119	Bowling Green	116
120	Louisiana Tech	119
121	Temple	121
122	New Mexico	122
123	Charlotte	123
124	Akron	127
125	Colorado State	124
126	Colorado	126
127	Nevada	125
128	Hawai'i	128
129	New Mexico State	129
130	UMass	131
131	Florida International	130