BSP College Football Week 5 Power Rankings

1: Alabama (5-0) (No Change)

Last Week: Beat Ole Miss 42-21

Next Week: At Texas A&M

Several bags of popcorn later, the Tide have now moved passed Ole Miss in SEC West competition and look to take on a wounded Texas A&M team coming off of two straight conference losses. Alabama and Georgia have entered a tier of their own. For now, it’s too difficult to get a read on who’s the better team, but by this point it’s almost a certainty that we’ll find out in Atlanta for the SEC Championship. Playoff slots pending, we may see them play twice.

2. Georgia (5-0) (No Change)

Last Week: Beat Arkansas 37-0

Next Week: At Auburn

The Bulldogs are for real this year. Coming off a shutout win against Arkansas who was ranked in the top ten, their defense continues to win games. The offense is still a little worrisome, but the fact that Stetson Bennet IV only had to complete seven passes to put this game away means Georgia fans can get comfortable.

3. Iowa (5-0) (No Change)

Last Week: Beat Maryland 51-14

Next Week: Hosts Penn State

Next week’s matchup with Penn State is bound to be one of the biggest games thus far in the season. However, I don’t want to breeze over the Hawkeyes win last Saturday over Maryland. Maryland has been one of the more exciting teams in college football this year, and Iowa did our favorite thing here at Back Sports Page. They took care of business. Thumbs up for the Hawkeyes, 10/10, and we’re all proud of you. At this point in the season, nobody can afford upsets.

4. Penn State (5-0) (Up 1) 

Last Week: Beat Indiana 24-0

Next Week: At Iowa

Penn State did our favorite thing this week, they took care of business. They also did our second favorite thing, they put on a dominant defensive performance. They allowed less than 200 passing yards and less than 100 rushing yards to Indiana, but the most telling statistic of this performance is the zero that the Hoosiers left on the scoreboard.

5. Cincinnati (4-0) (Up 1)

Last Week: Beat Notre Dame 24-13

Next Week: Hosts Temple

Cincinnati is coming off a very impressive win over the Fighting Irish. Even though I expected that game to go the Bearcats way, I don’t know how many people really predicted what we ended up seeing. If you had any worries about this team being legit, there’s no reason to worry after what happened this last Saturday.

6. Michigan (5-0) (Up 8)

Last Week: Beat Wisconsin 38-17

Next Week: At Nebraska

After a big jump into our top ten, Michigan sits at No. 6 and moves onto 5-0 on the season. I had next to zero expectation for this team, but the Big Ten has been full of surprises this year. They have five teams in my top ten this week, and the Wolverines sit as third.

7. Ohio State (4-1) (Up 4)

Last Week: Beat Rutgers 52-13

Next Week: Hosts Maryland

The fourth best in the Big Ten! Still, this Buckeye team is crazy good. Some people have been making the mistake of writing them off after their home loss to the Ducks, but this team is shifting gears and will soon be the Ohio State we’re used to.

8: Oregon (4-1) (Down 4)

Last Week: Lost to Stanford 31-24 (OT)

Next Week: Hosts California

I wasn’t sure how far to bump Oregon in the rankings this week after slipping to the Stanford Cardinals in overtime. The Pac-12 is in bad shape this year, and it seems the Ducks are the sole team capable of reaching a playoff. Right now they’re sitting at No. 8 in my rankings, so they’ll have to win out and win convincingly to make up for a loss to one of the worse teams in the weakest of the P5 conferences.

9: BYU (5-0) (Up 1)

Last Week: Beat Utah State 34-20

Next Week: Hosts Boise State

The second best G5 team in my rankings, BYU hasn’t missed a beat and started their season undefeated while chaos rained down the rest of college football. Win games, win them well, don’t leave anything to chance, and you get a top ten spot this year. That’s exactly what the Cougars have been able to do and will likely continue to do.

10: Michigan State (5-0) (Up 7)

Last Week: Beat Western Kentucky 48-31

Next Week: At Rutgers

The Spartans are rolling now on the best season they’ve had in years. After a statement win over a then-valuable Hurricanes team, the Spartans haven’t slowed down. The makeup of the Big Ten this year puts us in position to see a lot of great matchups, this team included in several.

11: Arkansas (4-1) (Down 1)

Last Week: Lost to Georgia 37-0

Next Week: At Ole Miss

I normally don’t have notes after the top ten, but something needs to be said for this Arkansas team. They fell short against arguably the best team in college football, but unless you team made my top ten, I’d pick Arkansas to beat ’em. This is still a great team, just because they’re not the trendy undefeated they were last week doesn’t make them a different team.

12: Kentucky (5-0) (Up 13)

Last Week: Beat Florida 20-13

Next Week: Hosts Mississippi State

My last note for these rankings, I wanted to talk abut Kentucky because they’re the biggest mover in this weeks rankings. The reason I have them so high isn’t just because the beat Florida. I have them all the way up here because they played a BAD game and beat Florida. This team is capable of a lot more than what we saw Saturday night, so don’t expect them to disappear from these rankings anytime soon.

13: Oklahoma (5-0) (No Change)

Last Week: Beat Kansas State 37-31

Next Week: At Texas

14: Ole Miss (3-1) (Down 6)

Last Week: Lost to Alabama 42-21

Next Week: Hosts Arkansas

15: Oklahoma State (5-0) (Up 6)

Last Week: Beat Baylor 24-14

Next Week: BYE

16: Notre Dame (4-1) (Down 7)

Last Week: Lost to Cincinnati 24-13

Next Week: At Virginia Tech

17: Wake Forest (5-0) (Up 5)

Last Week: Beat Louisville 37-34

Next Week: At Syracuse

18: Florida (3-2) (Down 11)

Last Week: Lost to Kentucky 20-13

Next Week: Hosts Vanderbilt

19: Coastal Carolina (5-0) (Previously Unranked)

Last Week: Beat Louisiana Monroe 59-6

Next Week: At Arkansas State

20: Auburn (4-1) (Previously Unranked)

Last Week: Beat LSU 24-19

Next Week: Hosts Georgia

21: Texas (4-1) (Previously Unranked)

Last Week: Beat TCU 32-37

Next Week: Hosts Oklahoma

22: SMU (5-0) (Previously Unranked)

Last Week: Beat USF 41-17

Next Week: At Navy

23: Baylor (4-1) (Down 5)

Last Week: Lost to Oklahoma State 24-14

Next Week: Hosts West Virginia

24: Texas A&M (3-2) (Down 12)

Last Week: Lost to Mississippi State 26-22

Next Week: Hosts Alabama

25: Oregon State (4-1) (Previously Unranked)

Last Week: Beat Washington 27-24

Next Week: At Washington State

BSP Pick Em Contest | Week 5 Results

Matt Sargent

1. Florida vs Kentucky: Over 55 (Incorrect)
2. Kansas State vs Oklahoma: Kansas State +12 (Correct)
3. Wisconsin vs Michigan: Michigan +2 (Correct)
4. Mississippi State vs Texas A&M: Texas A&M -7 (Incorrect)
5. Notre Dame vs Cincinnati: Cincinnati -1.5 (Correct)

Matt Jakubosky

1. Notre Dame vs Cincinnati: Notre Dame +1.5 (Incorrect)
2. Arkansas vs Georgia: Over 48.5 (Incorrect)
3. Alabama vs Ole Miss: Alabama -14.5 (Correct)
4. Wisconsin vs Michigan: Michigan +1.5 (Correct)
5. Florida vs Kentucky: Florida -8.5 (Incorrect)

JB

1. Notre Dame vs Cincinnati: Cincinnati -2 (Correct)
2. Central Michigan vs Miami (OH): Central Michigan +1 (Incorrect)
3. Arkansas vs Georgia: Arkansas +18.5 (Incorrect)
4. NC State vs Louisiana Tech: Louisiana Tech +19 (Correct)
5. Michigan State vs Western Kentucky: WKU +11 (Incorrect)

Standings After Week 5

1. Matt Sargent (6-4 Overall) (3-2 Last Week)
2. Matt Jakubosky (4-6) (2-3 Last Week)
3. JB (4-6) (2-3 Last Week)