Campus Sports top 25 rankings: Week 4

In what ESPN’s Danny Kanell coined “Shakeup Saturday” turned out to be just that. Two top ten upsets coupled with other big wins have left us with a completely new Top Ten, but how far did it stretch? Let’s find out.

 1. Ohio State (1)

Ohio State finally felt the pressure of being the defending national champions. The Northern Illinois Huskies pushed the Buckeyes to the brink, but they somehow got out of Columbus with the one-touchdown victory, despite five turnovers. Teams now know what they need to do to beat the Buckeyes.

2. Michigan State (2)

The Spartans just continue to get better every single week. Connor Cook is finally looking like the NFL-type quarterback everyone thought he was. He also has a ton of weapons around him, so that certainly helps. Could the Spartans be the team to knock the Buckeyes from the top of the mountain?

3. TCU (3)

TCU is flying under the radar, despite being ranked third in the nation. They have yet to begin conference play, but they look to be dangerous once it gets going. Trevone Boykin is impressive as ever, but the defense will need to play better if they want to compete for the CFP.

4. Georgia (6)

The Bulldogs finally have figured out their quarterback situation. Greyson Lambert was on fire against South Carolina as he set an FBS record for passing percentage. He is going to need to continue to be that hot if Georgia wants to compete for the SEC championship.

5. Ole Miss (16)

By far, the Ole Miss Rebels had the biggest upset of Week 3. They went into a hostile Bryant Denny and won for the first time in 27 years. It may have taken some dumb luck and mistakes by the Crimson Tide, but the Rebels are sure of one thing and that’s their dominating defense.

6. Baylor (5)

The Bears are in this position by no fault of their own. They had a bye week, so they weren’t able to enjoy the spoils of Shakeup Saturday. They have their chance next week as they host Rice. Hopefully there isn’t another upset on the horizon.

7. Clemson (9)

The Tigers just keep on winning and they are looking to be one of the dark horses in the CFP right now, despite being the favorite in the ACC. This team is dangerous defensively and Deshaun Watson has looked very good all season long.

8. Florida State (12)

The Seminoles got a huge road win against a very tough Boston College team. They pulled off a big shutout on the road and that isn’t very easy to do. Dalvin Cook is looking very sharp right now, so I’d expect him to continue his dominance in the ACC.

9. Alabama (4)

Despite the Crimson Tide finally figuring out who their quarterback is, this team still made way too many mistakes on Saturday. They gave up five turnovers while not taking one away all game long. Jake Coker is going to have to get over those mistakes and move on to the next game.

10. Oregon (10)

Even without starting quarterback Vernon Adams, the Ducks still looked very impressive. Jeff Lockie made his first career start and he proved that he can step up when the team needs him to do so. Once Adams is back and healthy, this team is going to be very dangerous, especially with USC down the way they were on Saturday.

11. LSU (14)

Leonard Fournette is by far and away the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy after Saturday’s 228-yard performance against the Auburn Tigers. Brandon Harris performed very well and the Tigers’ defense is starting to get in a good motion now.

12. Notre Dame (13)

C.J. Prosise has filled in very nicely for the Irish and he is going to have to keep doing that if they want to be successful. The Irish offense looked sloppy early against Georgia Tech, but they picked up late in the game to seal the victory.

13. UCLA (11)

The Bruins looked impressive against the Cougars, but they were only able to come up with a one-point victory. Josh Rosen is getting better each week, but he made some mistakes I know he will fix. The Bruins’ defense looked very sharp in their win.

14. Oklahoma (17)

If there is one guy who is a dark horse for the Heisman right now, it’s Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. This guy is very good and he showed why his team should be considered a real threat when it comes to the CFP this season.

15. Texas A&M (18)

The Aggies looked very good and Kyle Allen is still looking like the best quarterback in the SEC after Saturday’s win. Their defense is just as impressive. This team should continue to dominate as they take on Arkansas next week, but look for that to be a potential trap game.

16. USC (7)

You just can’t lose to an unranked Stanford team in front of your home crowd. You just can’t. Unfortunately, that’s what the Trojans did. Su’a Cravens must get his defense in order if they want to turn things around this week.

17. Arizona (19)

The Wildcats are quietly 3-0 right now and they look like they could be making a ton of noise in the PAC-12 South right now. When Scooby Wright returns for this team in a few weeks, look for them to be very dangerous on the defensive side of the ball.

 18. Utah (21)

The Utes are looking better each and every week. Even without starting quarterback, they went out and got the job done this week. Much like the Wildcats, the Utes can be very dangerous if teams allow them to be.

 19. Wisconsin (22)

The Badgers are finally back on track. Joel Stave looked good throwing the ball again and the defense was dominant. They will need to start creating turnovers to compete in the Big Ten.

20. Georgia Tech (15)

The Yellow Jackets got down early and they weren’t able to come back in the game. Fortunately, the team knows that Patrick Skov is something special and this team is going to turn things around quickly to compete in the ACC Coastal.

21. Northwestern (23)

The Wildcats seemed to be in trouble early against the Duke Blue Devils, but this team continued to fight as that Pat Fitzgerald defense looked very good. Northwestern outscored Duke 19-3 to win the game and they look to be a dark horse in the Big Ten this year.

22. BYU (20)

Despite the loss, I couldn’t drop the Cougars very far. This team still looked impressive, despite a three-interception showing from Tanner Mangum. This team won’t compete for the CFP now, but they can certainly ruin it for some teams now.

 23. Tennessee (NR)

I am playing the ultimate game of cat and mouse with the Volunteers, but they have looked impressive in recent weeks, despite blowing a lead against Oklahoma last week. This team looks to be the only team that can stop the Bulldogs in the East.

24. Boise State (22)

Losing Ryan Finley to injury may have been exactly what the Broncos needed, as morbid as that sounds. Thomas Stuart came in and played well, but it was the rushing attack of Jeremy McNichols that sealed the deal for the Broncos. Will Stuart have to lead the Broncos into battle Friday against Virginia?

 25. Auburn (8)

The Tigers woke the beast that is Leonard Fournette this week and they paid for it. They could not stop him all day long, but the good thing is that nobody is going to be able to stop him. Another bit of good news is that Jeremy Johnson only threw one interception, so that’s a plus.

Fell out of rankings: Arkansas (25)

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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports

Video: Jaguars QB Blake Bortles fires three-yard TD
Video: Jaguars QB Blake Bortles fires three-yard TD