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College Football Top 25, Week 16: Bruins Take Week Off, Stay Put at #17/18

Unfortunately, our Bruins didn't show up and put together a complete effort against a beatable Arizona State team like they did against Southern Cal, so the Bruins got the week off while conference championships were battled across the nation. With the dust finally settled, there were some big changes at the top of the polls, but our Bruins stayed put at #17 in the AP poll and moved up one spot to #18 in the USA Today/Coaches' Poll

Stephen Dunn

Guess who is still not in the rankings?  Southern Cal.  Kind of nice, am I right?  As for our Bruins, there wasn't much change, with UCLA staying put at #17 in the AP Top 25 Poll and moving up one spot to #18 in the USA Today/Coaches' Poll.  But there's been some big changes further up the poll now that conference titles have been decided.  Obviously, the biggest story is Auburn moving up to #2 in both major polls following their demolition of #5-ranked Missouri in the SEC championship game and #2-ranked Ohio State's epic choke job in Indianapolis against #10-ranked Michigan State.  Looks like all of that from "the" Ohio State was just that: talk - as once again the national title will be battled by teams from the southeastern corner of the United States (in the last five BCS title games, only two teams - Notre Dame and Oregon - play in the Union, with every other participant hailing from the former Confederacy and only two - Texas and Florida State - coming from outside the SEC).

In our own conference, Stanford has re-found their mojo, pounding Arizona State into dust at Sun Devil Stadium after looking pedestrian (by their high standards) the last few weeks, leading them up to #5 in the AP poll and #7 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll.  Meanwhile, the Sun Devils stumble down from #11 in both polls last week to #16 in the AP poll and #17 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll.  The happiest recipient of the Sun Devils' fall is the Oregon Ducks, which climbed back to  #10 in the AP poll and #12 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll, but it's probably not enough to get them an at-large bid for a BCS bowl.

So with all that said, let's take a look at how the polls shape up this morning, courtesy of our friends at the SB Nation mothership, beginning with the AP Top 25 Poll:

Rank Team Record Votes Previous
1 Florida State (56) 13-0 1,496 1
2 Auburn (4) 12-1 1,444 3
3 Alabama 11-1 1,376 4
4 Michigan State 12-1 1,278 10
5 Stanford 11-2 1,217 7
6 Baylor 11-1 1,185 9
7 Ohio State 12-1 1,130 2
8 South Carolina 10-2 1,099 8
9 Missouri 11-2 1,066 5
10 Oregon 10-2 880 12
11 Oklahoma 10-2 878 18
12 Clemson 10-2 848 13
13 Oklahoma State 10-2 797 6
14 LSU 9-3 726 14
15 UCF 11-1 629 15
16 Arizona State 10-3 614 11
17 UCLA 9-3 544 17
18 Louisville 11-1 525 19
19 Wisconsin 9-3 383 21
20 Texas A&M 8-4 282 22
21 Fresno State 11-1 227 24
22 Duke 10-3 201 20
23 Georgia 8-4 196 25
24 Northern Illinois 12-1 144 16
25 Notre Dame 8-4 76 NR
Others Receiving Votes: USC 74, Iowa 48, Miami (FL) 47, Vanderbilt 25, Texas 22, Cincinnati 11, Bowling Green 10, Washington 9, Rice 7, North Dakota State 4, Minnesota 2

And here's how the USA Today/Coaches' Poll looks like:

Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Florida State (62) 13-0 1550 1
2 Auburn 12-1 1486 3
3 Alabama 11-1 1414 4
4 Michigan State 12-1 1342 9
5 Baylor 11-1 1275 7
6 Ohio State 12-1 1211 2
7 Stanford 11-2 1188 10
8 South Carolina 10-2 1108 7
9 Missouri 11-2 1088 5
10 Oklahoma 10-2 913 15
11 Clemson 10-2 899 11
12 Oregon 10-2 887 12
13 Oklahoma State 10-2 845 6
14 LSU 9-3 719 14
15 UCF 11-1 658 17
16 Louisville 11-1 611 16
17 Arizona State 10-3 602 13
18 UCLA 9-3 520 19
19 Wisconsin 9-3 408 21
20 Fresno State 11-1 344 22
21 (tie) Duke 10-3 247 20
21 (tie) Texas A&M 8-4 247 25
23 Northern Illinois 12-1 149 18
24 Georgia 8-4 135 NR
25 Miami 9-3 73 NR
Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati 47, Vanderbilt 40, Southern Cal 33, Iowa 30,  Texas 27, Rice 23, Bowling Green 12, Notre Dame 8, Minnesota 6, Ball State 2, Nebraska 1, Virginia Tech 1, Washington 1

Overall, that sounds about right given the play we've seen from our Bruins this year.  It would have been nice to see them in the Pac-12 title game and sitting somewhere around #14 or #15 in both polls.  But, for now, let's wait and see where our Bruins end up in the bowl selection shuffle and keep our fingers crossed that Jim Mora can earn his huge contact extension with a dominating bowl win.

GO BRUINS