Bearcats thrusted to No. 2, Boilermakers join poll after 14 years
By Alex Budzynski, Editor-in-Chief
Several upsets this weekend have reshaped the landscape of college football going into Week 8.
Cincinnati moved up to No. 2 in this week’s Associated Press poll, marking a new best ranking in the program’s history. The undefeated Bearcats became the team outside the traditional powerhouses which has ranked that high since 2010.
Georgia remained a unanimous No. 1, trailed by a No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Ohio State.
Dropping in the poll was Iowa, who lost to an unranked Purdue on Saturday. The defeat bumped the Hawkeyes to No. 11 — making room for Cincinnati — and thrusted the Boilermakers into the rankings. Sitting at No. 25, Purdue also broke the longest AP poll drought for a Power 5 school. This week is the first time the school has been ranked in 14 years.
Saturday witnessed the defeat of seven ranked teams, five being to unranked teams. This increased the total on the season to 47.
Purdue’s upset over Iowa continued the three-week trend of a top-three team posting to an unranked team. Stanford defeated the then-No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 2, and Texas A&M knocked off then-No. 1 Alabama last week.
These losses continue to shake up the back half of the rankings, as five new teams found their way into the polls: Auburn, Baylor, Pittsburg, Purdue and the never-before-ranked Texas-San Antonio. Florida, Arkansas and Texas were among those pushed out of the poll.
Looking ahead, this weekend is the first in the season when there will be no games matching ranked teams.
