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Of the four teams ahead of Boise State in the USA Today Coaches Poll going into Week 9, two were off and two faced big tests. Alabama and LSU— which were numbers one and two, and remain in those spots— both had byes this Saturday, although they will clash in Week 10. Oklahoma State, who came into the weekend ranked No. 4, zipped past Baylor 59-24, but it was the Stanford Cardinal, who came into the weekend ranked No. 3, that gave a glimmer of hope to Broncos fans that Boise might be able to jump up in the rankings without having even played a game. Alas, the Cardinal escaped Los Angeles with 56-48 victory over the USC Trojans, and retained their spot at No. 3.
In Week 10, the aforementioned game between Alabama and LSU provides a chance for Boise to jump up in the rankings, although there's a good chance that the coaches won't drop the loser of that game below the Broncos. Oklahoma State will host the Kansas State Wildcats, who dropped to No. 19 in this week's Coaches Poll after getting slaughtered by Oklahoma in Manhattan on Saturday. Stanford will travel to Corvallis to take on the Oregon State Beavers, who sit at an uninspiring 2-6 on the season. For their part, Boise State will ship down to Vegas to take on UNLV, where they gobble up the Rebels like a cheap buffet.
Here is the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 Poll:
Rank
|
Team (first-place votes) |
Record
|
Points
|
Last week's poll
|
|
1.
|
LSU (41)
|
8-0
|
1,457
|
1
|
|
2.
|
Alabama (18)
|
8-0
|
1,434
|
2
|
|
3.
|
Stanford
|
8-0
|
1,323
|
3
|
|
4.
|
Oklahoma State |
8-0
|
1,314
|
4
|
|
5.
|
Boise State
|
7-0
|
1,237
|
5
|
|
6.
|
Oregon
|
7-1
|
1,175
|
7
|
|
7.
|
Oklahoma
|
7-1
|
1,117
|
9
|
|
8.
|
Arkansas |
7-1
|
1,046
|
8
|
|
9.
|
Nebraska
|
7-1
|
973
|
13
|
|
10.
|
South Carolina |
7-1
|
919
|
14
|
|
11.
|
Virginia Tech |
8-1
|
871
|
15
|
|
12.
|
Clemson
|
8-1
|
779
|
6
|
|
13.
|
Michigan
|
7-1
|
734
|
17
|
|
14.
|
Houston |
8-0
|
679
|
18
|
|
15.
|
Penn State |
8-1
|
646
|
19
|
|
16.
|
Michigan State |
6-2
|
528
|
10
|
|
17.
|
Wisconsin
|
6-2
|
463
|
11
|
|
18.
|
Arizona State |
6-2
|
445
|
20
|
|
19.
|
Kansas State |
7-1
|
440
|
12
|
|
20.
|
Georgia |
6-2
|
410
|
21
|
|
21.
|
West Virginia
|
6-2
|
270
|
24
|
|
22.
|
Cincinnati |
6-1
|
232
|
23
|
|
23.
|
Georgia Tech |
7-2
|
193
|
NR
|
|
24.
|
Southern Mississippi |
7-1
|
160
|
25
|
|
25.
|
Texas |
5-2
|
122
|
NR
|
|
|
|||||
Dropped out | |||||
No. 16 Texas A&M (5-3, lost to Missouri 38-31 OT), No. 22 Texas Tech (5-3, lost to Iowa State 41-7). | |||||
|
|||||
Others receiving votes | |||||
TCU (6-2) 55; Auburn (6-3) 41; Washington (6-2) 38; Texas A&M (5-3) 30; Ohio State (5-3) 21; Florida State (5-3) 11; Notre Dame (5-3) 9; North Carolina (6-3) 2; Missouri (4-4) 1. |