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USA Today Coaches Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK | CHANGE | HI/LOW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
8-0 | 1540 | 54 | 1 | 1/1 | |
| 2 | Oregon Ducks |
8-0 | 1475 | 5 | 2 | 2/3 | |
| 3 | Florida State Seminoles |
8-0 | 1436 | 3 | 3 | 3/12 | |
| 4 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
9-0 | 1369 | 0 | 4 | 2/4 | |
| 5 | Baylor Bears |
7-0 | 1299 | 0 | 5 | 5/NR | |
| 6 | Stanford Cardinal |
7-1 | 1222 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 4/13 |
| 7 | Clemson Tigers |
8-1 | 1121 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4/10 |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners |
7-1 | 971 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 8/18 |
| 9 | Missouri Tigers |
8-1 | 961 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 7/NR |
| 10 | Auburn Tigers |
8-1 | 959 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 10/NR |
| 11 | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
7-1 | 864 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11/20 |
| 12 | LSU Tigers |
7-2 | 835 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 6/13 |
| 13 | Texas A&M Aggies |
7-2 | 800 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 6/15 |
| 14 | Miami Hurricanes |
7-1 | 747 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 6/NR |
| 15 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
7-2 | 722 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 6/20 |
| 16 | Louisville Cardinals |
7-1 | 569 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 6/17 |
| 17 | Fresno State Bulldogs |
8-0 | 567 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 17/NR |
| 18 | UCLA Bruins |
6-2 | 494 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 10/21 |
| 19 | Michigan State Spartans |
8-1 | 446 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 19/NR |
| 20 | Northern Illinois Huskies |
9-0 | 409 | 0 | 20 | 20/NR | |
| 21 | Central Florida Knights |
6-1 | 340 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 21/NR |
| 22 | Wisconsin Badgers |
6-2 | 333 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 18/NR |
| 23 | Texas Tech Red Raiders |
7-2 | 217 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 9/NR |
| 24 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
6-2 | 130 | 0 | NR | 23/NR | |
| 25 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
7-2 | 108 | 0 | 25 | 11/NR |
AP Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (52) | 8-0 | 1,491 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon (2) | 8-0 | 1,418 | 2 |
| 3 | Florida State (6) | 8-0 | 1,409 | 3 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 9-0 | 1,315 | 4 |
| 5 | Baylor | 7-0 | 1,234 | 5 |
| 6 | Stanford | 7-1 | 1,214 | 6 |
| 7 | Auburn | 8-1 | 1,082 | 8 |
| 8 | Clemson | 8-1 | 1,059 | 9 |
| 9 | Missouri | 8-1 | 956 | 10 |
| 10 | LSU | 7-2 | 863 | 11 |
| 11 | Texas A&M | 7-2 | 861 | 12 |
| 12 | Oklahoma | 7-1 | 816 | 13 |
| 13 | South Carolina | 7-2 | 769 | 14 |
| 14 | Miami (FL) | 7-1 | 737 | 7 |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 7-1 | 662 | 18 |
| 16 | UCLA | 6-2 | 515 | 17 |
| 17 | Fresno State | 8-0 | 493 | 16 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 8-1 | 478 | 24 |
| 19 | UCF | 6-1 | 472 | 19 |
| 20 | Louisville | 7-1 | 385 | 20 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 6-2 | 342 | 22 |
| 22 | Northern Illinois | 9-0 | 322 | 21 |
| 23 | Arizona State | 6-2 | 197 | 25 |
| 24 | Notre Dame | 7-2 | 164 | NR |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 7-2 | 102 | 15 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Texas 34, Georgia 32, Brigham Young 28, Mississippi 17, Houston 9, Minnesota 7, Michigan 6, Washington 6, Ball State 4, Duke 1 |
And then there were three.
Michigan's brutal execution at the hands of Michigan State Saturday has removed yet another team from the polls, capapulted the Spartans into the top-20, and set up the Big Ten championship game with — and it kills me to say it — the best game the Big Ten could muster this year.
Ohio State's offense has been incredibly good this year, laying wasted to all manner of defenses. Michigan State's defense this year looks to be the best unit that Mark Dantonio and Pat Narduzzi have put together while in East Lansing. The undercard of MIchigan State's quietly effective offense vs. OSU's stout defense will probably be less entertaining. The Buckeyes got what they wanted. Ohio State will have one more marquee opponent before the final BCS poll. Now it just needs some help.
As for Michigan, the Wolverines still have three winnable games left before what should be a very tough game against OSU. A nine win season is still very much there for the taking, and three straight wins would probably put Michigan in the back end of the polls by the time The Game rolls around, also setting Michigan up to be the fourth team chosen for a bowl tie in. And if there was anything that could get Michigan fans over the losses to PSU and MSU, it would be an upset in game 12.