The AP Top 25 College Football Poll is definitely an imperfect system informed by good people doing their best–in many cases–but it’s become quite clear (especially this year) that a good portion of the voters simply do not watch most of the games before submitting their ballots. That yields some, let’s just call them “interesting”, results each week.

Given that fact, our team of highly dedicated college football and NFL Draft staff at A to Z Sports who do in fact watch as many games as humanly possible each week on top of covering their respective teams decided to come together and get the top 25 best teams ranked correctly. We’re calling this the “A to Z Top 25 College Football Poll”.

Each week this season we will be breaking down our top 25 teams briefly, then talking through which teams were are higher and lower on versus the AP Poll to give college football fans the best rankings in the business. Enjoy!

A to Z Top 25 College Football Poll – Week 6

1. Ohio State, 299 Points (11 first place votes)
2. Oregon, 287 (1 first place vote)
3. Miami (FL), 278
4. Ole Miss, 253
5. Oklahoma, 250
6. Texas A&M, 237
7. Penn State, 219
8. Texas, 204
9. Indiana, 200
10. Georgia, 184
11. Alabama, 183
12. Texas Tech, 168
13. Iowa State, 151
14. LSU, 149
15. Tennessee, 143
16. Missouri, 115
17. Georgia Tech, 106
18. Vanderbilt, 98
19. Florida State, 93
20. Notre Dame, 61
21. Michigan, 60
22. Illinois, 52
23. BYU, 39
24. Utah, 24
25. Virginia, 21
    
    Also receiving votes: Arizona State 16, Mississippi State 10, Memphis 2, USF 1

The A to Z and AP Poll results finally began to align at the top of the rankings following Week 5 college football action seeing as both polls had the same top seven in the same order: Ohio State, Oregon, Miami, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Penn State. For the first time ever we had a vote for a team not named Ohio State as the first overall ranked team in the A to Z Top 25. The Oregon Ducks rightfully earned their shine after knocking off Penn State, so our very own Tyler Forness (Florida Gators beat) ranked them first. We had the Ducks ranked second overall two weeks in a row, so we were ahead of the game. The AP Poll somehow had them sixth prior to this week.

Beyond seventh overall, the ranks began to diverge a bit. Teams eight through twelve were the same, but in a very different order. Having Georgia drop all the way to 12 didn’t make any sense to our team, so we kept them inside the top ten. Texas Tech was also barely in this tier, with rankings all over the place for them. One wrong move and they likely tumble swiftly.

Our A to Z Poll continues to be far more reactive to big SEC and Big Ten wins, but the AP Poll seems to weigh losses too heavily in premier matchups. The AP still won’t budge on Notre Dame despite their only losses coming to two top six teams. They also haven’t figured things out with teams like Missouri and Utah either. Our A to Z Sports team couldn’t help but point out several obvious flaws in the later portion of the AP Poll this week as we were significantly higher and lower on over a dozen teams. 12 of our staff weighed in on those differences in our ranks. Let’s dive in.

Teams we were higher on than the AP Poll

Georgia Bulldogs

I don’t see how the Georgia Bulldogs can lose a close game at home to Alabama and drop nine spots in the AP poll. That was a very close game between rivals in the SEC, and the Bulldogs have been good so far this year, including a win on the road against Tennessee. This isn’t the same Georgia team that ran the gauntlet and will run away with the National Championship. However, Kirby Smart has these players playing well and the talent on the team is still among the best in the nation. It’s a leveled playing field, and Georgia is still heavy in the mix. – Tyler Forness, A to Z Sports Florida

Texas Longhorns

I had Texas at 10, and I’m honestly starting to question putting them that high–at least if I base it off of on-field performance. Sleepwalks through a Charmin-soft post-Ohio State stretch haven’t warranted it. 27-10 over UTEP is way under what this team should be doing in those games. But the tests begin to ramp up, starting in Gainesville this weekend, followed by Oklahoma after that. – Craig Smith, A to Z Sports Miami

Iowa State Cyclones

I’m not 100 percent sold on Iowa State as a top 10 team right now, but I’m not sold on any team just yet. It’s way too early for that. Iowa State kind of landed here by default for me as I laid out my rankings this week. The Cyclones are undefeated with three Power Four wins (including a road win against Iowa). That’s more Power Four wins than Texas (zero) and Penn State (zero), two teams that are ranked ahead of Iowa State in the AP Top 25 poll this week. – Zach Ragan, A to Z Sports Tennessee

Missouri Tigers

Missouri is a hard one, and yet a weird one to rank when it comes to the rankings in the college football world. They have done everything they have been asked to do with their schedule, including absolutely dominating the lesser teams on their schedule. They have won the Power Four games on their schedule, and while they barely squeaked out a win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, it’s the first SEC game of the year, and they won that, too. The weird and difficult part about ranking this team is that they don’t look incredibly better than some of the one-loss teams behind them, or even ahead of them. But, they haven’t lost yet, and they’ve looked very good in most of their wins. They are on a bye week this week, and then will face Alabama next week–their first true test. – Justin Churchill, A to Z Sports Oklahoma

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame might just be 2-2 right now, but they’re still far better than the AP Poll wants to admit (ranking them 21st overall). Their two losses to Miami and Texas A&M (both consensus top six teams in the nation) came by a combined four points. Their two wins over Purdue and Arkansas? The Irish scored 56 points in both contests, blowing their opponents away.

The Irish need to get their pass rush and defensive consistency sorted, but the offense is top 20 in the nation in yards per play, EPA per play, and most success rates. As quarterback CJ Carr and his weapons continue to gel this squad will become an obvious playoff contender.

I have them ranked 14th right now and project that they finish the season 10-2, destroying almost every remaining team on their schedule. The Irish’s rank will be fixed. It’s only a matter of time. – Travis May, A to Z Sports College Football & NFL Draft Managing Editor

Utah Utes

The Utes have a tough loss against Texas Tech, but I see that Tech team as one of the top ten in the country right now. Maybe even higher. For Utah, the passing offense has impressed with quarterback Devon Dampier, and WR Ryan Davis is a model of consistency. I am intrigued to see how they fare with stiffer competition ahead, but to this point, somewhere in the mid-to-late teens makes the most sense in my head. – Adam Holt, A to Z Sports New Orleans Saints and LSU

Teams were were lower on than the AP Poll

Alabama Crimson Tide

After an ugly performance against Florida State in week one, and a lot of Kalen DeBoer questions that followed, many wrote off the Alabama Crimson Tide and their preseason hype. Over the last couple of weeks, this Alabama team has continued to turn things around, leading to a nice victory over Georgia this past weekend. With how well quarterback Ty Simpson if playing, this offense looks like it has an identity for the first time under DeBoer. That defense will also always have talent, and it should round into form. This is a team trending in a great direction quickly. – Ryan Roberts, A to Z Sports Notre Dame

Indiana Hoosiers

Look, the Hoosiers are obviously a good football team. A South Florida native, I am all aboard the Mendoza hype train. Their win over Illinois was extremely impressive, even if the Fighting Illini were a little shorthanded. That being said, I both want and need to see more. This weekend will be huge for IU as they play an Oregon Ducks team that may have the best quarterback in college right now, via Dante Moore. Should they beat the Ducks in Oregon, I will have no choice but to rank the team within the top five. But as I said, I need to see it first. – Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports Alabama

LSU Tigers

LSU is plummeting at the wrong time right now. If you watched Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss, the score was not indicative of the actual game. Ole Miss dominated from top-to-bottom and outside of a timely punch out which led to a fumble inside the five-yard line, it could’ve been much worse for the Tigers. I don’t think Garrett Nussmeier is 100 percent healthy. I don’t care what Brian Kelly says. I don’t care what Joe Sloan says. And I don’t care what Nussmeier says. He’s not the same quarterback he was last year and it’s severely affected the trajectory of this season for LSU.

Outside of Nussmeier, the offensive problem is running the football. LSU averaged less than three yards per carry Saturday and just 57 yards. That won’t get it done in the SEC. The wide receivers were challenged by Ole Miss’ new-look secondary and outside of a first drive explosive play, did virtually nothing. Not to mention, the offensive line is leaking big-time oil.

Defensively, it’s a talented group with All-SEC caliber players at all three levels. But on Saturday, it was on the field a long time and it showed. Whit Weeks was throwing up, defensive linemen had their hands on their hips, and the secondary was getting more and more frustrated as the game went on due to penalties and Trinidad Chambliss extending drives with big-time throws and scrambles. Right now, this LSU team is not a Top 15 team and it’s close to not being a Top 25 team, in my opinion. – Zach Berry, A to Z Sports Texas

Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt comes in at 21 on my ballot this week. This is five spots lower than their 16th placement on this week’s AP poll and three spots lower than where they landed in this week’s A to Z Sports poll at 18th. For me it all comes down to not being impressed with what Vandy has put on film so far this year. Their shining moment is a win over South Carolina, which people wanted to believe was a playoff team this year. However, they certainly don’t look like it.

I need to see Vanderbilt make an actual statement before I’ll believe they should be higher on my rankings. Luckily for them, they get that chance this week as they travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama. If they can pick up a win there or put up a competitive performance, I’ll be forced to believe they are a better football team than I have them right now. – Destin Adams, A to Z Sports Indianapolis

Florida State Seminoles

Florida State handled business in its opening game against Alabama and garnered a ton of respect from that outcome. The Seminoles dropped their first game of the season on Saturday and it came against an unranked road team. Florida State’s first road challenge wasn’t to Clemson or anything like that, it was to Virginia and they lost by eight in overtime. Now, the Seminoles will play against Miami and they have a very manageable schedule until they play Clemson in November. Florida State will have to earn belief in them again after their clunker against Virginia and I’m not so sure this is the week that happens against the Hurricanes. – Brandon Little, A to Z Sports Ohio State

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan is one of the more interesting cases for the end of the top 25. On one hand their raw talent is that of a top 15 program, but they’re so young that it’s easy to see their green tendencies. Much like last year’s squad, Michigan’s best days are coming at the end of the season. I ranked them lower than the AP, likely largely due to my need to see them grow into their potential. – Ian Valentino, A to Z Sports LSU

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