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Penn State, Oregon Move Up In Latest Polls

As October turns into November, college football's top 25 is taking on a far different look from the preseason. There are still the familiar names at the top like Alabama, Clemson and LSU, but some new contenders are starting to emerge in the College Football Playoff race. 

 

The newest USA Today-Amway Coaches Poll top 25 from features a different top five following Week 9's action. LSU has now jumped Clemson for the No. 2 spot behind Alabama while Penn State moves up to No. 5, replacing Oklahoma. The Sooners fell four spots to No. 9 following their upset loss at Kansas State. 

 

Oregon enters the top 10, moving up three spots, after needing a last-second field goal to beat Washington State. The Ducks move ahead while Auburn drops two spots to No. 12 after coming up short against LSU on the road. 

 

A couple of former top-10 teams also continue their slide. No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 17 Wisconsin fell nine and four spots, respectively, following Week 9 losses. Interestingly, though, the Irish are only one spot behind Michigan after losing in Ann Arbor 45-14 while the Badgers are two spots behind the Wolverines after beating them 35-14 in September. 

 

One new team entered the top 25 -- Kansas State, which replaced No. 24 Arizona State. 

 

The Nov. 9 game between Alabama and LSU will, barring any change in the next week, indeed be a battle between No. 1 and No. 2 -- just not in the order anyone initially expected. Following a 23-20 win over Auburn on Saturday, LSU is the new No. 1 team according to the latest AP Top 25 poll. The Tigers barely edged the Crimson Tide by two points (1,476 to 1,474) to claim the top spot.

Furthermore, No. 3 Ohio State is only eight points away from LSU as voters clearly see those three teams as the best in college football. Alabama and LSU have an open week ahead of their Nov. 9 showdown in Tuscaloosa. Barring an extreme change of direction, they'll stay in the top two spots for the next week. 

 

Clemson and Penn State round out the top five while Oregon jumps up to No. 7 after barely beating Washington State on Saturday night. Oklahoma falls from No. 5 to No. 10 after its loss to Kansas State. Speaking of the Wildcats, they're No. 22 and one of three new teams to be ranked this week along with No. 24 Memphis and No. 25 San Diego State. The biggest faller was Texas, which fell out of the standings entirely after losing to TCU. 

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