The week after packing The Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll with 10 of its teams, the SEC took a major step backward.
In week three of the ranking, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi State fell out of the Top 25 and Auburn fell 12 places after its second straight shaky win. In the poll's Top 10, Alabama (2) and Georgia (7) are the SEC's only representatives.
Ohio State kept its stranglehold on The AP's top spot after drubbing Hawaii 38-0, but lost two first place votes to Michigan State (4). The Spartans won their rematch from last season with Oregon (12), but could not leapfrog TCU (3), who put up 70 points on Stephen F Austin.
Rounding out the Top 10 was USC (6), Notre Dame (8), Florida State (9), and UCLA (10).
Knocking on the Top 10's door is LSU (13), a team that could potentially break in with a win next week over Auburn. Though LSU started a week later than most, their first two contests are much tougher than most.
Though sophomore quarterback Brandon Harris seemed like a nonfactor in the box score, LSU dominated on the ground. Led by Leonard Fournette's 159 yards, the Tigers ran for 266 yards, whereas Harris only threw for 71. On defense, they held Mississippi State to 43 rushing yards.
Joining the SEC trio in falling from the rankings was Boise State. Taking the four newly occupied slots were BYU (19), who beat Boise State in thrilling fashion, Northwestern (23), Wisconsin (24), and Oklahoma State (25).
