AP Poll College Football Rankings 2015: Week 10 Sees Little Change, But That Won't Last
ByThe Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll remained almost completely unchanged, as only a small handful of teams either rose or fell more than two places.
North Carolina (21) had the largest trend, leaping onto the Top 25 after beating Pittsburgh, which fell off the poll from the 23rd spot. Duke also fell from the Top 25 after losing to Miami in a game the ACC determined it should have won.
But Duke's loss was also its first in conference play, as was Pittsburgh's loss to North Carolina, both of which gave the Tar Heels sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal Division. They currently have the inside track on the conference title game, which will likely be against either Clemson (3) or Florida State (17).
Despite North Carolina's unbeaten streak since week one, Clemson is the ACC's best chance at representing the conference in the College Football Playoff (CFP), whose first Top 25 is due out Tuesday. Clemson cruised to a 56-41 win over N.C. State and kept the six first-place votes it got last week.
Inactive last weekend, Ohio State (1) and Baylor (2) remained atop the AP's poll and are likely locks for the CFP's ranking. The other two spots may be less certain, as Clemson, LSU (4), TCU (5), and Michigan State (6) can make strong claims for top-four spots.
Still trying to make that climb are Alabama (7), Notre Dame (8), Stanford (9), and Florida (11). Unbeaten and ranked 10th in the nation, Iowa is also making an interesting case and could steal a CFP spot if it can hold down the Big Ten West and beat whoever wins the East.
Two teams that could really muddy the waters are Florida and Oklahoma State (12). After beating Georgia, Florida has a soft schedule leading up to their season finale against Florida State and will likely play for the SEC title.
Oklahoma State is unbeaten and coming off a 70-53 win over Texas Tech with games against TCU, Baylor, and Oklahoma (14) still to come.