HTR's Top 25: Week 4

Week 3 is in the books, which sadly means we're already a quarter of the way through the regular season schedule. Putting that thought aside, this was another exciting week of football around the country, with big games going on out west, in Texas and in Big Ten country.

Rank	Team
1	Alabama
2	Oregon
3	Ohio State
4	Clemson
5	LSU
6	Stanford
7	Florida State
8	Louisville
9	Georgia
10	Texas A&M
11	Oklahoma State
12	South Carolina
13	UCLA
14	Miami (FL)
15	Oklahoma
16	Michigan
17	Northwestern
18	Washington
19	Ole Miss
20	Florida
21	Arizona State
22	Baylor
23	Notre Dame
24	Texas Tech
25	Wisconsin

Bullets: 

• All week, the talk was about how important this weekend was for the Big Ten. Whether or not a better performance would have done anything at all vis-a-vis the conference's reputation is debatable, but needless to say the Big Ten didn't do well this week. The Buckeyes did get a win on the road at Cal, but the Badgers went down in the desert at Arizona State and the Huskers completely collapsed at home against UCLA after having built up an 18 point lead by the halfway point of the second quarter. Additionally, Illinois couldn't beat Washington at Soldier Field, Purdue lost a close one to Notre Dame, Minnesota struggled against Western Illinois and Penn State fell at home to UCF. The conference went 7-5 over the weekend. 

• Speaking of Wisconsin, that ending was one of the more mind-bogglingly nonsensical finishes I've ever seen. Spencer Hall has a nice breakdown of what happened at the end of what was otherwise a fun game to watch. In short, Wisconsin definitely did not play that the right way whatsoever, but there had to have been some sort of penalty called on Arizona State for a delay of game. At minimum, that sequence of events required some sort of action from the refs, who did absolutely nothing. I feel bad for the Badgers; I understand the desire to set up an ideal spot on the field for your kicker, but sometimes you just need to take what's there, lest you risk something disastrous happening...which, is exactly what happened. 
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• Some will argue for Oregon at the top spot, and that's definitely reasonable. However, Alabama just went into Kyle Field and beat Texas A&M at its own game. This Alabama team is probably not Saban's best, but it was good enough to drop a whopping 49 points on the road against the No. 6 team in the country. Until Alabama loses, I see no reason why they shouldn't remain in the top spot. 

• Louisville didn't do much this week to change my general perception of them: they're a very good team, but I just can't confidently call them great given their competition. I didn't watch their game this weekend, but a 27-13 victory against a bad Kentucky team doesn't exactly inspire confidence. 

• The State of Mississippi. Texas has seen better days, but the Rebels' 44-23 victory in Austin is still a solid one for Hugh Freeze's now 3-0 Ole Miss squad. Meanwhile, Dan Mullen's Bulldogs lost at Auburn. Unfortunately for the folks in Starkville, it looks like Ole Miss is the top team in the state, a point worsened by the fact that Freeze is in his second season in Oxford while Mullen is in his fifth in Starkville. Whether Freeze makes the Rebels a legitimate contender remains to be seen, but we've probably seen enough from Mullen's tenure in the SEC West to know that Mississippi State probably won't get there. That's by no means a knock on Mullen's coaching ability; the reality is that that division is just too stacked, what with Alabama and LSU (and now Texas A&M as of last season), recovering Auburn and Arkansas programs and, perhaps most painfully for Mississippi State, Ole Miss under Freeze. 

• Pac 12 South. Oregon will once again represent the Pac 12 North in the conference title game barring some ridiculous happenings, but the race in the South should be a wild one, with Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA all looking to contend. UCLA appears to be the strongest of the bunch, but the Sun Devils picked up a nice win against what should prove to be another solid Badgers squad. Meanwhile, Arizona has looked good while playing absolutely nobody, but that will change with their Sept. 28 trip to Washington.