College Football: 2017 Week 8 AP Poll winners and losers

Winner: Wisconsin Badgers (from No. 7 in the AP Poll to No. 5)

Don’t look now, but the Wisconsin Badgers have quietly climbed into the Top 5 of the AP Poll. The Badgers are the fifth-ranked team in Week 8 after defeating the Purdue Boilermakers, 17-9.

The Badgers used another strong defensive performance to cruise to an easy victory over Purdue. They allowed just 221 total yards of offense, 66 of those yards were rushing. The defense continues to be stingy against the rush, allowing just 78.8 rushing yards per game.

The Wisconsin offense scored 14 points early in the first quarter and overcame three turnovers to hold onto the victory.

They are one of three teams in the Big Ten ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll. It creates an interesting scenario for the Penn State Nittany Lions and Ohio State Buckeyes. The Badgers will face neither team on their remaining conference schedule, while the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions still must play each other.

It could be smooth sailing to the Big Ten Championship for Wisconsin although they’ve got some tough games left against the 19th-ranked Michigan Wolverines and Iowa Hawkeyes. At 6-0, they’re in good shape to run the tables in the Big Ten West division.