College Football Rankings 2019: Projected Top 25, Week 5 – Wisconsin rising
By Zach Bigalke
There will be massive shifts in the AP Top 25 this week after several big upsets and three games featuring ranked teams. Here is how the dust will settle.
The first few weeks of the season did not feature much shake-up at the top of the AP Top 25. That all looks destined to change after Week 4, as three matchups featured Top 25 teams against one another. The results of those three contests, as well as several other upsets that took place on Friday and Saturday around the country, are likely to resonate throughout the poll as teams shift up and down.
We will also likely see a couple of newcomers fall out of the AP Top 25 after a short stay, while other neophytes will get their chance to consolidate position in the coming weeks. After a huge upset in ACC country, we could even see a top-15 team tumble completely out of the polls.
The balance of power has shifted all around the country, both in various Power Five conferences as well as in the Group of Five race for the automatic New Year’s Six bid.
After tracking vote-shares over the past few weeks, we have seen Clemson strengthen its hold on the top spot. On the other hand, Alabama has slowly leaked away points off ballots week over week. And with a big matchup in Athens later in the evening, the possibility remains that we could see a new order among the top five.
We will be using these vote-shares, a calculation of the average points acquired per voter ballot, to discuss where teams land this week.
Where will everyone sit in the AP Top 25 once everything is in the books and teams are starting to prepare for Week 5 action around the country? Let’s look at the latest projections now that Week 4 is settling in and most of the FBS games are wrapped up.
(NOTE: We are currently projecting that No. 24 Arizona State will fall out of the AP Top 25 this week, as they were down 24-21 against Colorado at halftime at the time of publication. If the Sun Devils do win, expect them to move up to the No. 22 spot as USC, Utah, and UCF each drop one place and Kansas State falls back into the land of others receiving votes.)