November has arrived in college football.
Every week during the next month will feature elimination games in the conference title and College Football Playoff races, and that means each week we will see title dreams be crushed in dramatic fashion.
This week the biggest shakeups came in the SEC where Texas A&M, No. 7 in the AP Top 25 and No. 4 in the CFP Rankings, was on the losing end of a shootout with Mississippi State freshman quarterback Nick Fitzgerald. No. 15 LSU fell short of its upset bid against top-ranked Alabama and No. 11 Florida's pursuit of an SEC East title was hampered by a damaging loss at Arkansas that did not affect the division standings as much as it did the Gators' injury report.
Throw in No. 9 Nebraska's humiliating loss to No. 6 Ohio State and that's three top-10 teams set to fall when the new AP Top 25 will be released Sunday. Here's the way we think things will break when the new polls come out:
1. Alabama (Previous AP Top 25 ranking -- 1): Alabama didn't play a perfect game, LSU caught a couple breaks and yet it wasn't enough to upend the top-ranked Tide. Given all the developments in the SEC on Saturday, you get the feeling they won't be tested like this again until the playoff.
2. Michigan (2): The Wolverines' 59-3 rout of Maryland and former defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin was a highlight reel for Wilton Speight (career-high 362 passing yards, three touchdowns). Speight continues to improve and get settled in Michigan's pro-style system, a process made even easier with Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson.
3. Clemson (3): Tigers fans let out a deep breath of relief when the school announced that a) Deshaun Watson had been medically cleared to play after leaving the game with a shoulder injury, and b) though cleared, he wouldn't return to the game. That's the kind of luxury the Tigers had when leading by 30 in a 54-0 victory.
4. Washington (4): There's little doubt the Huskies will remain in their current place at the top of the polls since most AP voters missed the Jake Browning Show during a #Pac12AfterDark rout of Cal. After six touchdown passes and no interceptions (38 to 3 on the season), Browning affirmed his place as one of the five players most likely to be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Browning's touchdown-to-interception ratio is good, but his touchdowns-per-pass attmpt (a score every 6.47 passes) is just ridiculous.
5. Ohio State (6): The Buckeyes steamrolled Nebraska, showing some more life on offense in their most productive game in Big Ten play since blanking Rutgers on Oct. 1. Quarterback J.T. Barrett even got a chance to pull off the Tebow jump pass on a touchdown toss to Curtis Samuel.
6. Louisville (5): Bobby Petrino threw it back to the days of the BCS with a style-points remark following the Cards' 52-7 romp at Boston College, joking that maybe they should have posted 80 on Florida State in order to improve their ranking with the CFP Selection Committee.
7. Wisconsin (8): The Badgers again turned to both Bart Houston and Alex Hornibrook to lead the offense to victory, knocking off Northwestern on the road 21-7. It's another huge win for the Badgers in their effort to win the Big Ten West and get a second shot at either Michigan or Ohio State in the Big Ten title game.
8. Auburn (11): The current state of Auburn's quarterbacks is worthy of concern, and a close come-from-behind victory against Vanderbilt might be alarming enough for voters to keep the Tigers from moving up. We'll be monitoring Sean White's health and Gus Malzahn's choice of quarterback again, but the ceiling is much higher now than when we saw Auburn running the revolving door at quarterback earlier in the year.
9. Oklahoma (12): No Joe Mixon? No problem for Oklahoma when you have Baker Mayfield under center and fullback Dmitri Flowers (115 rushing yards in his first game with a rushing attempt) ready to answer the call. Remember, Oklahoma was ranked No. 15 in the first playoff rankings a year ago and made the final four after winning the Big 12.
10. West Virginia (14): The Mountaineers have the Big 12 title on their mind, and that didn't get in the way of taking care of business against Kansas.
11. Utah (16): The Utes were off this week and are back in action Thursday night at Arizona State.
12. Western Michigan (17): The Broncos responded to a No. 23 ranking from the CFP committee with a dominant performance on the first Tuesday night #MACtion slate of the season. Western Michigan, a 52-20 winner at Ball State, will be back on the the field Tuesday night at Kent State.
13. Nebraska (9): The Cornhuskers lost, sure, but the top priority right now is the status of Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., who looked fine when he returned to the sideline in street clothes despite being "briefly" knocked unconscious. Ohio State was a double-digit favorite in the game, so the loss won't come as a huge surprise to voters, but it's a second loss -- this time a blowout -- that will drop the Huskers down with the rest of the two-loss crew in the rankings.
14. Texas A&M (7): The Aggies are going to fall after an embarrassing loss on the road at Mississippi State. With two losses, Texas A&M still has a shot to finish in a good bowl game by winning out, but it's going to be tough to have any chance at the SEC West title with both of those losses coming to division opponents.
15. LSU (15): Hard to move LSU down given the performance against the Tide.
16. Florida (10): The Gators are in trouble. The offense is a mess and the 31-10 loss included several major injuries that will hurt the team's chances to steal the SEC Championship Game -- a realistic goal a week ago. Florida's star-studded defense was put in awful positions and can't be expected to win games (or score touchdowns) on its own.
17. Penn State (20): The Nittany Lions put in work against Iowa, shedding any doubt that came with a surprisingly high ranking from the playoff committee. As the season progresses, you'll see the AP Top 25 start to mimic the CFP Rankings, which starts this week with a bump for Penn State.
18. Baylor (13): The Bears got pounded by TCU, at home, in the midst of controversy thanks to a statement defending Art Briles released by the assistant coaches on the morning of the game -- a note, we found out, that interim coach Jim Grobe was totally unaware of until it was released. Bad day to be a Bears fan.
19. Oklahoma State (22): It's hard to figure out what Oklahoma State does really well, but quarterback Mason Rudolph is a good place to start. Rudolph threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns, finding James Washington early and often, as the Cowboys held on for a tough victory at Kansas State with an interception in the end zone in the final moments.
20. Virginia Tech (23): Maybe the Hokies jump up a few spots as voters realize the head-to-head difference between Virginia Tech and North Carolina? Maybe not? Justin Fuente's group mustered two offensive touchdowns in a 24-21 victory.
21. North Carolina (18): The Tar Heels defeated Georgia Tech to maintain pace in the ACC Coastal but got no help from rival Duke against Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels took a close game and ran away in the second half 48-20, featuring a huge day for now-healthy running back Elijah Hood (168 yards).
22. Florida State (19): The Seminoles nearly fell to NC State in Carter-Finley Stadium, a house of horrors of sorts for Jimbo Fisher, but Deondre Francois orchestrated a late drive and the defense held on to preserve FSU's place in the Top 25.
23. Washington State (25): Luke Falk's stat line against the Wildcats was absurd: 32 for 35 for 311 yards and four touchdowns. The Cougars remain undefeated in Pac-12 play and on a collision course to make the Apple Cup the Pac-12 North title game.
24. Colorado (21): The Buffs won a sloppy game against UCLA to maintain their hold on the Pac-12 South. Four turnovers (including two rare Sefo Liufau interceptions) are reason for concern, but if those mistakes are corrected during the longer week before Arizona, there is no reason to think Colorado won't be playing for a spot in the Pac-12 title game at the end of the month against Utah in Boulder.
25. Boise State (24): Jeremy McNichols is starting to rival Donnel Pumphrey for the title of best running back in the Mountain West. McNichols ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns in a 14-point vicotry against San Jose State.
Dropped out: None