Kellis Robinett’s college football rankings (Sept. 14)

An exciting week of college football led to only minor changes in my Associated Press Top 25 ballot.

Virginia Tech, which I ranked 14th a week ago, drops out after a home loss to East Carolina. Louisville, which I ranked 23rd last week, is also gone following a loss to Virginia.

They are replaced by Washington, 24th, and South Carolina, 25th, this week. The other 23 teams on my ballot were there last week.

A few more quick hits on how I voted:

Movement up top: My top six didn’t change, but several teams ranked outside my top 10 got a bump when Georgia and Southern California lost. LSU moves up to No. 7, Baylor checks in at No. 8, BYU goes up to No. 9 and UCLA is back in my top 10 after beating Texas. Mississippi is also worth mentioning at No. 11. Ole Miss continues to impress me. It will be interesting to see if it can continue to play so well against top SEC competition.

Biggest jump: Penn State. The Nittany Lions are undefeated with a neutral-site victory over Central Florida and a road win against previously unbeaten Rutgers. There is tougher competition out there, sure, but Penn State has delivered results in difficult environments. Rutgers treated Saturday night’s game like the Super Bowl. Penn State moves up seven spots to No. 13.

Biggest drop: Southern California. The Trojans dropped 11 spots from No. 7 to No. 18 after their loss at Boston College. It wasn’t a terrible loss, and USC owns an impressive victory over Stanford, so it stays in the top 20. But a true top 15 team would have beaten Boston College.

New arrivals: Washington and South Carolina both opened the season in my top 25, only to drop out quickly. Washington struggled to beat Hawaii and Eastern Washington, while South Carolina couldn’t even challenge Texas A&M. But both teams earned their ways back on my ballot this week. Washington looked good stomping Illinois and South Carolina upset Georgia.

1. Florida State (1)

2. Oklahoma (2)

3. Alabama (3)

4. Oregon (4)

5. Auburn (5)

6. Texas A&M (6)

7. LSU (8)

8. Baylor (10)

9. BYU (11)

10. UCLA (12)

11. Mississippi (13)

12. Notre Dame (15)

13. Penn State (20)

14. Kansas State (16)

15. Arizona State (17)

16. Georgia (9)

17. Michigan State (18)

18. Southern California (7)

19. Stanford (19)

20. Nebraska (21)　

21. Wisconsin (22)

22. Missouri (24)　

23. Ohio State (25)

24. Washington (NR)

25. South Carolina (NR)

Previous ranking in parentheses.

This story was originally published September 14, 2014 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Kellis Robinett’s college football rankings (Sept. 14)."