New College Football Top 25 Polls and Power Rankings

With November arriving, we’re now hitting the home stretch of the regular season.

Across the nation, we’re finally starting to see separation in various conference and their divisions, including the SEC. There, we’ll see the SEC West decided this week when LSU faces Alabama.

On the other side, the SEC East will be decided when Kentucky hosts Georgia.

Then you’ve got a critical Big 12 showdown between Texas and West Virginia, who are looking to keep pace with Oklahoma atop the league. Then you’ve got Michigan facing Penn State as the Wolverines look to remain atop the Big Ten East and set up a monster clash with Ohio State in late November to decide who goes to the Big Ten Championship.

But really, the story of the week is the Kentucky Wildcats, who continued their improbable rise to national prominence with a miraculous win over Missouri. That has Kentucky surging into the top 10 of most of the new power rankings, but they just barely missed on getting there in the latest Coaches and AP Poll.

College Football Coaches Top 25 Poll Week 10

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
4. LSU Tigers
5. Tie between Michigan Wolverines and Georgia Bulldogs
6. N/A
7. Oklahoma Sooners
8. Ohio State Buckeyes
9. UCF Knights
10. West Virginia Mountaineers
11. Washington State Cougars
12. Kentucky Wildcats
13. Penn State Nittany Lions
14. Florida Gators
15. Texas Longhorns
16. Utah Utes
17. Houston Cougars
18. Iowa Hawkeyes
19. Washington Huskies
20. Utah State Aggies
21. Mississippi St. Bulldogs
22. Virginia Cavaliers
23. Fresno State Bulldogs
24. Syracuse Orange
25. Boston College Eagles

AP Top 25 Poll Week 10

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
4. LSU Tigers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Georgia Bulldogs
7. Oklahoma Sooners
8. Ohio State Buckeyes
9. UCF Knights
10. Washington State Cougars
11. Kentucky Wildcats
12. West Virginia Mountaineers
13. Florida Gators
14. Penn State Nittany Lions
15. Texas Longhorns
16. Utah Utes
17. Houston Cougars
18. Utah State Aggies
19. Iowa Hawkeyes
20. Fresno State Bulldogs
21. Mississippi St. Bulldogs
22. Syracuse Orange
23. Virginia Cavaliers
24. Boston College Eagles
25. Texas A&M Aggies

Over at ESPN, Kentucky finally cracked the top 10, and they’ll host No. 7 Georgia this Saturday at Kroger Field.

Just like everybody predicted, the SEC East title will go through Lexington, Kentucky. The Wildcats, despite being anemic offensively, found a way to grind out an improbable comeback win on the road against Missouri and will face Georgia next week at home for the SEC East title. Quarterback Terry Wilson was benched after struggling to throw the football but returned to lead the Wildcats to the victory. This is the first time since 1977 that Kentucky has been assured of a winning record in SEC play.

Here’s a look at ESPN’s top 10:

1. Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC)
2. Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC)
3. Notre Dame (8-0)
4. LSU (7-1, 4-1 SEC)
5. Michigan (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten)
6. Oklahoma (7-1, 4-1 Big 12)
7. Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC)
8. Ohio State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten)
9. UCF (7-0, 4-0 American)
10. Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC)

The latest rankings from CBS were more of the same, as Kentucky also checked in at No. 10 there:

Everything is setting up as well as Kentucky could have hoped. Georgia is coming to town next week, and the SEC East is on the line. Thanks to a walk-off touchdown against Missouri, the Wildcats have a chance to take the lead in the division race when the Bulldogs come to town.

Here’s a look at CBS’ new top 10:

1. Alabama (Last week -- 1):
2. Clemson (2):
3. Notre Dame (3)
4. LSU (4):
5. Michigan (5):
6. Georgia (7):
7. Oklahoma (8):
8. UCF (10)
9. Ohio State (11)
10. Kentucky (12)