Realignment never stops in college sports, plus our first Heisman Trophy straw poll of 2024

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News broke this morning that Gonzaga is expected to join the Pac-12, continuing the West Coast conference’s rebuild.

Gonzaga adds one of the nation’s premier basketball programs to the conference, but it is a non-football school, meaning it won’t be a full Pac-12 member. The conference remains at seven full members and needs to add one more by 2026 to reach NCAA FBS requirements. For now, here’s what the future Pac-12 will look like, with at least one more addition to come:

Also new this morning, UTEP announced it will join the Mountain West, bringing the conference to seven full members, also one short of the requirement.

Heisman Poll Returns

It’s a small race … for now

The Athletic’s Heisman straw poll is back today! And the most interesting part is that the race seems a lot less crowded than it was one year ago.

Last year’s poll debut included 11 candidates, with eventual winner Jayden Daniels receiving just one third-place vote at that time. This year, only five players received initial votes. Here’s a look at the race:

1. Travis Hunter, Colorado WR/CB
2. Jalen Milroe, Alabama QB
3. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State RB
4. Cam Ward, Miami QB
5. Ryan Williams, Alabama WR

Only Hunter (19) and Milroe (six) received first-place votes. Milroe has the highest odds to win, +175 per BetMGM. Other candidates I’d expect to see in the Heisman poll down the line include Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel, Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava and Texas QB Quinn Ewers (once he’s back from injury).

I’m bringing back the anonymous voter segment this year, where I’ll ask one voter each week to make the case behind their ballot — particularly if it differs from the popular consensus. This week, one voter gave Williams a third-place selection.

Here’s their case:

My Heisman method is pretty simple: I vote for the players who are the most fun to watch. If somebody does something that people are talking about several days later, like Ryan Williams’ touchdown catch against Georgia, that player is going on my ballot. This early in the season, I’m not getting too deep into the stats or trying to project who’s going to be on the ballot at the end of the year. I’m just looking for the players who make me stop what I’m doing and watch when I see them on TV. Hunter, Jeanty and Williams have been must-watch players for me.

AP Poll Review

A new No. 1

Here are the teams that are rising and falling in this week’s AP poll.

📈 There’s a new No. 1 as Alabama takes the throne after beating Georgia. The Crimson Tide ranked fifth in the preseason poll — their lowest preseason mark since 2009 — but have managed their way to the top. Tennessee rose one spot to No. 4, and there was a lot of other small movement throughout the poll (two spots for No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Penn State, No. 9 Missouri, No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 USC, No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 15 Clemson, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 19 Oklahoma). No. 17 BYU made the week’s biggest climb (five spots) after its 5-0 start while No. 21 Boise State rose four spots and remains the highest-ranked Group of 5 program. No. 20 Kansas State gained three poll places after beating Oklahoma State.

📉 No. 2 Texas was jumped by an Alabama team with a better win on its resume. No. 5 Georgia tumbled three spots after its loss. No. 8 Miami fell one spot after escaping in the final minute against Virginia Tech while No. 12 Ole Miss fell six spots after losing to unranked Kentucky. Other ranked teams that lost last week included No. 18 Utah (down eight spots after losing to Arizona), No. 22 Louisville (down seven spots after losing to Notre Dame) and No. 24 Illinois (down five spots after losing to Penn State). Former No. 20 Oklahoma State fell out of the poll.

👋 No. 23 Indiana is ranked for the first time since the 2021 preseason. New coach Curt Cignetti is delivering on his preseason promises by leading the Hoosiers to a 5-0 start. No. 25 UNLV is ranked for the first time in program history. With Boise State, that makes two ranked Mountain West teams.

Read resident voter Matt Brown’s poll analysis here. (Reminder, the first College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Nov. 5).

Athletic 134

Is Team No. 134 coming around?

Similar to the AP poll, Chris Vannini kicked Alabama up to No. 1 in his ranking of all 134 FBS teams this week. Here’s more about this week’s ranking.

• Checking in with Kent State: It is one of three remaining winless FBS teams (congrats to Miami (Ohio), New Mexico, Wyoming and Old Dominion for breaking out of this club with wins last week). A silver lining for Kent State is that third-string QB Tommy Ulatowski played well in his first start of the season. Ulatowski threw for 354 yards and four TDs against Eastern Michigan — the Golden Flashes totaled 459 passing yards and three TDs combined in the four games prior. It’s time for a bye week for Kent State. Maybe it can use it to reflect and play into what worked last week.
• Jumps of the week: Colorado (4-1) is new to the top 50 after moving from No. 67 to No. 44. Louisiana (3-1) and UConn (3-2) both climbed out of the triple-digit club (Ragin’ Cajuns went from No. 100 to 84 and Huskies went from No. 113 to 85). But Sam Houston (4-1) makes the jump of the week from No. 91 to No. 68. The Bearkats beat Texas State 40-39 last week. And as Chris pointed out, Sam Houston is 7-2 in its past nine games after its 0-8 start in its FBS debut last season.

Read Chris’ full ranking here.

Quick Snaps

Is the UNLV and Matt Sluka NIL divorce a sign of what’s to come in college sports? Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel strive to answer that question today.

David Ubben lists college football’s 10 most surprising teams this season, including Indiana, an undefeated Rutgers and yes, Coach Prime’s Colorado.

In the College Football Playoff stock watch, which teams are trending after Week 5?

The most quirky moments of Week 5 include an obvious flop, a wonky safety and a fan meme we’ll surely come back to throughout the season. Read more of Week 5’s best moments here.

Alabama-Georgia delivered a masterclass on the on-the-field product. But the broadcasters behind it hit the mark, too. Scott Dochterman ranks the top 10 broadcasts from Week 5.

You can buy tickets to every college football game here.

For streaming info on Fubo, click here.

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(Top photo of Travis Hunter: Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)