It took about 22 seconds before the rankings became stressful this week. Texas, which swept Auburn in Austin, was the obvious choice to stay at No. 1.
After that? Chaos.
Last week’s No. 2 team, Arkansas, lost a series at home (to Texas A&M) and has lost four of its last five SEC games. Last week’s No. 3 team, Tennessee, also lost a series at home (to Kentucky).
Three other teams in the top nine also lost a series — No. 5 Georgia was swept at Vanderbilt, No. 7 Auburn was swept at Texas and No. 9 Ole Miss lost two of three at South Carolina.
Clemson, which took two of three from Louisville, was the easy choice to move up to No. 2. Arkansas, despite its recent struggles, is still in second place in the SEC. The Hogs are No. 3. LSU, which won a series over Alabama, and Tennessee round out the top five.
Vanderbilt was the biggest mover of the week, jumping from No. 15 to No. 8 following its sweep over Georgia. The Commodores are 30-10 overall and 11-7 in the SEC.
Western Kentucky, after a 2-2 week, dropped out of the poll and was replaced by NC State, which has won eight of its last nine games.
| Rank | Team | Last Week | Overall | Prev Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Texas |
4-0 |
33-5 |
1 |
|
2 |
Clemson |
2-1 |
35-7 |
4 |
|
3 |
Arkansas |
2-2 |
34-7 |
2 |
|
4 |
LSU |
3-1 |
34-7 |
8 |
|
5 |
Tennessee |
2-2 |
33-7 |
3 |
|
6 |
Florida State |
1-0 |
29-7 |
6 |
|
7 |
Oregon State |
1-3 |
27-13 |
10 |
|
8 |
Vanderbilt |
4-0 |
30-10 |
15 |
|
9 |
Georgia |
1-3 |
33-9 |
5 |
|
10 |
Auburn |
1-3 |
27-13 |
7 |
|
11 |
North Carolina |
1-3 |
31-9 |
11 |
|
12 |
Alabama |
2-2 |
31-10 |
13 |
|
13 |
Oklahoma |
4-0 |
29-10 |
14 |
|
14 |
UC Irvine |
3-1 |
28-9 |
16 |
|
15 |
Ole Miss |
1-3 |
28-12 |
9 |
|
16 |
Arizona |
3-1 |
28-11 |
9 |
|
17 |
Oregon |
3-1 |
27-11 |
18 |
|
18 |
West Virginia |
4-0 |
34-4 |
23 |
|
19 |
Georgia Tech |
0-4 |
29-11 |
12 |
|
20 |
UCLA |
1-3 |
29-10 |
17 |
|
21 |
NC State |
3-0 |
27-12 |
NR |
|
22 |
Louisville |
2-2 |
28-11 |
21 |
|
23 |
Coastal Carolina |
3-1 |
30-10 |
22 |
|
24 |
Southern Miss |
3-1 |
27-13 |
24 |
|
25 |
TCU |
1-3 |
29-12 |
20 |
(Photo of Cam Cannarella: Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)