Florida State dropped out of the Top 10, and so did Notre Dame. Michigan and Arizona State, meanwhile, dropped completely out of The Associated Press' Top 25 college football poll.
The Seminoles, beaten soundly by North Carolina State 24-7 on Saturday, tumbled from No. 2 to No. 11 in this week's AP poll - the school's lowest ranking since it was No. 12 on Nov. 3, 1990. Florida State, which has finished in the top four the past 11 seasons, was also ranked 11th on Oct. 8, 1994.The Fighting Irish, who made the Top 10 last week for the first time since late 1996, plummeted 13 places to No. 23 after their 45-23 loss to Michigan State.
And then there's Michigan and Arizona State. The Wolverines, co-national champions, lost to Syracuse 38-26 and slipped out of the rankings from a No. 13 spot last week. The Sun Devils, 26-6 losers to Brigham Young, were No. 14 ranking last week.
The shakeup allowed Ohio State to take a firm grip on the No. 1 spot. The Buckeyes, 49-0 winners over Toledo, received 57 first-place votes and 1,733 points Sunday from the 70 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.
Florida, which beat Northeast Louisiana 42-10, moved up a spot to No. 2 with nine first-place votes and 1,625 points, while Nebraska improved to No. 3 with one first-place vote and 1,581 points after its 24-3 win over California.
UCLA, a 49-31 winner over Texas, improved two spots to No. 4 with a first-place vote and 1,527 points, followed by No. 5 Kansas State (two first-place votes and 1,466 points).
Tennessee was No. 6, followed by No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Washington and No. 10 Virginia.
The Bruins jumped ahead of Kansas State, which beat Northern Illinois 73-7.
Florida State was 11th, followed by No. 12 Georgia, No. 13 Syracuse, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 Colorado, No. 16 Arizona, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 18 Southern California, No. 19 West Virginia, No. 20 North Carolina State, No. 21 Missouri, No. 22 Oregon, No. 23 Notre Dame, No. 23 Alabama and No. 25 Mississippi State.
In the USA Today/ESPN poll, the top five were: Ohio State, Florida, Nebraska, Kansas State and UCLA.
In addition to Michigan and Arizona State, Texas also fell from the Top 25. Joining the rankings were North Carolina State, Alabama and Mississippi State.