When you see polls with wild week-to-week swings, it generally means the voters are reacting to the latest results rather than thinking through the process. If they have the rankings right, the teams in fact shouldn't move much, as you will note week to week in this poll later in the year as the season progresses.
Remember as you follow the poll that since both the Pac-12 and Big 12 had a request from Boise State to join their respective leagues and they did not invite the Broncos, the "strength-of-schedule" argument does not work against Boise State for those two conferences, and thus their teams will always be ranked behind Boise State with the same number of losses. As it should be. You can't deny a team a place in your conference and then complain about their strength of schedule.
A team that beats another head-to-head on the field will always be ranked ahead of that team if they have the same record. As it should be. If the winner of that game has more losses, further evaluation regarding the closeness and location of the game needs to take place, as well as week-to-week evaluation of all season results.
1-1-1-1-1-1. Notre Dame (8-0, scored a 30-20 win over #11 Oklahoma; biggest wins over #11 Oklahoma, #16 Stanford, Michigan, BYU and Michigan State)
13-11-7-5-4-2. Kansas State (8-0, rocked #12 Texas Tech 55-24; biggest wins over #11 Oklahoma, #12 Texas Tech, #13 West Virginia and Iowa State)
2-2-3-3-3-3. Alabama (7-0, beat Mississippi State 38-7; biggest wins over #24 Mississippi State and Michigan)
4-4-2-2-5-4. Oregon (8-0; blew away Colorado 70-14; biggest wins over Washington, Arizona and Fresno State)
7-6-10-9-8-5. Georgia (6-1, downed #6 Florida 17-6; biggest win over #6 Florida, lost to #8 South Carolina)
12-10-4-4-2-6. Florida (7-1, fell to #5 Georgia 17-6; biggest wins over #7 LSU, #8 South Carolina and #22 Texas A&M)
6-5-8-6-6-7. LSU (7-1, idle this week; biggest wins over #8 South Carolina, #22 Texas A&M and Washington, lost to #6 Florida)
8-7-5-7-13-8. South Carolina (6-2, edged Tennessee 38-35; biggest win over #5 Georgia, losses to #6 Florida and #7 LSU)
15-13-11-10-9-9. Boise State (7-1, throttled Wyoming 42-14; biggest wins over BYU and Fresno State, loss to Michigan State)
20-17-15-8-7-10. Oregon State (6-1, lost 20-17 to Washington; biggest wins over #20 UCLA, BYU, Wisconsin and Arizona, loss to Washington)
17-19-16-11-10-11. Oklahoma (5-2, lost 30-20 to #1 Notre Dame; biggest wins over #12 Texas Tech and #17 Texas, loss to #1 Notre Dame and #2 Kansas State)
-------------12-11-12. Texas Tech (6-2, was slaughtered by #2 Kansas State 55-24; biggest wins over #13 West Virginia, TCU and Iowa State, lost to #2 Kansas State and #11 Oklahoma)
11-8-6-9-14-13. West Virginia (5-2, did not play; biggest wins over #15 Texas and Baylor, lost to #2 Kansas State and #12 Texas Tech)
10-9-14-18-17-14 Florida State (6-1, thumped Duke 48-7; biggest win over #19 Clemson, loss to North Carolina State)
18-20-19-19-18-15. Louisville (7-0, scored a 34-31 win over Cincinnati in overtime; biggest wins over Cincinnati and North Carolina)
3--16-13-16-16-16. Stanford (6-2, survived 24-17 over Washington State; biggest wins over #18 USC and Washington, losses to #1 Notre Dame and Washington)
5-3-9-14-15-17 Texas (6-2, escaped with a 21-17 win over Kansas; biggest wins over Oklahoma State and Baylor, lost to #11 Oklahoma and #13 West Virginia)
16-18-17-15-12-18. USC (6-2, stumbled at Arizona 39-36; biggest win over Washington, losses to #16 Stanford and Arizona)
15-23-20-20-20-19. Clemson (7-1, beat Wake Forest 42-7; biggest win over Virginia Tech, loss to #14 Florida State)
23-21-25-25-25-20. UCLA (6-2, beat Arizona State 45-43; biggest win over #21 Nebraska, lost to #10 Oregon State and California)
----------------------21. Nebraska (6-2, beat Michigan 23-9; biggest wins over Michigan and Nebraska, lost to #20 UCLA and Ohio State)
----------------------22. Texas A&M (6-2, beat Auburn 63-21; biggest win over Louisiana Tech, lost to #6 Florida and #7 LSU)
----------------------23. Kent State (7-1, beat #25 Rutgers 35-23; biggest win over #25 Rutgers, lost to Kentucky)
------------22-22-24. Mississippi State (7-1, lost 38-7 to #3 Alabama; biggest win over Tennessee, loss to #3 Alabama)
20-24-21-21-25. Rutgers (7-1, lost to #23 Kent State 35-23; biggest win over South Florida, lost to #23 Kent State)
Dropped Out: Ohio, TCU, Michigan
Also Considered: Oklahoma State (6-2), Michigan (5-3), TCU (5-3), Ohio (7-1), Northern Illinois (8-1), Toledo (8-1), Cincinnati (5-2), Washington (4-4), Iowa State (5-3), Utah State (6-2), Fresno State (5-3)
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