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. This week, the top seven has been in that top seven for six straight weeks, a sign that they have been ranked where they should be. And, the Top 13 is exactly the same as last week.
Remember as you follow the rankings 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.
1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-1-1-1. Notre Dame (12-0, did not play; biggest wins over #10 Stanford, #13 Oklahoma, Michigan, USC and BYU)
2-2-3-3-3-3-3-4-2-2-2. Alabama (12-1, escaped with a 32-28 win over Georgia in SEC Championship; biggest wins over Georgia, #7 LSU and Michigan, lost to #8 Texas A&M)
13-11-7-5-4-2-1-1-3-3-3-3. Kansas State (11-1, beat Texas 42-24 in Big 12 Championship; biggest wins over #13 Oklahoma, Texas, #23 Oklahoma State, #25 TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia, lost to Baylor)
4-4-2-2-5-4-4-3-4-4-4. Oregon (11-1, did not play; biggest wins over #16 Oregon State, USC, and Fresno State, loss to #10 Stanford)
7-6-10-9-8-5-5-5-5-5-5. Georgia (11-2, lost 32-28 to #2 Alabama in SEC Championship; biggest wins over #6 Florida, lost to #2 Alabama and #9 South Carolina)
12-10-4-4-2-6-6-6-6-6-6. Florida (11-1, did not play; biggest wins over #7 LSU, #8 Texas A&M, #9 South Carolina and #11 Florida State, loss to #2 Alabama)
6-5-8-6-6-7-7-7-7-7-7. LSU (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over #8 Texas A&M and #9 South Carolina, lost to #2 Alabama and #6 Florida)
----------------------22-16-9-8-8-8. Texas A&M (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over #2 Alabama and Louisiana Tech, lost to #6 Florida and #7 LSU)
8-7-5-7-13-8-8-8-9-9-9. South Carolina (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over #5 Georgia and #17 Clemson, losses to #6 Florida and #7 LSU)
3--16-13-16-16-16-14-13-12-10-10. Stanford (11-2, turned back UCLA 32-24 in Pac-12 Championship; biggest wins over #4 Oregon, #18 Oregon State, #19 UCLA, #21 San Jose State and USC, losses to #1 Notre Dame and Washington)
10-9-14-18-17-14-11-10-10-11-11. Florida State (11-2, outlasted Georgia Tech 21-15 in ACC Championship; biggest win over #17 Clemson, losses to #6 Florida and North Carolina State)
15-13-11-10-9-9-12-11-11-12-12. Boise State (10-2, defeated Nevada and some demons, 21-15; biggest wins over Fresno State and BYU, losses to Michigan State and San Diego State)
17-19-16-11-10-11-13-12-13-13-13. Oklahoma (10-2, topped TCU 24-17; biggest wins over #18 Texas, TCU and #23 Oklahoma State, lost to #1 Notre Dame and #3 Kansas State)
20-17-15-8-7-10-9-15-15-16-14. Oregon State (9-3, turned it up on Nicholls State 77-3; biggest wins over #19 UCLA and Wisconsin, losses to #4 Oregon, #10 Stanford and Washington)
15-23-20-20-20-19-17-16-16-17-15. Clemson (10-2, did not play; biggest win over Georgia Tech, losses to #9 South Carolina and #10 Florida State)
5-3-9-14-15-17-15-14-14-18-16. Texas (8-4, lost to #3 Kansas State 42-24; biggest win over #23 Oklahoma State, lost to #3 Kansas State, #13 Oklahoma, #25 TCU and West Virginia)
--------------------------------------22-17. Northern Illinois (12-1, beat Kent State 44-37 in two overtimes in MAC Championship; biggest win over Kent State, lost to Iowa)
----------------------------------23-20-18. Utah State (10-2, did not play, biggest wins over #23 San Jose State and Louisiana Tech, losses to Wisconsin and BYU)
23-21-25-25-25-20-21-20-17-19-19. UCLA (9-4, lost to #10 Stanford 32-24; biggest wins over #14 Nebraska and USC, lost to #10 Stanford twice, #16 Oregon State and California)
---------------------23-24-22-20-15-20. Kent State (11-2, lost to Northern Illinois 44-37 in two overtimes in MAC Championship; biggest win over Rutgers, lost to Northern Illinois and Kentucky)
----------------------------------24-21-21. San Jose State (10-2, did not play; biggest wins over San Diego State, Louisiana Tech and BYU, losses to #10 Stanford and Utah State)
18-20-19-19-18-15-10-18-17-25-22. Louisville (10-2, beat Rutgers 21-17; biggest wins over Rutgers and Cincinnati, losses to Syracuse and Connecticut)
---------------------21-23-21-18-14-23. Nebraska (10-3, lost 70-31 to 7-5 Wisconsin in Big Ten Championship; biggest wins over Michigan and Wisconsin, lost to #19 UCLA, Ohio State and Wisconsin)
------------------------------25-22-23-24. Oklahoma State (7-5, lost to Baylor 41-37; biggest win over #24 TCU, lost to #3 Kansas State, #13 Oklahoma, #18 Texas, Baylor and Arizona)
14-12-18-17-24-----22----------25-25. TCU (7-5, lost to Oklahoma 24-17; biggest wins over #18 Texas and West Virginia, lost to #3 Kansas State, Oklahoma, #23 Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Iowa State)
Dropped Out: No one
Also Considered: USC (7-5), Rutgers (9-3), Louisiana Tech (9-3), Texas Tech (7-5), Washington (7-5), Tulsa (10-3), Fresno State (9-3), San Diego State (9-3), Michigan (8-4), Wisconsin (7-5), Cincinnati (9-3), Northwestern (9-3), Ball State (9-3)
