Posted by Bryan Fischer

This week's polls have been released. Here's how the Pac-12 fared, from the top of the polls to its bottom, and what it means.

(AP/Coaches)

6/5. Stanford

The Cardinal were off this past weekend as they rest up for Pac-12 play and figure out how to replace starting linebacker Shayne Skov, who was lost for the season. Stanford appears to ease into conference play with a home game against UCLA before Colorado comes into Palo Alto. Despite the bye, they actually leapfrogged Boise State in Coaches Poll, which is pretty interesting/bad voting on the coaches' part.

12/14. Oregon

Nothing like a late-night blow out vs. Arizona to bump the Ducks up in the polls (some losses to teams ahead of them helped too). LaMichael James' school-record breaking rushing performance will likely help Oregon get more positive attention nationally as well. They moved up four spots in the AP Poll and three in the Coaches'.

25/NR. Arizona State

Dennis Erickson's squad is back in the AP top 25 after dropping out briefly following their loss to Illinois. A thumping of USC to give the Sun Devils their first win over the Trojans since 1999 will tend to do that. The coaches are not as thrilled with their play as voters are, keeping them behind Houston and Ohio State in the "Others receiving votes" category. They'll play lowly Oregon State at home this week, so they should rise with another win and several teams in front of them losing.

Others receiving votes: Utah (12 points in the AP poll/11 Coaches), Washington (4 AP/3 Coaches), USC (2 AP)

Posted by Jerry Hinnen

This week's polls have been released. Here's how the SEC fared, from the top of the polls to the bottom, and what it means.

LSU. We wrote late Saturday that you couldn't go wrong with either the Bayou Bengals or the Crimson Tide at the top of a ballot, so yes, from here LSU's ascension to the No. 1 spot in the AP poll looks entirely deserved. What's interesting is that the voting wasn't even that close; Les Miles's team drew more the double the first-place votes of previous No. 1 Oklahoma and the Tide combined.

Two points to be made from this development:

1. Aggressive nonconference scheduling can pay off. The "three victories over ranked teams on the road" soundbite is a bit of an exaggeration -- the "neutral" site in Dallas was far closer and cozier to LSU than Oregon, and Mississippi State, only No. 25 at the time, is deservedly nowhere near the polls now -- but there's still no question which team has the best overall resume in the country right now. That LSU is now in poll position to potentially lose a game somewhere and still reclaim their BCS title-game spot with a win over Alabama is a just reward for their willingness to challenge themselves.

2. The AP poll deserves kudos for their voters' willingness to respond to results on the field and adjust accordingly. It wasn't that long ago the Sooners would have held the top spot come hell or high water, as long as they didn't lose. Thankfully, where the AP is concerned, those times are behind us.

ALABAMA. As much fun as the polls are to track and debate, when you're in the Tide's position, it doesn't honestly matter where you're ranked at this stage. If Alabama continues winning -- particularly against LSU -- it will reach the No. 1 spot, no questions asked.

But it remains odd to see the Tide badly trailing LSU and Oklahoma in first-place votes, leaving them third in the AP and tied for second with LSU in the Coaches. If the Tide don't have LSU's overall body of work, in Saturday's total domination of Arkansas they also put together the most complete single-game performance of any team in the FBS this year, considering the opponent. With Oklahoma struggling to put away Missouri at home and Florida State absorbing a second loss (and in turn making the Sooners' win in Tallahassee less impressive), it's a close call ... but after watching Saturday's performance, we'd favor the Tide, and we find it surprising more voters don't.

SOUTH CAROLINA. The Gamecocks are now officially a top-10 team in both polls, moving up to 9th in the Coaches and 10th in the AP. But they're still not doing it by overwhelming the voters' impression of them; they simply moved up one spot to account for Texas A&M's loss in the Coaches and two for that and Florida State's in the AP.

No one in Columbia's going to complain about occupying a top-10 slot when Stephen Garcia's playing as poorly as he is, but we asked last week why the Gamecocks were ranked behind an Oregon team with a worse record and worse resume, and that still stands. Carolina is undefeated, the Ducks aren't; Carolina has beaten Georgia on the road, Navy and Vanderbilt all teams with better records than anyone the Ducks have beaten. To rank Oregon higher means voters are simply guessing that they're better--and at this point of the season, shouldn't they be relying on something other than guesswork?

FLORIDA. The Gators continue to rise, moving from 15th to 12th in both polls thanks to losses from the Aggies, 'Noles, and Razorbacks. The same complaint regarding Oregon could maybe be repeated here (the Ducks are one spot ahead in the Coaches, three in the AP), but with wins over FAU, UAB and a terrible Kentucky team, the Gators don't have nearly the quality-of-victory the Gamecocks do.

ARKANSAS. The Razorbacks fell to 18th in both polls, a slide of six spots in the Coaches and just four in the AP. This seems extremely generous on the part of the voters--yes, the Hogs are likely good enough to eventually win their way back into the top 15 or even top 10 by season's end, but at this point their entire resume consists of: 1. Blowing out an FCS team; 2. Blowing out New Mexico, potentially the worst team in the FBS; 3. Beating Troy by 10 points 4. Being routed by Alabama.

The Razorbacks are a good team. But until they prove it by beating quality competition, they have no business being ranked in front of teams like Michigan, Georgia Tech or Illinois, all of which have victories (or two) over likely bowl teams tucked away. Again: guesswork should be for preseason polls, not for those in Week 4.

EVERYBODY ELSE: In the Coaches, no other SEC team is receiving more than the 3 points pulled by Tennessee, good enough to make the Vols "No. 37." Auburn somehow checks in the third-team-out position in the AP -- clearly, not media members saw the Tigers wheeze past awful FAU Saturday night, when they outgained the Owls by all of eight yards -- but aren't quite "knocking on the door" of the poll yet; they're still 97 points behind No. 25 Arizona State.

Still, a win at South Carolina this weekend (however unlikely that seems after Saturday) would seem to lock up an AP spot for Auburn next week.

Posted by Chip Patterson

The new polls were released on Sunday, and as suggested by Brett McMurphy - holder of an AP ballot - LSU has taken over as the top team in the nation. The coaches poll reflects otherwise, with the Sooners holding on to No. 1 and Alabama locked with the Tigers in a tie for second.

The ACC saw Virginia Tech, Clemson, and Georgia Tech all move up in the rankings, while Florida State fell into the 20's and some of the fringe vote-getters outside the Top 25 failed to receive any attention after their Week 4 performance.

Virginia Tech (AP: 11/Coaches:10) - Virginia Tech's four game non conference slate comes to a close, and their climb up the polls will be put on the line when the Hokies host the red-hot Clemson Tigers in Blacksburg. A victory could be one of the Hokies' last chances to make a jump in the polls before facing Georgia Tech on a Thursday night in November.

Clemson (AP: 13/Coaches: 15) - The Tigers have defeated back-to-back ranked opponents and are off to their first 4-0 start since 2007. The pollsters have taken notice, and reward the Tigers with the second-highest ranking in the ACC. Clemson's upset of the Seminoles in Death Valley sets up a huge ACC showdown between unbeatens with No. 11 Virginia Tech. If the Tigers can win their third-straight against a ranked opponent there could be a new favorite for the ACC crown.

Georgia Tech (AP: 21/Coaches: 21) - Paul Johnson's high-powered option offense withstood a fourth-quarter comeback from North Carolina to hold on for a crucial 35-28 victory over their Coastal Division foes. The Yellow Jackets continued their gaudy statistical output, amassing 312 rushing yards and 496 yards of total offense. The defense also picked off Bryn Renner twice and frustrated the North Carolina offense for three quarters until the Tar Heels made their charge in the final period. This team is looking much better than expected on both sides of the ball, and they should keep climbing in the polls if they keep winning.

Florida State (AP: 23/Coaches: 24) - The Seminoles have had a pretty rough week, enduring the deflating home loss to Oklahoma, an injury to your star quarterback, and then losing by five on the road to your Atlantic Division rival. Head coach Jimbo Fisher and the staff will give Florida State Monday off before starting their bye week practice on Tuesday. Most pollsters believe this is still a Top 25 caliber team, but after two straight losses they are hanging by a thread.

Other receiveing votes: Not Applicable 

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Posted by Jerry Hinnen

This week's polls have been released. Here's how the SEC fared, from the top of the polls to its bottom, and what it means.

LSU/ALABAMA. Back and forth we go. A week after the Tide leapfrogged the Bayou Bengals in the AP poll by the slimmest of margins, LSU's overwhelming defensive performance on the road in Starkville -- and in Thursday night prime-time -- was enough to push them back ahead in the media balloting. Alabama couldn't have been much more dominant than they were in thumping North Texas 41-0 ... but with the game airing on regional pay-per-view, did enough media get a look at it?

In any case, the coaches didn't mind; though the Tigers collected five first-place votes to the Tide's four, Alabama's 38-point margin only shrunk to 29. And it's not like the Tide won't have a chance to surge back in front -- possibly for good -- when they tangle with Arkansas in the league's highest-profile game to-date this Saturday.

SOUTH CAROLINA. It's not an easy trick to fall two spots in one poll and rise one space in the other, but after the Gamecocks' 24-21 escape against Navy, Carolina managed it. Only eight points separate teams 10 through 12 in the media poll, but unfortunately for the Gamecocks, they wound up team No. 12, five points behind Florida State and three more behind Oregon.

On the one hand, the Gamecocks can't complain too much when they struggle so badly with a lesser opponent like the Midshipmen. On the other, the four teams defeated by the Seminoles and Ducks so far this season are ULM, Charleston Southern, Nevada and Missouri State--as strong as the teams FSU and Oregon lost to are, should they really be ranked ahead of an undefeated team with two wins (Navy and Georgia) stronger than any claimed by the two teams in front of them?

The Coaches would seem to agree; the Seminoles dropped to No. 14 and the Gamecocks moved up a slot to No. 11.

ARKANSAS. The poll-vs.-poll debate regarding Florida State also affected the Hogs. With the Coaches dropping the 'Noles to 14, the Hogs got a one-spot bump from 13 to 12; the AP keeping FSU up at No. 11 meant the Hogs likewise stayed at 14. Given the cupcake-laden slate the Hogs have faced thus far (and their struggles with Troy), though, it's hard to argue Arkansas deserves to be any higher.

FLORIDA. No SEC team has made a more consistent charge up the ballots than the Gators, who after their decisive win over Tennessee have reached the No. 15 spot in both polls. But with the 14 teams in front of them all members of the preseason top 15, the Gators may have hit their ceiling until a few more losses open things up. (Which is not to say that's how it should be; having seen off a quality team in the Vols, the same complaints regarding Carolina vs. Oregon and Florida State apply here, too.)

EVERYBODY ELSE. With Auburn falling to Clemson and Mississippi State dismissed so rudely by LSU, the SEC can still claim a full third of the top 15--but after starting the season with eight teams of the polls, those first five teams are now the only ones to still make the top 25 cut. Auburn is the only team even close, ranking "No. 27" in the AP.

And frankly, that's the way it should be. With the Tigers so unimpressive in getting clubbed by their South Carolinian mascot equivalents, the Vols unable to survive the Swamp, and Vanderbilt not yet proven top-25 caliber (though we applaud the 'Dores for picking up a handful of votes in both polls), the next SEC team to make the ballot will have to prove it belongs.