ASU fans cheer against Stanford, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils beat the Cardinal, 26-10. (Photo by Ben Moffat)The last two weeks just didn't feel right, did they? Well, all is right again, as ASU football moved back ahead of UA in both the AP and USA Today Amway Coaches Poll, following its impressive win over then-No. 23 Stanford.
The Sun Devils jumped up from No. 18 in the coaches poll to No. 14, while Stanford fell out of it almost completely, receiving just two votes (placing it 33rd). In the AP poll, both teams saw similar movement; the Sun Devils moved up to No. 14, and the Cardinal fell out of the top 25.
ASU benefited from a handful of teams ahead of it losing. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Baylor all lost, though the Sun Devils weren't quite able to jump ahead of the Bears, falling one spot and 199 votes short of them in the coaches poll (that's the largest gap of any two teams in the coaches poll). They're two spots behind the Bears in the AP poll.
Notre Dame, which comes to Tempe on Nov. 8, lost a nail-biter to No. 2 Florida State on the road. Despite playing a team ahead of it in the polls to the final play, the Fighting Irish dropped from No. 5 in both polls to No. 8 in the coaches poll and No. 7 in the AP, all but guaranteeing they won't be No. 1 when they play ASU.
After having a season-high six teams in the top 25 last week, the Pac-12 is back to five ranked teams in the coaches poll but barely hangs on to six in the AP. The highest is Oregon, which won't play ASU unless both make it to the Pac-12 championship. The Ducks come in at No. 7 in the coaches poll and No. 6 in the AP. Following them are: ASU (No. 14 in the coaches/14 in the AP), UA (15/15), Utah (19/19) and USC (21/20). UCLA is ranked 25th in the AP poll, but only received votes in the coaches. Stanford and Washington also received votes.
Next week, the first College Football Playoff committee poll will be released. The official rankings that will determine which four teams make the inaugural playoff will be unveiled Sunday, Oct. 28 at 4:30 Arizona time on ESPN. They will be released weekly after that, with the final rankings coming Dec. 7.
AP top 10:
1. Mississippi State (43 first-place votes)
2. Florida State (14)
3. Ole Miss (three)
4. Alabama
5. Auburn
6. Oregon
7. Notre Dame
8. Michigan State
9. Georgia
10. TCU
Coaches top 10:
1. Mississippi State (36 first-place votes)
2. Florida State (22)
3. Ole Miss (four)
4. Alabama
5. Michigan State
6. Auburn
7. Oregon
8. Notre Dame
9. Georgia
10. TCU
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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