Utah Moves Up in AP Poll after Win over Cal

After a 30-24 win over No. 23 Cal (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12), Utah football (5-0, 2-0 Pac-12) moves up to No. 4 in the AP Poll. They stayed at No. 7 in the Amway Coaches Poll. After ranking No. 5 last week in the AP Poll and receiving seven first-place votes, Utah moved up to No. 4 and received 16 first-place votes (second to only Ohio State, which received 27) this week. Utah has two wins over AP Top 25 teams, beating No. 12 Michigan and No. 23 Cal. Utah moved up to No. 4 after Michigan State dropped to No. 7 after their second-consecutive close win over a Big Ten opponent with a losing record, beating Rutgers 31-24 on a game Rutgers lost by spiking the ball on fourth down. Michigan and Michigan State have a huge matchup this week in Ann Arbor. Baylor moved up to No. 2, jumping TCU, after demolishing Kansas 66-7.

The Big Ten and SEC lead all conferences with five teams each in the AP Top 25. The Big 12 and Pac-12 both have four teams each. The Pac-12's four teams are No. 4 Utah, No. 15 Stanford, No. 18 UCLA (Stanford and UCLA play this Thursday), and No. 23 Cal. The ACC has three teams, and the American, MAC, and Mountain West each have one team. Independent Notre Dame is also ranked.

Six teams received first-place votes, Ohio State (27), Utah (16), Baylor (13), TCU (3), Clemson (1), and Texas A&M (1). It illustrates how there really is no truly dominant, complete team. Arguments can be made for a lot of teams, and the defending national champions, Ohio State, have looked less than impressive in their 6-0 start.

After a week that featured only two match ups between ranked opponents, there will be several great games. The College GameDay game is No. 7 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan. There is a big Pac-12 North-South showdown on Thursday night when No. 18 UCLA travels to No. 15 Stanford. The Big Ten has more than just the big Michigan-Michigan State matchup, with No. 17 Iowa traveling to No. 20 Northwestern. No. 10 Alabama heads to College Station to take on No. 9 Texas A&M. That is not the only top 10 matchup in the SEC either; No. 6 LSU will host No. 8 Florida in Death Valley. No. 4 Utah hosts Arizona State, who is effectively ranked 28 at 8 p.m. MT on Saturday, Oct. 17.