UNDATED (AP) — How to judge Missouri’s 28-point win over Florida easily was the biggest question facing Associated Press Top 25 college football poll voters this past weekend. At kickoff Saturday, the Tigers were ranked No. 25 with one loss and the Gators were No. 8 and unbeaten. Missouri’s 45-17 victory merited the Tigers being ranked ahead of the Gators and they were. Missouri was No. 14 and Florida was No. 16 in the poll released Sunday. But 11 media members on the voting panel saw things differently and had Florida ahead of Missouri on their ballots. They said it's about more than a head to head result.
UNDATED (AP) — Missouri rose 11 spots to No. 14 in The Associated Press Top 25 following its rout of Florida and the Gators dropped eight to No. 16 and were replaced by LSU in the top 10. Texas will go into Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma as the No. 1 team for the fourth straight week. The rest of the top five stood pat with Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State. The Longhorns received 61 of the 70 first-place votes from the media voting panel. Georgia got six first-place votes and Miami got two.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi running back Kewan Lacy is expected to play Saturday against Vanderbilt, coach Pete Golding said Monday. Golding said he fully anticipates Lacy being ready to return after missing the Rebels' loss at Florida. Lacy injured his left shoulder Sept. 19 in a victory against LSU. Golding said Lacy did noncontact individual and team drills at practice on Sunday night after getting a full week of rest. Ole Miss, which is ranked ninth, did not play last weekend. Lacy has rushed for 191 yards and four touchdowns this season.
UNDATED (AP) — Iowa State running back Aiden Flora is Associated Press national player of the week in college football for his performance against West Virginia. The former walk-on ran for three touchdowns and a career-high 212 yards and passed for two TDs in the 45-42 victory. His five touchdowns accounted for are most among Football Bowl Subdivision running backs this season and he’s the first FBS running back since at least 1996 with two rushing TDs, two passing TDs and 100 yards rushing in a game. Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith was runner-up after catching 11 balls for 206 yards against Iowa.
UNDATED (AP) — Texas Tech would be back on the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket after a one-week absence based on the new Associated Press Top 25 and Florida would drop off. The projected bracket underwent few changes with Florida the only top-10 team in the AP poll to lose. Texas, Georgia, Notre Dame and Miami remain the top four seeds and Ohio State, Alabama, Indiana and BYU would host first-round games. Florida’s drop partially facilitated BYU's two-spot move up in the AP poll and take the final home field spot for the first round.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — The growth Alabama's Keelon Russell exhibited in a 56-23 victory at Mississippi State has his Crimson Tide teammates encouraged about how far the 19-year-old quarterback can take them. Russell completed six of his seven third-down passes for 146 yards, including connections of 50 and 39 yards to Lotzeir Brooks and 22 yards to Ryan Coleman-Williams. Russell finished with 285 yards and three touchdowns passing and also ran 17 yards for a score. Russell's threw two, third-down TD passes to Rico Scott, who says it's “hard to believe how fast” Russell has grown. Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby says Russell is already playing at an “elite level.”
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma heads into its game against archrival and No. 1 Texas with questions at quarterback. John Mateer’s stock has plummeted with six turnovers in three games, including two fumbles and an interception in a 41-13 loss at Georgia. It is unclear if Mateer will start or how much he will play on Saturday in Dallas. Backups Whitt Newbauer and Bowe Bentley took a lot of reps in practice last week.
