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In October, college football begins to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

LSU continues its march to a showdown against Alabama in November. Both teams have big tests in the way; Florida plays the Tigers and the Crimson Tide this month. We’ll see plenty of other big tests played out this month including Wisconsin vs. Nebraska this weekend.

Texas A&M gets its first taste of SEC life facing Arkansas this week. Speaking of the Aggies, they take a big fall this week going from sixth to 11th after blowing a big lead to Oklahoma State.

No team drops out of the Top 25 this week but several are holding on by a toenail. Florida State, Vanderbilt and West Virginia hold on by a thread.

Rank Previous Team/Record
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25		 1
2
3
4
7
5
10
11
8
12
13
6
9
15
16
17
18
20
23
14
24
19
25
22
24		 LSU Tigers (4-0)
Alabama Crimson Tide (4-0)
Oklahoma Sooners (3-0)
Boise State Broncos (3-0)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-0)
Stanford Cardinal (3-0)
Wisconsin Badgers (4-0)
Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0)
Oregon Ducks (3-1)
Virginia Tech Hokies (4-0)
South Carolina Gamecocks (4-0)
Texas A&M Aggies (2-1)
Arkansas Razorbacks (3-1)
Florida Gators (4-0)
Texas Longhorns (3-0)
TCU Horned Frogs (3-1)
South Florida Bulls (4-0)
Baylor Bears (3-0)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0)
Florida State Seminoles (2-2)
Houston Cougars (4-0)
Michigan State Spartans (3-1)
Tennessee Volunteers (2-1)
West Virginia Mountaineers (3-1)
Vanderbilt Commodores (3-1)
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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.