Analyzing the AP Poll: No Top-5 Votes for OSU For The First Time

In the latest AP poll released on Sunday, Oklahoma State moved up in the rankings two spots to No. 9. It’s the Pokes’ highest position so far this season, and a more appropriate move than the one-spot drop they took the week before.

If you break down the votes for OSU, the biggest thing to notice is the number of voters ranking the Cowboys in the top-10 and which position the largest number of votes is focused.

The number of voters who believe OSU is a top-10 team continues to rise. At this point only nine voters have the Cowboys outside the top-12. That’s down from 15 last week.

One note though, is that this was the first week that no voter put OSU in the top-5.

In the preseason, OSU received one vote for No. 2 by Pat Dooley. After week one, Dooley dropped them to third, but Kirk Bohls added a No. 5 vote. This week though? Both have OSU at No. 6.

Dig a little deeper though, and it’s understandable. Neither voter necessarily moved OSU down, so much as they moved other teams up.

Dooley’s Top-5 are Bama, OU, Clemson, USC, and Penn State. Bohls has essentially the same Top-5 with USC and Clemson flip-flopped. Each team ahead of OSU has beaten someone of note: Bama over Florida State, OU over Ohio State, Clemson over Auburn, USC over Stanford, and Penn State over Pitt. We can debate the legitimacy of those teams all day, but they’re all better wins that what OSU has on their record so far.

If OSU can go into Pittsburgh and come away with no worse than a 19-point victory, similar to what Penn State did at home over the Panthers, I think OSU could rise up into the top 6.

That’s of course if Ross Dellenger and Sammy Batten stop ranking OSU 15th while they put teams like Washington, Georgia, and Florida State in the top 5.