For the second week in a row, I only had 1 team fall out of the ballot I submitted for Saturday Down South’s official top 25. My top 2 remained unchanged, but losses by Nos. 3 and 4 last week resulted in a significant shift to the back end of my top 10.

Here’s my top 25 entering Week 12.

1. Oregon (10-0)

Last week: 1

The Ducks are the closest thing we have this season to a clear-cut frontrunner. They aren’t a flawless team, but they’re close. They held Maryland to 3.8 yards per play in a 39-18 win over the weekend.

2. Ohio State (8-1)

Last week: 2

Ohio State didn’t really have to fret to get by Purdue. Those Jeff Brohm-led Boilermaker teams are a thing of the distant past. In a 45-0 win, the Buckeyes barely broke a sweat.

3. Indiana (10-0)

Last week: 5

Indiana passed another test. While it’s true a stinky Michigan team was probably Indiana’s toughest test yet, this team is 10-0 and I personally want to celebrate that. Indiana, with a bunch of G5 transfers and Indiana recruits, is 10-0. They earn this ranking if they beat Ohio State. If they lose, they’ll drop. Simple as that.

4. Notre Dame (8-1)

Last week: 6

Notre Dame beat Florida State 52-3. Since surviving against Louisville, Notre Dame has outscored its last 4 opponents 183-37 with a plus-9 edge in the turnover department. Marcus Freeman’s group is reaching peak form.

5. Texas (8-1)

Last week: 7

Texas slapped around a Florida team missing significant chunks of its offense. The Gator defense was pitiful, to put it politely. It’s remarkable how fortunate this schedule has been for the Longhorns.

6. Penn State (8-1)

Last week: 8

Drew Allar completed 20 of his 28 passes and played turnover-free in a rout of Washington over the weekend. The ground game produced 266 yards and 4 scores. The defense shut down Jonah Coleman and forced a quarterback change at halftime.

7. Tennessee (8-1)

Last week: 9

Dylan Sampson is awesome. Nico Iamaleava is hurt, which could mean something or it could mean nothing for Saturday’s game against Georgia. Tennessee responded well enough to Iamaleava’s absence in the Mississippi State game, and coach Josh Heupel said Monday the star quarterback is in “great shape” for Week 12.

8. Ole Miss (8-2)

Last week: 12

That was the Rebel team I’ve been defending all season. Ole Miss was the clearly superior team on a rain-soaked field that featured the Georgia Bulldogs. You’d think, given the elements, hard-nosed, grind-it-out football would have favored Georgia. That’s been Georgia’s ethos for most of recent memory. Ole Miss flattened the Dawgs. Georgia had 59 rushing yards even after it was spotted an early 7-0 lead.

9. BYU (9-0)

Last week: 10

BYU needed a holding call and a field goal in the final seconds to escape Salt Lake City with its unbeaten record still intact. The Cougars beat the Utes 22-21 in the Holy War. Rice-Eccles Stadium is a wildly difficult place for visitors to play at night. BYU seems to have some late-game magic this season.

10. Miami (9-1)

Last week: 4

Miami had been flirting with disaster for weeks and finally got what was coming on the road against Georgia Tech. Mario Cristobal’s late-game ineptitude reared its ugly head once again, which always looked like the thing that could ultimately prevent Miami from completing a 12-0 season. The defense is also trending in the wrong direction. Cam Ward can’t do everything.

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11. SMU (8-1)

Last week: 11

The Mustangs were on a bye in Week 11.

12. Alabama (6-2)

Last week: 18

Alabama leveled LSU. Brian Kelly highlighted the weakness before the bye and Kalen DeBoer used Jalen Milroe to just repeatedly hammer that weakness all day. At points this season, the Crimson Tide have shown an ability to beat anyone in the country. At others, they’ve looked like a team that could lose a first-round Playoff game.

13. Georgia (7-2)

Last week: 3

I have been quietly out on this Georgia team for weeks. I am firmly out on this Georgia team now. Ten points on the road in a spot where you can reassert your dominance? Georgia teams of old would have taken a 7-0 lead on the road against a team abruptly turning to a backup quarterback and promptly dealt a kill shot. This is not a Georgia team of old.

14. Boise State (8-1)

Last week: 13

Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards and 3 scores but Boise State struggled to separate from 3-8 Nevada at home.

15. Texas A&M (7-2)

Last week: 15

The Aggies were on a bye in Week 11.

16. Clemson (7-2)

Last week: 17

Clemson trailed 7-0 after the first quarter in Blacksburg on Saturday but outscored Virginia Tech 24-7 over the final 45 minutes. Phil Mafah ran hard. Cade Klubnik shook off an early interception. Not a bad road win.

17. Army (9-0)

Last week: 19

North Texas has put a scare in a couple of teams this season, and Army Quarterback Bryson Daily threw an interception despite going to the air just 4 times. But Daily’s return to the field also saw him run for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Black Knights won 14-3 and moved to 9-0.

18. Kansas State (7-2)

Last week: 20

The Wildcats were on a bye in Week 11.

19. Colorado (7-2)

Last week: 21

Colorado is trending up in a major way. If not for a 3-point loss at home to Kansas State, I’d have Colorado higher. For right now, they’re at 19.

20. Tulane (8-2)

Last week: 24

Tulane is rolling. The Green Wave have won their last 2 games a combined 86-9. And they’ve given up more than 10 points only twice in the last 6 games. If Boise State were to somehow lose the Mountain West title game, Tulane is grabbing the G5’s automatic bid to the Playoff.

21. Louisville (6-3)

Last week: 22

The Cardinals were on a bye in Week 11.

22. LSU (6-3)

Last week: 16

A 42-13 loss to Alabama at home was a thoroughly disappointing performance. They subjected a tiger to that? 

23. South Carolina (6-3)

Last week: unranked

With respect to Shane Beamer, South Carolina was on my bubble a week ago and I’ve talked kindly about the Gamecocks ever since they blew the doors off Kentucky in Lexington. But near-upsets of LSU and Alabama weren’t enough to crack the top 25. Back-to-back impressive wins over quality SEC opponents, however, are. (The OU win was also impressive, but OU is not a quality SEC opponent.)

24. Washington State (8-1)

Last week: 23

Wazzu quarterback John Mateer produced 5 total touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing) to help the Cougars blow out Utah State at home. Washington State was up 42-14 early in the fourth before Utah State scored a couple of garbage-time touchdowns.

25. Louisiana (8-1)

Last week: 25

Louisiana scored a season-high 55 points to win its sixth straight. In the 55-19 win over Arkansas State, the Ragin’ Cajuns’ offense was remarkably balanced, throwing for 301 and running for 278.

Dropped out

Iowa State (14)

Right on the cut line

Arizona State, Iowa State

Derek Peterson

Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.