College Football Week 5 Power Rankings

The season nears towards the end of the first month of action and with limited conference action, not much as really changed. Alabama has looked very good and Oregon is still a points slot machine even without head coach Chip Kelly. The SEC still looks dominant as ever with Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, and South Carolina along with Alabama give the conference 5 of the top 12 teams in the country. Last weekend had only one top 25 matchup, thus the rankings look very much the same as last week. However, this week there is a deep slate of top games and expect some movement next week highlighted by either Georgia or LSU after their top 10 clash. Arizona State is the only team to drop out of the top 25 and they are replaced by Texas Tech.

With Week 5 coming up, here are this week's power rankings:

1)(1) Alabama (vs Mississippi)- They survived a comeback by Texas A&M a couple games ago and now get a hungry team in Mississippi similar to the Aggies a year ago. Ironically, they are home again for a potential trip up game on their path to a conference/national title.
2)(2) Oregon (vs California)- They are back after a bye week and California has been one of the few if any teams to slow down the Ducks in recent years so it should be interesting to see if they can keep them under 50.
3)(3) Ohio State (vs Wisconsin)- They have what seems like two very solid quarterbacks and how they choose to use them in games like this week will go a long way in if they can repeat their success from last year.
4)(4) Clemson (vs Wake Forest)- They got lucky with a call and will need to be leery of another ACC team hoping to halt their national title hopes.
5)(5) Stanford (at Washington State)- They looked very good against Arizona State and will need to build off of that game going forward as they could be on a collision course with a high powered Oregon offense. 
6)(6) Louisville (BYE)- They get a week off and they look like a 12-0 team in the making after their start.
7)(7) Georgia (vs LSU)- They drew the short straw this year and get a third top 10 opponent before October. They are 1-1 in those games and still control their SEC East fate.
8)(8) Florida State (at Boston College)- They have looked dangerous at times when they get rolling and this week could be more of the same.
9)(9) LSU (at Georgia)- They continue to grow as an offense and have speed as usual with a lot of unpredictability with their options.
10)(10) Texas A&M (at Arkansas)- They quickly got back on track after losing to Alabama and should do well again this week as they hope to climb back into the title picture with their one loss.
11)(11) Oklahoma State (at West Virginia)- They get a West Virginia team who has seemed to struggle with slowing down Big 12 offenses the last couple years and the Cowboys have one of the better one for sure.
12)(12) South Carolina (at UCF)- They have an interesting challenge this week as UCF has looked better than some expected and the Gamecocks can't take them lightly if they want to keep pace with Georgia and Florida in the SEC East.
13)(13) UCLA (BYE)- They get a week off but have looked dynamic on both sides of the ball each week and starting to separate themselves from the southern half of the Pac-12.
14)(15) Oklahoma (at Notre Dame)- They got beat at home last year to Notre Dame and are out for revenge against a team that has looked like they struggle moving the ball at times.
15)(16) Northwestern (BYE)- They are off this week and continue to improve in all phases and could be interesting when they start to draw big conference foes.
16)(17) Miami (FL) (at USF)- They truly ran up the score last week and while getting a better team this week they might just do the same.
17)(14) Michigan (BYE)- They survived two close calls against lesser teams and now get a week off to figure out how to sharpen up before they get into conference games.
18)(18) Washington (vs Arizona)- This will be another good opportunity this week to see what type of team the Huskies are.
19)(19) Florida (at Kentucky)- They lost their starting quarterback last week and hung on to win and should do well enough again this week but down the road they will need guys to step up.
20)(20) Baylor (BYE)- Next to Oregon, there is not a better offense going right now. They might be even better based on statistics and get a week to rest.
21)(21) Notre Dame (vs Oklahoma)- They have battled hard the last couple games and survived with wins. They will need to duplicate the same type of timely scoring and tough defense to win this one.
22)(22) Mississippi (at Alabama)- How good is this team? This game this week against Alabama will be a huge yardstick for their season and they have the ability to keep it close and open the door for a huge upset.
23)(24) Wisconsin (at Ohio State)- They know they need this win against the Buckeyes to keep pace with them as well as make a huge statement as they hope to win the Big 10.
24)(25) Nebraska (BYE)- They bounced back very well and get a week off to continue to figure things out on and off the field in Lincoln.
25)(NR) Texas Tech (BYE)- They have looked very good with a young quarterback and coach and create an interesting dynamic in the race for the Big 12 South.

NEXT 5
1) Arizona State (vs USC)- They took a step back losing a close one to Stanford but could bounce back against a USC team struggling to put points up.
2) Michigan State (BYE)- They have hovered on the edge of the top 25 both in and out and get a week to regroup after a close loss to Notre Dame.
3) Fresno State (at Hawaii)- They are certainly continuing to look very good offensively and might be this year's BCS buster if they keep it up.
4) TCU (vs SMU)- It will be another good showdown in the Lonestar State for the Horned Frogs and must get out to a better early start.
5) Virginia Tech (at Georgia Tech)- They don't look especially amazing but good enough to grind out wins and will need to bring their defensive A game to slow down a fast paced Georgia Tech offense.

After a down week of competitive games and top 25 games, there are a few good top 25 games this week and the national title picture will start to get a little clearer as teams continue to work to separate themselves.