We’re just barely into Week 5 and we’ve already gotten to see one thrilling upset on the weekend. It’s over in the ACC and the No. 8 ranked Florida State Seminoles were just shocked by the unranked Virginia Cavaliers.
This is a huge win for UVA and also a rather significant loss for an FSU team that was looking to prove it was back in national title contending status (and probably a very alarming loss for Mike Norvell, who had just got his hot seat cooled a bit after beating Alabama a few weeks back).
On top of impacting the ACC championship race and shaking things up a bit for the College Football Playoff committee, this one will impact some college football rankings as well.
And that could benefit Texas Tech a bit.
So, how exactly does this FSU loss to the Cavaliers impact the Red Raiders?
College football rankings: Will Texas Tech move into the top 10 of either the AP Poll after Florida State’s loss to Virginia?
Let’s take a look at the AP Poll college football Top 25 rankings since that is the one most tend to pay attention to and document and will defer to when examining college football rankings. Here’s what the top 25 teams looked like in the AP Poll ahead of FSU’s loss to the Virginia Cavaliers:
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Miami Hurricanes
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- LSU Tigers
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Oregon Ducks
- Oklahoma Sooners
- FSU Seminoles
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Texas Longhorns
- Indiana Hoosiers
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Tennessee Vols
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Michigan Wolverines
- Missouri Tigers
- USC Trojans
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- TCU Horned Frogs
- BYU Cougars
The Red Raiders are in a decent spot at No. 12, though they should probably be ranked a little higher. And that’s where some patience comes in. Because a Florida State loss to a team like Virginia will help Texas Tech out a bit.
More than likely, we’ll see FSU drop, potentially somewhere closer to the 15 to 20 range. It wasn’t that long ago that we saw Mike Norvell and the Seminoles run right over Alabama. I doubt we see FSU exit the Top 25.
And that will provide Texas Tech with a chance to move up. But unless something else happens in the Top 10, it’s hard to see a Texas Tech team, on a bye week, leapfrogging Indiana, Texas, or Texas A&M. So, I doubt we’ll see the Red Raiders move into the Top 10 on this game alone. Almost certainly, something else has to happen as well.