OXFORD — The final weekend in September did not disappoint college football fans. Unless, of course, your team happened to lose.

Alabama and Georgia played a classic after initially looking like it was going to be a Crimson Tide blowout. Alabama jumped out to a 30-7 halftime lead before the Bulldogs stormed back and took a momentary lead late in the fourth quarter. Alabama responded with a 75-yard touchdown grab from freshman sensation Ryan Williams to retake the lead. Georgia drove down deep into Alabama territory with a chance to win, but Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck was intercepted in the end zone to end the comeback.

Elsewhere in the top 10, then-No. 6 Ole Miss was stunned at home by Kentucky 20-17 in a game that came down to the wire. Then-No. 10 Utah was once again without star quarterback Cam Rising and finally paid the price, falling at home to Arizona by double-digits. What a season it’s been already, and what a season it promises to be going forward.

Here is how I voted this week, and here is how the poll actually looks.

1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Ohio State
4. Tennessee
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. Penn State
8. Miami
9. Missouri
10. Michigan
11. USC
12. LSU
13. Ole Miss
14. Notre Dame
15. Clemson
16. Iowa State
17. Oklahoma
18. BYU
19. Utah
20. Kansas State
21. Louisville
22. Illinois
23. Boise State
24. Texas A&M
25. Indiana

The top 10

I went back and forth on whether or not to knock Texas off the top spot for Alabama. Ultimately, I chose to reward the Crimson Tide for two reasons: for starters, they beat the No. 2 team in the country, albeit in dramatic fashion. And secondly, Texas didn’t look particularly sharp against Mississippi State, though it was without starting quarterback Quinn Ewers. Alabama notched its first huge win under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer and earned the top spot this week.

Ohio State beat Michigan State handily, and with Georgia’s loss, idle Tennessee moved up to No. 4. Oregon took care of UCLA on the road; I almost had Georgia ahead of the Ducks, but I ultimately decided to reward the Ducks for their road win rather than reward the Bulldogs with a close road loss. It was almost a toss-up for me. Penn State defeated a ranked Illinois squad and, combined with Miami’s very strange/controversial win over Virginia tech, led me to put the Nittany Lions ahead of the Hurricanes. Missouri was idle, and Michigan took care of business against Minnesota despite just 86 passing yards.

 

The rest

USC came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Wisconsin by 17. LSU blew out South Alabama and, given USC won the head-to-head between the teams, the Trojans get the nod. I moved the Rebels down to 13 from their prior position at No. 6. It was a tough loss, to be sure. But a three-point loss to a very good Kentucky team isn’t grounds for too drastic of a fall. I have LSU ahead of Ole Miss because the Tigers looked very good against South Alabama and won at South Carolina a few weeks ago; the Rebels and Tigers play Oct. 12, so the rankings will take care of themselves in that regard.

Notre Dame notched a nice win against Louisville, which is helping the Fighting Irish move up after their loss to Northern Illinois. Clemson has looked great since its season-opening loss to Georgia, and Iowa State manages to keep rolling. Oklahoma won at Auburn with a freshman quarterback and, while I understand the Tigers aren’t setting the world on fire at the moment, road wins in the SEC are meaningful. BYU is still undefeated, and Utah drops to No. 19 for me following the loss against Arizona. Kansas State rebounded from its first loss of the year with a dominant win over Oklahoma State. It’s hard to drop Louisville too far after losing a close one with Notre Dame; the same is the case with Illinois following its loss to Penn State. Boise State dominated Washington State behind the brilliant running of Ashton Jeanty, who has become a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy after another 200-yard rushing performance.

Texas A&M won a tight one with an Arkansas team that had been playing well, so I snuck the Aggies in right before the cutoff. And, lastly, you can’t ignore Indiana’s 5-0 start. Not only are the Hoosiers undefeated, but they have been dominant and just blew out Maryland by 20.