Julie Bennett-USA TODAY Sports

Sunshine pumping only! Auburn played the then #2 team in the country, and only lost by a field goal. In doing so, that propelled LSU up to #1, costing Bama the top spot. Also, Auburn is the highest rated 2-loss team. Auburn’s two losses are to top-6 teams, who have one loss between them. The sky isn’t falling!

With LSU’s top 10 win, they just barely took the top spot in this week’s rankings. In fact, they pulled in fewer first place votes than Alabama (18 to their 20), but enough people slid in Ohio State above Alabama at #2 for LSU to get the overall #1 ranking. Ohio State even received 11 first place votes, and with a date with #5 Penn State coming up, the Buckeyes (or Penn State if they win) will be the favorites to snag the #2 spot behind the Bama/LSU winners.

As usual, the pettiest ranking of the week comes via From the Rumble Seat, who voted UGA #17. Never change, nerds. We see you and we love you. Also amusing is the fact that Coug Center (Washington State) voters tabbed Oregon as #6 in the country after the Ducks BARELY stole a game from Wazzu this weekend.

Our G5 friends continue to litter the back half of the rankings. Starting with undefeated SMU at #14, seven of the last 12 ranked teams come from non-power conferences. Shouts to #16 Cincinnati, #17 App State, #21 San Diego State, #22 Boise State, #23 Memphis, and #24 La Tech. As if Gameday going to Memphis wasn’t enough this week, the winner of the SMU/Memphis game will be in the driver’s seat for the NY6 bid this bowl season.

Early this year, I mentioned that I thought Auburn’s confidence poll graph was going to look like a heartbeat monitor, and lookie-here, that’s about what we’ve got.

There are valid criticisms about Gus and the program, especially after losing two easily winnable games against top 10 teams due arguably to coaching decisions (both in game and in program management). I don’t particularly want to dive into it here, but I will say this - if you were to write a pros and cons list for keeping or letting go of Gus, both sides would have plenty of bullet points.

If the news about a certain player leaving the program is true (we’ll post about it when there’s an official decision - we aren’t journalists here), it’s definitely not a good look for Gus. The issue isn’t that players transfer out, that’s a part of recruiting multiple talented kids for the same positions. But the inability to keep non-starters engaged in the team is a flaw that has to be recognized. Is it a firable offense? Certainly not. But it’s more ammo for the camp that wants a change in direction at the top.

If you participated in the Fan Pulse ballot this week, you also got the chance to let us know what outcome surprised you the most this weekend. Overwhelmingly, it was K-State upsetting Oklahoma, a top 5 team and Playoff favorite.

Personally, I voted for Michigan laying the wood to Notre Dame, as I had 100% left the Wolverines for dead, and I usually expect Oklahoma to lay an egg once a year.

NOTE!!!

FanPulse is going to start including basketball, too! We aren’t asking for a top 25 each week, but instead we’ll be asking a few questions about Auburn and maybe a few other national questions. These will be on the same email as the football FanPulse, so if you’re already signed up to receive those, you’re good to go!

If not, you can still sign up!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YK726PN

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/10/30/20939931/after-loss-to-lsu-auburn-now-12-in-fan-pulse