Every October the voters face the same problem. Somebody loses, everybody below them shuffles up a rung, and the poll ends up rewarding teams for standing still. This week was a fine example. Texas didn't play and kept 61 first-place votes. Ole Miss didn't play and stayed No. 9. Meanwhile Alabama went into a ranked team's stadium, scored 56 and moved up exactly one spot.
I'm not saying the AP got it wrong. I'm saying I'd have done it differently, and since this is my column, I get to.
The real AP Top 25
For the record, here is what the voters released Sunday afternoon:
1. Texas (4-0)
2. Georgia (5-0)
3. Notre Dame (5-0)
4. Miami (5-0)
5. Ohio State (4-1)
6. Alabama (5-0)
7. Indiana (5-0)
8. BYU (4-0)
9. Ole Miss (3-1)
10. LSU (4-1)
11. Texas Tech (5-0)
12. Utah (4-0)
13. Oregon (3-1)
14. Missouri (4-1)
15. Tennessee (4-1)
16. Florida (4-1)
17. Mississippi State (4-1)
18. Oklahoma State (3-1)
19. USC (5-1)
20. Iowa (4-1)
21. UCLA (4-0)
22. Houston (4-1)
23. Boise State (4-1)
24. SMU (4-1)
25. Pittsburgh (5-0)
Scotty's Top 25
1. Texas (4-0): A one-point win over Ohio State and a three-point escape at Tennessee aren't pretty, but nobody else owns two wins like that. The Longhorns keep the top spot until somebody takes it.
2. Georgia (5-0): Every win by at least 24 points, including Saturday's 38-14 handling of Vanderbilt after a sleepy first half. We'll know a lot more by about 11 p.m. Saturday.
3. Alabama (5-0): I'm jumping the Tide three spots past the AP. They're the only FBS team to score at least 45 in every game, and Keelon Russell just threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns in Starkville while running for a fourth.
4. Miami (5-0): The Hurricanes beat Clemson 41-13 on its home field for the first time since 2010 and sacked Tait Reynolds six times. Darian Mensah has 15 touchdown passes through five games and hasn't looked rattled once.
5. Notre Dame (5-0): Fifteen straight wins, every one by double digits. CJ Carr accounted for five touchdowns in the rain at Chapel Hill, which is a decent way to spend a Saturday.
6. Ohio State (4-1): The only blemish is a 24-23 loss to the team I have at No. 1. Jeremiah Smith (11 catches, 206 yards, two scores at Iowa) now owns the school's career records for receiving touchdowns and receptions.
7. Indiana (5-0): Twenty-one straight wins is the nation's longest streak, and Turbo Richard just ran for 204 at Rutgers. Slipping a spot after a 32-point road win feels like a tax on being consistent.
8. Texas Tech (5-0): Down 7-3 at halftime in Boulder, the Red Raiders picked off Colorado on all three third-quarter drives. A defense that does that travels well.
9. Ole Miss (3-1): Owns the best win in the LSU-Ole Miss-Florida triangle, a 32-24 decision over the Tigers. The rout in Gainesville still stings.
10. Missouri (4-1): Yes, the Tigers lost at Mississippi State. They also held Jadan Baugh, a Heisman candidate with 11 touchdowns coming in, to 13 yards on 12 carries and beat Florida by 28.
11. LSU (4-1): The 63-14 win over McNeese tells us nothing beyond Sam Leavitt's hamstring holding up for a half. The trip to Kentucky on Saturday night will tell us plenty.
12. Utah (4-0): Unbeaten, idle this week, and hosting Kansas on Saturday. No complaints, no fireworks.
13. BYU (4-0): The record is spotless. The offense at TCU was not: 216 total yards, and star back LJ Martin left in the first quarter with a right leg injury.
14. Tennessee (4-1): DeSean Bishop carried 34 times for 220 yards against Auburn, which is the kind of answer you want when your freshman quarterback goes 3-for-8 for zero yards and gets benched.
15. Oklahoma State (3-1): The Cowboys beat Oregon 39-31 in Stillwater on Sept. 12. I keep waiting for someone to explain why they're five spots behind the Ducks.
16. Oregon (3-1): Talented and dangerous, but head-to-head should mean something in mid-October. UCLA comes to Eugene on Saturday.
17. Florida (4-1): One week the Gators are routing Ole Miss, the next they're managing 325 yards in Columbia. Pick a lane, fellas.
18. Mississippi State (4-1): The Bulldogs beat Missouri a week ago and then gave up 56 to Alabama. Kamario Taylor's health after leaving Saturday's game is the storyline to watch.
19 through 25: Pittsburgh (5-0) climbs to 19 for its 35-33 win at Virginia Tech after trailing 14-0, even if it took a missed 36-yard field goal at the gun. USC (5-1) at 20 survived Washington by rallying from 21-10 down. Houston (4-1) is 21st after coming back from 17-0 against UCF. UCLA (4-0) sits 22nd until it plays somebody, which conveniently happens Saturday in Eugene. Iowa (4-1) at 23 managed 238 yards against Ohio State. Boise State (4-1) is 24th after a 37-18 handling of Utah State. And Kentucky (4-1) is 25th, because a team that won at Texas A&M and then rallied from 17-0 down to win at South Carolina deserves better than being dropped from the poll after a win.
Out of my poll: SMU.
Overrated
BYU at No. 8 is the easy call. Starting 4-0 for a third straight year is a real accomplishment, and I mean that. But 216 yards against a TCU team that's now 2-3, with the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year ruled out by halftime, is not top-10 football.
SMU is the other. The Mustangs held Boston College scoreless for seven straight possessions, credit where it's due, but a 25-16 home win over a 2-3 team cost them three spots for a reason.
Underrated
Kentucky got punished for the crime of winning. The Wildcats fell out of the poll after the largest road comeback in program history, and they still got 160 points, the most of anyone outside the Top 25. Kenny Minchey's two-point throw to Willie Rodriguez in overtime deserved a better reward than that.
Oklahoma State, as covered above, has the head-to-head over a team ranked five spots higher. The voters can't have it both ways on that one.
Biggest movers
Missouri's 11-spot jump, from 25 to 14, was the week's biggest leap, and ESPN Research notes the 28-point margin was the program's largest win ever over an AP top-10 team. Jamal Roberts ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns, including an 80-yarder that ended any thought of a comeback.
Florida fell eight spots to No. 16, and Iowa dropped six to No. 20. Pittsburgh entered at No. 25, and Kentucky was the team that made room.
The Southeast angle
The SEC has nine ranked teams, and seven of them sit in the Southeast or at its edges: Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State. That's a lot of good teams set to spend November taking turns beating each other.
The ACC picture down here is thinner. Miami is the only Southeast ACC school in the poll. Florida State (3-2) looked like a different team in a 38-7 win over Virginia, with Ashton Daniels running for five touchdowns, a record for a Florida State quarterback, and the Seminoles get Louisville on Friday before visiting Miami on Oct. 17. Wake Forest (142 points) and Duke (83) are both knocking. Clemson (3-2) came into Saturday a 17 1/2-point home underdog, the biggest spread of the Dabo Swinney era, and lost by 28. That isn't a dip anymore.
And South Carolina, now 2-3 with eight straight SEC losses, goes to Gainesville on Saturday to face a Florida team in a foul mood.
Georgia at Alabama
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC, Bryant-Denny Stadium. Two of the SEC's three unbeatens, and one of them leaves with a loss.
Alabama has won the last two regular-season meetings. Georgia won the one that mattered most, the SEC Championship Game last December. Gunner Stockton just went 25 of 32 for 295 yards against Vanderbilt, and Georgia has won every game this season by at least 24. Alabama's defense forced four turnovers and held Mississippi State to 18 rushing yards.
My pick: Alabama, by a field goal. Home crowd, hotter offense, and I already ranked them third, so I'd look silly otherwise.
The Red River Rivalry
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC, the Cotton Bowl. Texas (4-0) comes off its bye. Oklahoma (2-2, 0-1 SEC) had the same week off, after losing 41-13 at Georgia and 17-10 at Michigan, and didn't receive a single AP vote this week.
The Longhorns' two biggest wins came by a combined four points, and this rivalry has a way of turning into a close game whether the records say so or not. I'll take Texas, but I wouldn't bet my lunch money on the spread.
See you next Sunday, when roughly half of this list will need rewriting.