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My AP ballot: Texas Tech jumps to No. 16

Quarterback Seth Doege helped Texas Tech upset Oklahoma. Photo by Mark D. Smith-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma and Wisconsin suffered their first losses and could very well be out of the national championship discussion.

Boise State and Stanford, among others, celebrate.

There are now only eight unbeaten teams, with the maximum number at the end of the season being six.

LSU and Alabama play each other. Oklahoma State and Kansas State play each other. Undefeated Houston is not going to factor into the national championship discussion. So there could still be a five-way undefeated trainwreck at the end of the season.

The tricky question this week was what to do with Texas Tech, which won at Oklahoma on Saturday night. The Red Raiders were rated as high as 13th on one AP ballot, while 13 of the 60 voters left Tech completely off their ballots, which is ridiculous.

Tech has two losses but both were “good” losses — Texas A&M and Kansas State. Among those who failed to rank Texas Tech, here are some of the two-loss teams those voters did rank — Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Syracuse and Illinois. None has a victory as good as beating Oklahoma, and each of those team’s losses are harder to explain.

Texas Tech ended up 19th in the AP poll; I had the Red Raiders 16th.

Here is my ballot:

1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma State
5. Stanford
6. Boise State
7. Oregon
8. Arkansas
9. Kansas State
10. Michigan State
11. Wisconsin
12. Oklahoma
13. Nebraska
14. South Carolina
15. Texas A&M
16. Texas Tech
17. Michigan
18. Arizona State
19. Georgia
20. USC
21. Virginia Tech
22. Penn State
23. Houston
24. Cincinnati
25. Southern Miss

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