It was to be expected. After all, James Franklin and the Missouri Tigers were No. 21 — on the bottom 20 percent of the AP Top 25 Poll — so a loss tends to knock out the bottom dwellers. But the loss at Arizona State was incredibly close and featured a Missouri team that definitely could have won, so it’s surprising to see ASU rise to the same spot that Missouri had before and see Mizzou so far down the list.
The Tigers received 23 total votes from the AP voters, which places them 31st overall in college football — a ten-step drop if you will. That’s a major fall for what was a gutsy performance that showed just how much new starter James Franklin can do. Gary Pinkel was thrilled with his quarterback play this weekend and the voters should have dropped the Tigers, but not by that much.
Then again, the votes don’t necessarily matter at this stage of the game. Missouri is still on the national radar despite the loss, and it’s their performance through Big 12 play that will ultimately matter in the voter’s minds.
Others who didn’t make it into the AP Top 25 but still receiving votes:
Michigan 104, USC 68, Maryland 32, Houston 32, UCF 31, Missouri 23, Northwestern 19, Penn State 18, Brigham Young 14, Tennessee 13, Washington 12, Georgia 8, Georgia Tech 2