Changes afoot among top five of USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Alabama's rain-soaked, weather-delayed win over Missouri was good enough for the Crimson Tide to remain atop this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Oregon, which was off on Saturday, is likewise in no danger of falling out of its No. 2 ranking.

The shakeup will occur along the second tier, where losses by No. 3 South Carolina and No. 4 West Virginia will alter the layout of teams just behind the Tide and the Ducks.

No. 5 Kansas State, No. 6 Florida and No. 7 Notre Dame can make strong cases for moving up to No. 3 in this week's poll. Kansas State sneaked past No. 25 Iowa State 27-21 in Ames. Florida topped Vanderbilt 31-17 in Nashville. Notre Dame's late stand secured a 20-13 overtime win over No. 17 Stanford.

It will be interesting to see how high a pair of one-loss teams rise in the new rankings, which will be released midday Sunday.

No. 8 LSU's 23-21 win over the Gamecocks should push the Tigers up to No. 6. Could No. 10 Oklahoma, which mauled Texas 63-15 in this year's Red River Rivalry, move ahead of No. 9 USC? The Trojans' offense was sloppy in a 24-14 win over Washington.

While the Mountaineers and Gamecocks dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten, that likely won't help five teams that remained undefeated with wins on Saturday. The team with the best shot at leaping ahead of WVU and South Carolina is No. 14 Oregon State, which moved to 5-0 with a 42-21 win over Brigham Young.

But while WVU and South Carolina will drop in this week's poll, both should remain above No. 16 Louisville, No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 19 Rutgers and No. 20 Cincinnati.

This week's poll should feature a Big Ten team, however, after last week's ranking was Big Ten-free for the first time in the history of the Coaches Poll. (Ohio State is not eligible for a ranking due to the one-year postseason ban handed down by the NCAA.)

After receiving votes last week, Michigan should rank somewhere between No. 20 and No. 25 after a 45-0 win over Illinois. But even if the Wolverines return to the poll, the Big Ten will have two fewer ranked teams than the Big East.

Best guess for new top five

1. Alabama

2. Oregon

3. Florida

4. Kansas State

5. Notre Dame

Five teams moving up in the polls

1. Texas A&M (5-1, 2-1). The No. 21-ranked Aggies beat No. 24 Louisiana Tech, handing the Bulldogs their first loss.

2. Texas Tech (5-1, 2-1). The Red Raiders will be one of this week's fastest risers after knocking off West Virginia.

3. Maryland (4-2, 2-0). The Terrapins are the only ACC team to be undefeated in conference play.

4. Utah State (5-2, 1-0). A win over San Jose State sets up a battle with Louisiana Tech for the WAC crown.

5. Kent State (5-1, 3-0). The Golden Flashes are one win away from bowl eligibility.

Five teams falling behind

1. Utah (2-4, 0-3). Once considered a potential challenger to USC in the Pac-12 South, the Utes are now scrambling to find six wins.

2. Michigan State (4-3, 1-2). The Spartans will need to win out and get some help to earn a second Legends division title in a row.

3. Texas (4-2, 1-2). Mack Brown might not survive yet another lopsided loss to the Sooners.

4. Duke (5-2, 2-1). After taking a 20-0 lead, the Blue Devils allowed Virginia Tech to score 41 unanswered points.

5. Baylor (3-2, 0-2). TCU's 49-21 win over the Bears was one of the day's biggest surprises.