Alabama extends lead at top, Michigan up to No. 4, UCF out of top 10 in Amway Coaches Poll

The Amway Coaches Poll now has a well-defined top five. While that doesn’t guarantee the playoff committee’s rankings will look the same, it does provide a clear path to the contenders.

Alabama, of course, remains solidly in the No. 1 position after blanking LSU in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide received all but one of the 64 No.-1 votes. Second-ranked Clemson retains the last first-place nod following its demolition of Louisville. Notre Dame kept its record unblemished by staving off a late rally at Northwestern and holds steady at No. 3. Michigan and Georgia, with impressive performances against Penn State and Kentucky, respectively, round out the top five.

Stock up: West Virginia. The Mountaineers’ road win at Texas on a gutsy two-point conversion earned them a two-spot gain to No. 8, just a single poll point behind No. 7 Ohio State.

Stock down: LSU. The Tigers hold on to a top-10 spot slipping from No. 4, but a path to the playoff is now all but impossible.

Stock up: Syracuse. The Orange, 41-24 winners at Wake Forest, leap 11 places to No. 13 and match their highest ranking in football since 2001.

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Stock down: Central Florida. UCF fans aren’t going to be happy once again this week. The Knights actually fall two positions to No. 11 despite keeping their record clean with a Thursday night win against Temple.

Stock up: Boston College. The Eagles match Syracuse’s 11-spot gain vaulting all the way to No. 14 after winning at Virginia Tech. Up next for BC is a home date with Clemson.

Stock down: Penn State. The Nittany Lions fell seven spots to No. 20 after their very long day at Michigan.

New kids on the block: No. 22 North Carolina State, No. 23 Cincinnati, No. 25 Iowa State.

College dropouts: Houston, Iowa, Virginia.