Played in/Played out: Texas A&M, Wisconsin rise; Michigan State sinks
Each weekend during the regular season, USA TODAY Sports will be highlighting the race for the College Football Playoff. Here are three teams moving up and three teams moving down in the sprint for the four-team field after Week 4 of the regular season:
TEAMS THAT PLAYED THEIR WAY IN
Texas A&M. The Aggies lived on hype during much of the past two seasons, which began with matching 5-0 records before ending with matching 8-5 marks. Saturday’s win against Arkansas, a physical bunch that one might assume played to A&M’s Achilles heel, should help to change the Aggies’ reputation.
Still potent enough to score points in bunches, A&M now seems strong enough on defense, particularly up front, to factor into the SEC hunt. The 4-0 Aggies will be a team to watch in October.
College football's Week 4 winners and losers
Tennessee. A win against rival Florida had been a long time coming for the Volunteers, as had a 4-0 start: Tennessee hadn’t won its first four games since 2003. While issues remain — UT can’t afford to start slow against Alabama, for example — this is the sort of win that validates, at least in part, Butch Jones’ work rebuilding the program.
It also moves the Volunteers’ one stop closer to a long-awaited divisional title, the first step toward a spot in the Playoff field.
Wisconsin. OK, it’s time to take the Badgers seriously — because even after beating LSU in the opener, Wisconsin wasn’t considered among the upper crust of the Big Ten Conference. That should change after an impressive win at Michigan State.
Those concerns about the defense’s ability to maintain its high clip without former coordinator Dave Aranda? The Badgers put those to bed. Better yet, Paul Chryst may have found a quarterback in Alex Hornibrook.
Snap judgments from college football's Week 4
TEAMS THAT PLAYED THEIR WAY OUT
Florida. All went right for the first half, as the Gators took a 21-3 lead against rival Tennessee and seemed headed for its 12th win in a row in the series. Then the Volunteers woke up, sending Florida from the ranks of the unbeaten and putting a near stranglehold on the SEC East Division.
This is bad news all around for the Gators, who must now win at least five of their six remaining games in league play to have a shot at finishing ahead of Butch Jones’ bunch.
No. 10 Wisconsin crushes No. 8 Michigan State 30-6
Michigan State. One week after knocking off Notre Dame on the road, the Spartans were brought back down by Wisconsin’s dominant effort. Not that all is lost: Michigan State still controls its own destiny in the East Division, with both Michigan and Ohio State coming to East Lansing.
Mark Dantonio has more than earned the benefit of the doubt, though his team has issues to address in the coming weeks.
Georgia. The Bulldogs already were working with smoke and mirrors during a three-game winning streak to start the season. Mississippi simply revealed Georgia as a contender in name only — a fraud, basically.
Blame the program’s name recognition for being included in the Playoff chase in the first place. The Bulldogs’ more realistic followers knew the score: this is a young, largely untested team undergoing a coaching change.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK 4
