AP College Football Poll: No votes yet for Hawaii

Hawaii did not receive any votes in the Associated Press Top 25 College Football Poll this week.

If you were told that the Warriors beat two Power Five conference teams to start the season and knew nothing else about their schedule, you might think they deserve a ranking. But those two teams, Arizona and Oregon State, are far from the cream of the crop of the Pac-12 — a conference that has been on a down cycle for several years.

Now … what if UH wins on the road at Washington this Saturday? The Rainbow Warriors would surely deserve a vote, right? Before the Huskies lost 20-19 to Cal last night — at home — I would say, “almost certainly” (I always want to leave a little wiggle room in these things, because you never know).

Washington was highly-touted headed into the season, and is still a ranked team (No. 23) after the loss.

(I left Washington off my ballot this week, but was among 22 of the 62 voters who recognized Cal. I gave the Golden Bears a No. 25 vote, after their road win against a ranked opponent in tough conditions put them at 2-0. The game was postponed for 2 1/2 hours due to lightning.)

The Warriors beat the Beavers 31-28 by staying in the game with offense in the first half, and great defense in the second half.

But Oregon State hurt itself with several questionable and bizarre coaching decisions in the second half. The Beavers went away from the running game that was so successful in the first half. And they decided to go for it TWICE on fourth down in the fourth quarter with 5 and 6 yards to go with the score tied and plenty of time left to get the ball back and score if they punted. The first was from midfield and the second from their own 34, and both failed.

But a win is a win, and Hawaii did what it needed to secure the victory — like the win against Arizona, this one went down to the last play.

There are many other 2-0 teams knocking on the door of the Top 25. If UH does win at Washington, it will very likely get votes, if not a ranking, even though the Huskies lost some of their luster with that loss to Cal on a last-minute field goal.

Back to this week’s rankings …

There were not a lot of surprises at the top.

LSU jumped into the top four with its victory over Texas. Since I had Texas ranked lower than most of the other pollsters, I gave the Tigers only a slight bump up to No. 7.

I am a sucker for strong defense … especially when it is paired with an explosive offense. And that’s why I put Michigan State at No. 9. Sure, the opponent, Western Michigan, was not the ’86 Chicago Bears. But the Spartans showed that they might have an offense their defense can be proud of, and this is a team that should contend for the Big Ten championship.

As should Wisconsin. I don’t care who you’re playing: outscoring your opponents 110-0 means something, and running back Jonathan Taylor is starting to build a strong case for the Heisman Trophy.

So is Tua Tagovailoa, the Alabama quarterback from Ewa Beach and Saint Louis School. He completed 16 of 24 for 227 yards and three touchdowns as the Tide rolled over New Mexico State 62-10. Alabama remained at No. 2 behind Clemson overall, and at No. 3 with Georgia at No. 2 on my list.

Here’s the entire AP poll, followed by my ballot (first-place votes and last week’s ranking for team’s that moved in parentheses):
1. Clemson (56 first-place votes, up two from last week)
2. Alabama (6 first-place votes, down to from last week)
3. Georgia
4. LSU (6th last week)
5. Oklahoma (4th)
6. Ohio State
6. LSU (5th)
7. Notre Dame (8th)
8. Auburn (10th)
9. Florida (11th)
10. Michigan (7th)
11. Utah (13th)
12. Texas (9th)
13. Penn State (15th)
14. Wisconsin (17th)
15. Oregon (16th)
16. Texas A&M (12th)
17. UCF (18th)
18. Michigan State (19th)
19. Iowa (20th)
20. Washington State (23rd)
21. Maryland (NR)
22. Boise State (24th)
23. Washington (14th)
24. USC (NR)
25. Virginia (NR)
Also receiving votes: Iowa State, California, Mississippi State, TCU, North Carolina, Army, Colorado, Oklahoma State, Memphis, Arizona State, Appalachian State, Boston College, Kentucky, Syracuse, Minnesota

Here’s the ballot I submitted:
1. Clemson
2. Georgia
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State (6th last week)
6. Florida (5th)
7. LSU (8th)
8. Auburn (11th)
9. Michigan State (13th)
10. Wisconsin (15th)
11. Notre Dame (12th)
12. Michigan (10th)
13. Texas A&M (7th)
14. Texas (9th)
15. Iowa (17th)
16. Utah
17. Oregon (18th)
18. Penn State (20th)
19. Washington State (23rd)
20. UCF (24th)
21. TCU (19th)
22. Boise State
23. Virginia (25th)
24. Maryland (NR)
25. California (NR)
Dropped out: Washington (14th), Syracuse (22nd)