OSU stays in mix, UM drops out: Breaking down Briggs' AP vote

Coach Urban Meyer's Ohio State squad remains No. 8 in David Briggs' Associated Press vote after hammering Illinois Saturday.

A couple quick thoughts from my latest ballot in the Associated Press college football poll:

• If not for Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield’s crotch grab, the talking heads would have had nothing to scream about Saturday. On an otherwise dull, cupcake-stuffed weekend — Michigan-Wisconsin was the only matchup between ranked teams — everything else played out to form. Well, almost. My 10th-ranked team, Oklahoma State, fell 45-40 to Kansas State. Everyone else in my top 20 pretty much stayed put, including eighth-ranked Ohio State. Easiest ballot of the season.

• The bigger movement was on the fringe of the ballot, where I swapped out Michigan and West Virginia — both of which lost — for Northwestern and South Florida. Why a three-loss Northwestern team over three-loss Michigan? Because they’ve beaten solid competition — including Iowa and Michigan State — not to mention won six straight games. With the Wolverines’ 24-10 loss at fifth-ranked Wisconsin, Jim Harbaugh has dropped his last six games against teams with a winning record. That trend needs to change in a big way next season.

• My full Week 13 ballot: 

1. Alabama

2. Miami

3. Oklahoma

4. Clemson

5. Wisconsin

6. Auburn

7. Georgia

8. Ohio State

9. Texas Christian

10. Notre Dame

11. Central Florida

12. Washington State

13. Southern California

14. Penn State

15. Oklahoma State

16. Memphis

17. Mississippi State

18. Stanford

19. Washington

20. Michigan State

21. Iowa State

22. LSU

23. Boise State

24. Northwestern

25. South Florida

Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.