The Times’ top 25 college football rankings

We thought Louisville was the team that would go undefeated this season but not have the schedule strength to stay in the title race. Turns out it was Ohio State, which is perpetually stuck in fourth gear until one of the Big Three loses. Our comeback teams of the week are South Carolina and Oklahoma. The Gamecocks are up seven spots to 10th after being down 17-0 and coming back to beat Missouri, and the Sooners are up a ridiculous 12 slots to ninth for knocking Texas Tech off its undefeated high horse. Michigan State was lost in Rankman’s sock drawer but enters the rankings this week after a string of inspiring wins over Western Michigan, Youngstown State and the dregs of Big Ten society. Notre Dame is also back at No. 25 as it tries to improve its record against Navy since 2006 to 4-3.

1; Alabama 8-0; Saban’s wife after house-hunting in Austin: “I fell in love with a beautiful Mack Brownstone.” (1)

2; Oregon 8-0; Top-10 defense underappreciated because announcers don’t want to pronounce Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. (2)

3; Florida State 7-0; Mystery detectives wonder how Kiffin’s USC had an easier game against Boston College. (3)

4; Ohio State 8-0; UCLA’s Bob Toledo (1997-98) also won 20 straight games without winning anything. (4)

5; Stanford 7-1; Losing Ben Gardner on defense is like losing a rear wheel off your truck. (5)

6; Miami 7-0; Three former Bobby Bowden kickers say 21-point spread is too Wide and not Right. (6)

7; Baylor 7-0; Hit ’53 song last time team was in AP top 5: “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” (7)

8; Clemson 7-1; Back in the top 10 but only because of a stock market crash in BCS standings. (11)

9; Oklahoma 7-1; The Sooners can still go 3-0 this year against Texas schools not from Austin. (21)

10 South Carolina 6-2; Sick QB Connor Shaw comes off bench to lead the great “Gamecock Soup” comeback. (17)

11; Missouri 7-1; Get your money’s worth: the all-time FBS leader with 16 overtime games since 1995. (8)

12; LSU 7-2; “Leads Furman, 20-16, at the half” sounded more like an FCS Southern Conference update. (13)

13; Fresno State 7-0; Bolted San Diego State so fast in wrong direction the Bulldogs ended up at a bullfight. (12)

14; Oklahoma State 6-1; Crazy Cowboy hat stat: scored 58 points on Iowa State with 78 yards passing. (14)

15; Texas Tech 7-1; First-year Coach Kingsbury told no coach wins every game in career. (9)

16; UCLA 5-2; The Clippers think you should cover all those USC banners hanging from Rose Bowl. (10)

17: Auburn 7-1; Weekend forecast at Arkansas calls for a cloudy sky and 98% chance of reign. (18)

18; Central Florida 6-1; Sentence never before typed: “Can wrap up AAC title with win over Houston.” (15)

19; Louisville 7-1; Quarterback tells team after tough Central Florida loss it is all water under the bridge. (16)

20; Texas A&M 6-2; Manziel should wear straightjacket at practice to give his No. 110 defense a chance. (19)

21; Northern Illinois 8-0; Huskies and Fresno are the only undefeated mascots left from the canine family. (22)

22; Wisconsin 5-2; Headed to Iowa this Big Ten weekend to start a big ruckus, if not a caucus. (24)

23; Michigan 6-1; “Hey, Sparty, we beat Notre Dame this year and you seemed to come up short.” (25)

24; Michigan State 7-1; “That may be true, Blue, but we’ve never come up short against Appalachian State.” (NR)

25; Notre Dame 6-2; QB Golson also lists “Alabama” as one other test he wasn’t prepared for last season. (NR)

Dropped out: Nebraska (20), Virginia Tech (23)

Moved in: Michigan State, Notre Dame

chris.dufresne@latimes.com