Hlas' AP Top 25 ballot for Week 4

We had a small avalanche in the Associated Press rankings.

Two Top 5 teams, Mississippi and Penn State, got beat. No. 9 Miami got torched at Virginia Tech.

OK, not really an avalanche. But a fairly big shakeup.

My ballot:

1. Florida. No. 1 until it loses.

2. Texas.

3. Alabama

4. Boise State. Now the trouble begins with critics. My critics. Hey, Boise State manhandled Oregon, which clubbed California l42-3 Saturday. And the Broncos got a big road win at Fresno State, which played Cincinnati very tough Saturday at Cincy, and pushed Wisconsin to double-overtime at Madison.

5. Virginia Tech. Yes, it lost to Alabama in a good battle to start the season. It has two straight wins over ranked teams, though, Nebraska and Miami. Plus ... who else is a Top 5 team right now?

6. LSU. Unbeaten, but shaky. It did win at Washington, something my No. 7 team did not do.

7. USC. I'm being generous and blaming the Washington loss on it being on the heels of the big win at Ohio State. But the Trojans aren't looking all that USC-like.

8. Iowa. That's right. The Iowa guy has Iowa way up here. But look at facts.

Fact No. 1: Iowa won at Penn State, 21-10.

Fact No. 2: The Hawkeyes' four victims are 12-0 when playing someone other than Iowa.

Fact No. 3: That Iowa defense is, uh, how shall I say this? Really good. Yeah, really good.

To see where everyone on the AP panel placed Iowa, click here.

9. Ohio State. The Buckeyes have shutout wins over Toledo and Illinois since the USC got away from them.

10. TCU. Very nice win at Clemson Saturday.

11. Oklahoma. Had the week off. Still hasn't beaten a ranked team, or won a game that wasn't played in Norman.

12. Cincinnati. Added another good win by holding off Fresno State. Rutgers, which the Bearcats blasted, is 3-1.

13. Nebraska. That 1-point, last-minute loss to Virginia Tech eight days ago is no disgrace.

14. Houston. Unbeaten with wins over Oklahoma State and now Texas Tech. Nice.

15. Penn State. This may be too high, but hey, the Nittany Lions did lead Iowa after three quarters.

16. Kansas. Got pushed hard at home by a good Southern Mississippi team, but prevailed to go to 4-0.

17. Missouri. Unbeaten. Some won't think much of winning at Nevada, but others will know that was a good win.

18. Oregon. California was being discussed as a national-title contender until it lost 42-3 Saturday in Eugene.

19. Oklahoma State. Now Big 12 play starts, and won't that provide some weekly entertainment?

20. Miami. One-sided loss at Va. Tech, and the win at Florida State lost luster with FSU's home loss Saturday to ...

21. South Florida. Bulls are 4-0 after their biggest road win in ... ever.

22. Georgia. Bulldogs won their third-straight tight game in nipping Arizona State.

23. California. Maybe the Oregon game was an aberration. Maybe playing at Minnesota and Oregon on consecutive weeks is fairly taxing. Maybe I dropped Cal too far.

24. Georgia Tech.

25. Wisconsin. The Badgers improved to 4-0 with a home win over Michigan State that was more dominant than the 38-30 score indicates.