AP Top 25 college football poll reaction: What’s next for each ranked team?
The AP Top 25 college football poll is out after another wild weekend of games.
But what happens from here? We break down what’s next for each ranked team.
Previous ranking: 1
Week 4 result: 39-22 win over Kent State
What’s next: at Missouri (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Georgia knows now what it’s like not to completely blow out a team after winning a sloppy decision over Kent State on Saturday. The next two games are on the road against Missouri and Auburn, two teams the Bulldogs will again be big favorites against, and their offense continues to put up big numbers. Sophomore tight end Brock Bowers has emerged as one of the top playmakers in college football for the Dawgs, who have gained more than 470 yards in all four games. — Chris Low
Previous ranking: 2
Week 4 result: 55-3 win over Vanderbilt
What’s next: at Arkansas (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
The Crimson Tide’s offensive line couldn’t generate running lanes and couldn’t keep pressure off the quarterback against Texas earlier this month. Oh, and it committed way too many penalties. But the past two weeks there has been a noticeable improvement in all three areas, first against Louisiana Monroe and then against Vanderbilt. Against the Commodores, Alabama ran for more than 150 yards and didn’t allow a single sack of Bryce Young. But this Saturday’s road trip to Arkansas will reveal whether that progress was real as the Hogs boast one of the best defenses in the SEC in terms of creating pressure on the backfield. — Alex Scarborough
Previous ranking: 3
Week 4 result: 52-21 win over Wisconsin
What’s next: vs. Rutgers (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Ohio State had no problems with Wisconsin, winning by a large margin and dominating most of the game. The Buckeyes remain undefeated and have the offense playing at an elite level. Quarterback C.J. Stroud is still among the Heisman favorites and continues to put up big numbers. Ohio State has Rutgers, Michigan State and Iowa next on the schedule. If any of those teams are going to try to compete with the Buckeyes, they’ll have to figure out how to stop this offense. — Tom VanHaaren
Previous ranking: 4
Week 4 result: 34-27 win over Maryland
What’s next: at Iowa (Saturday, noon ET)
The Wolverines are 4-0 and have to go on the road to play Iowa in a rematch of last season’s Big Ten Championship game. Michigan got its first test of the season against Maryland where quarterback J.J. McCarthy said he didn’t have his best performance. McCarthy and the offense leaned on running back Blake Corum to help win against the Terps and they will likely need Corum to have another big game against the Hawkeyes. McCarthy said he is going to learn from his mistakes against Maryland and use it to improve the offense going forward. — VanHaaren
Previous ranking: 5
Week 4 result: 51-45 2OT win over Wake Forest
What’s next: vs. NC State (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
The concern for Dabo Swinney shifts from the offense to the defense, which couldn’t get to Sam Hartman or stop the Wake Forest quarterback, who carved up the Tigers for an ACC-record six touchdown passes. First-year coordinator Wes Goodwin must evaluate both personnel and scheme before hosting Devin Leary and NC State in a game that could decide the ACC’s Atlantic Division. The good news is Clemson can lean more on its own quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei, after his best passing performance since his first start in 2020. — Adam Rittenberg
Previous ranking: 7
Week 4 result: 17-14 win over Oregon State
What’s next: vs. Arizona State (Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET)
After a tough battle in Corvallis that kept their undefeated season on track, the Trojans get to come down a bit and face what’s likely their easiest conference opponent of the season when they host Arizona State. Against the Sun Devils, whose lone win is against Northern Arizona, USC’s offense should have no trouble getting back on track while the defense will continue to sustain its ridiculous takeaway rate (14 in four games). — Paolo Uggetti
Previous ranking: 8
Week 4 result: 31-23 win over Northern Illinois
What’s next: at Ole Miss (Saturday, noon ET)
The Wildcats are going to take a 4-0 start to the season every time. But Saturday’s win over Northern Illinois lacked the kind of dominant effort you’d expect from a top-10 program nationally. One potential area of concern is the running game, which managed 103 yards on 34 carries against the Huskies. The good news: Chris Rodriguez, the leading returning rusher in the SEC, will make his debut on Saturday against Ole Miss after being suspended to start the season. — Alex Scarborough
Previous ranking: 11
Week 4 result: 38-33 win over Florida
What’s next: at LSU (Oct. 8)
The Vols were able to shake their Florida hex — barely. They almost blew a big fourth-quarter lead, but held on to win Saturday over the Gators to move to 4-0. Given Tennessee’s woes against Florida over the years, nobody was complaining. It was a huge win for the Vols, but they have some issues on defense to correct in a hurry, especially in the secondary. The good news is that they have an open date this weekend before going to LSU. They hope to get star receiver Cedric Tillman back for that game, and quarterback Hendon Hooker can also use a week off after taking several big hits in the Florida game. — Low
Previous ranking: 9
Week 4 result: Open date
What’s next: at Baylor (Saturday, TBD)
The Cowboys travel to Waco to face Baylor in a rematch of last season’s Big 12 championship game, a key game as the Big 12 race starts to take shape. OSU beat Baylor in Stillwater last year 24-14 before losing a heartbreaker, coming up just inches short on a goal-line stop in the 21-16 loss at AT&T Stadium. The good news: The Cowboys are coming off a bye week and had a chance to get ready to face a Bears team that just ended Iowa State’s 11-game home streak in conference play. — Dave Wilson
Previous ranking: 12
Week 4 result: 41-10 win over UConn
What’s next: at Clemson (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
OK, so you survived a closer-than-expected season-opener against East Carolina and then took care of business against Charleston Southern, Texas Tech and UConn. But now comes the real test — which could define the rest of season — with Saturday’s road game at No. 5 Clemson. Devin Leary is playing well at quarterback and could attack a Tigers’ secondary that didn’t look sharp in a close win at Wake Forest on Saturday. — Scarborough
Previous ranking: 14
Week 4 result: 33-14 win over Central Michigan
What’s next: vs. Northwestern (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
James Franklin had imposed orders to try and improve on the running game coming into the season. After churning out over 200 yards rushing in each of the past two weeks — including 245 yards in a road win at Auburn last week — Penn State ran for 166 yards on Saturday in a 33-14 win against Central Michigan. Freshman Kaytron Allen led the way with 111 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The Nittany Lions welcome Northwestern to State College next week, which is followed up by a bye prior to a trip to the Big House and a date with Michigan on Oct. 15. — Blake Baumgartner
Previous ranking: 13
Week 4 result: vs. Arizona State
What’s next: vs. Oregon State (Saturday, TBD)
From a national perspective, the Week 1 hiccup against Florida still lingers, but the Utes are just as strong a conference-title favorite as when the season began. They’ll get an important test this week with Oregon State coming to Salt Lake City before back-to-back games against the L.A. schools (UCLA, Oct. 8; USC, Oct. 15) to start October. — Kyle Bonagura
Previous ranking: 15
Week 4 result: 44-41 win over Washington State
What’s next: vs. Stanford (Saturday, TBD)
After a hard-fought win over Wazzu, things get easier for the Ducks over the next few weeks. Oregon welcomes Stanford to town next week, and it will be interesting to see whether Dan Lanning’s team and quarterback Bo Nix can keep up the recent offensive production. They’ve now scored 40 points or more in their last three games after only mustering a field goal against Georgia. — Uggetti
Previous ranking: 16
Week 4 result: 35-27 win over Tulsa
What’s next: vs. Kentucky (Saturday, noon ET)
The constants for Ole Miss this season had been running the ball with a vengeance and playing stout defense. The Rebels still ran the ball well Saturday in a win over Tulsa but were outscored 13-0 to end the game. It hasn’t been the toughest of schedules for Ole Miss to this point, but that changes this weekend when unbeaten Kentucky visits Oxford. A win over the Wildcats could send the Rebels on their way to a 7-0 start. They play at Vanderbilt on Oct. 8 and then come back home to face Auburn on Oct. 15. — Low
Previous ranking: 18
Week 4 result: vs. Stanford
What’s next: at UCLA (Friday, 10:30 p.m. ET)
After starting the season with four straight home games, the Huskies travel to UCLA to begin a stretch that includes just one home game (Arizona, Oct. 15) through the end of October. There is a case for UW as the most impressive team in the conference to this point, and a win against undefeated UCLA would further establish the Huskies as a conference-title favorite. — Bonagura
Previous ranking: 17
Week 4 result: 31-24 win over Iowa State
What’s next: vs. Oklahoma State (Saturday, TBD)
After starting Big 12 play with a gritty, physical win at Iowa State, Baylor might have to raise its game even further now, returning home to face Oklahoma State. Then again, quarterback Blake Shapen already raised his game. He enjoyed maybe the best performance of his career against Iowa State, going 19-for-26 for 238 yards and three scores. The Baylor defense will have its hands full against a high-flying OSU offense, but Shapen and the Bears passing game could land some blows, too. — Bill Connelly
Previous ranking: 23
Week 4 result: 23-21 win over Arkansas
What’s next: at Mississippi State (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET)
The Aggies’ running game got going on Saturday against Arkansas as Devon Achane had a 63-yarder en route to a 159-yard day on 19 carries. They’ll need his help controlling the ball as the passing came continues to be a work in progress with a trip to Starkville against Mike Leach’s offense coming off a 409-yard, 6-TD performance by QB Will Rogers against Bowling Green on Saturday. — Dave Wilson
Previous ranking: 6
Week 4 result: 41-34 loss to Kansas State
What’s next: at TCU (Saturday, noon ET)
OU managed to trip up at home against Kansas State once again, but the tests have just begun for the Sooners. They will make two straight trips to the DFW region — first to TCU to face the unbeaten Horned Frogs, then to Dallas to face a Texas team that also suffered a Week 4 upset. Dillon Gabriel and the Sooner offense was mostly fine against KSU, but Brent Venables’ defense got lit up for the first time. How will it respond against a TCU offense averaging 46 points per game? — Connelly
Previous ranking: 19
Week 4 result: vs. Wyoming
What’s next: vs. Utah State (Thursday, 8 p.m. ET)
The Cougars remain at home again next week for an in-state game against Utah State before heading to Las Vegas on Oct. 8 to play Notre Dame. If BYU can win out, a New Year’s Six bowl could be within reach, but the margin for error remains small. — Bonagura
Previous ranking: 10
Week 4 result: 23-21 loss to Texas A&M
What’s next: vs. Alabama (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
The Razorbacks will be upset after letting a win over Texas A&M get away in a game they could’ve finished. There’s no time to stew on it, however, with Alabama coming to town. Sam Pittman has worked wonders in a short time in Fayetteville, but the Hogs haven’t beaten the Tide since Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa, and last won when Houston Nutt beat Mike Shula 24-23 in 2006. — Wilson
Previous ranking: unranked
Week 4 result: 34-7 win over Michigan State
What’s next: vs. Purdue (Saturday, noon ET)
Minnesota responded quite well in its first road test of the season and its first test without senior wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell, who suffered a season-ending injury last week against Colorado. The Golden Gophers racked up 508 total yards — their third straight week going over 500 total yards offensively. Senior QB Tanner Morgan threw for 268 yards with three touchdowns and connected with 10 different receivers, with six of them hauling in at least two passes. Morgan found junior wide receiver Daniel Jackson for a pair of scores. Off to their second 4-0 start under PJ Fleck and first since 2019, the Golden Gophers host Purdue next week before traveling to Illinois on Oct. 15 after their bye. — Baumgartner
Previous ranking: 21
Week 4 result: 51-45 2OT loss to. No. 5 Clemson
What’s next: at Florida State (Saturday, TBD)
The Demon Deacons won the ACC Atlantic Division in 2021 despite a Clemson loss, so there’s still plenty out there for Sam Hartman and his teammates. The defense is the immediate concern after allowing a combined 87 points in the past two games, both at home. Wake Forest now heads to Florida State to face a confident Seminoles team, which hasn’t beaten the Deacons since 2017. The status of starting cornerback Caelen Carson, who missed the Clemson loss with a leg injury, will be worth monitoring. — Rittenberg
Previous ranking: unranked
Week 4 result: 44-14 win over Boston College
What’s next: vs. Wake Forest (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Jordan Travis continues to impress at quarterback for the Seminoles. With some questions about his health last week after suffering a leg injury against Louisville, Travis not only started against Boston College but was sharp, completing 16 of 26 passes for 321 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. But now the junior from West Palm heads into the treacherous part of the schedule with games against Wake Forest, NC State and Clemson in consecutive weeks. — Scarborough
Previous ranking: 24
Week 4 result: 45-24 win over Rhode Island
What’s next: vs. Georgia Tech (Saturday, TBD)
Coach Pat Narduzzi said going into the season he wanted his team to be a much better running team. Israel Abanikanda has made that a reality, with at least 125 yards rushing over the past three games. Next up is Georgia Tech, a team that has struggled across the board. While the running game is improving week after week, the Pitt passing game remains a work in progress and something that the Panthers will need to work on once the ACC schedule becomes more challenging. — Adelson
Previous ranking: unranked
Week 4 result: 41-34 win over Oklahoma
What’s next: vs. Texas Tech (Saturday, noon ET)
Chris Klieman recorded his third career victory over Oklahoma in four tries behind the heroics of senior quarterback Adrian Martinez. Martinez ran circles around the Sooners’ defense to the tune of 148 rushing yards and a career-high four touchdowns on 21 carries as the Wildcats secured the victory. The Nebraska transfer led an offense that churned out 277 rushing yards and Saturday was the 10th time in Martinez’s career he had run for multiple touchdowns in a game. With last week’s home loss to Tulane now a memory, Kansas State hosts Texas Tech — an 37-34 overtime winner over Texas — next week before a trip to Ames beckons on Oct. 8. — Baumgartner
Dropped out: Miami, Texas, Florida
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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
The 2023-24 NHL regular season was an entertaining one, with races for playoff position, point and goal leaders, and major trophies all coming down to the bitter end.
But not every fan base got to enjoy all of it so much.
With eliminations piling up, it’s time to look ahead to the offseason. Clubs that didn’t quite hit the mark this season will use the draft, free agency and trades in an effort to be more competitive in 2024-25.
Read on for a look at what went wrong for each eliminated team, along with a breakdown of its biggest keys this offseason and realistic expectations for next season. Note that more teams will be added to this story as they are eliminated.
Note: Profiles for the Atlantic and Metro teams were written by Kristen Shilton, while Ryan S. Clark analyzed the Central and Pacific teams. Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. Projected cap space per Cap Friendly. Dates listed with each team are when the entry was published.
Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BUF | CGY
CHI | CBJ | DET | MIN
MTL | NJ | OTT | PHI
PIT | SJ | SEA
STL | TB | WSH
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was highly critical of two goalie interference calls that went against his team in its Game 5 loss to the Florida Panthers, which eliminated the Lightning from the Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday night.
“This is clearly a turning point in the game. If anyone’s going to talk about this game, they’re going to talk about the goals that were taken away,” Cooper said after the 6-1 loss to Florida, a score inflated by two empty-net goals by the Panthers.
The first goalie interference review was a coach’s challenge initiated by Florida at 13 minutes of the first period. Video review determined that Tampa Bay’s Anthony Duclair impaired Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky‘s ability to play his position in the crease prior to Anthony Cirelli‘s goal.
Cooper felt that Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling was holding Duclair on the play.
“You saw our reaction. It’s just one of those … it’s very frustrating,” Duclair said. “I always have a ref screaming in my ear. I thought I was out of the blue paint. When you look at the video, I was clearly out of there. It is what it is, it’s a judgment call.”
The second goalie interference play happened at 17:48 of the second period, as a goal was immediately waved off when the officials said Cirelli made incidental contact with Bobrovsky while battling defenseman Niko Mikkola. Tampa Bay challenged the call, but it was upheld on video review.
“Obviously, it sucks. But it’s our job to go out there and keep battling and trying to get the next one. When you think you have a goal and it goes the other way, you get down a little bit. But it doesn’t matter. You go out there and keep playing,” Cirelli said.
Cooper felt that Bobrovsky embellished on the play.
“I’ll give the goalie credit. He completely quit on the play. Didn’t see it, flailed and maybe there’s incidental contact at most. But now we have to challenge it because they saw the reaction from the goaltender,” Cooper said. “Bob’s doing the right thing. He duped them. So be it. But we have to make that challenge.”
Cooper felt the spirit of the goalie interference rule wasn’t violated by either play.
“In this league, goals are at a premium. All we’ve done is make the rules for more goal scoring. Every year it seems like there’s something that we tweak so there’s more goal scoring. That’s great. But there’s mandates. The words were to pull a goal off the board, it has to be unbelievably egregious. That’s the standard,” he said.
Cooper also felt that both plays were indicative of the officials overprotecting goaltenders during battles in front of the net.
“Are net-front battles not allowed anymore? That’s part of everybody’s game. The boxing out that goes there is like prison rules in the playoffs. But it’s not prison rules for the goalie? We might as well put skirts on them then, if that’s how it’s going to be,” he said. “They have to battle through stuff too. It’s a war down there. I think we’re letting the goalies off the hook. And they have way more pads on than everybody else does.”
Cooper reiterated that he didn’t believe the calls cost the Lightning the series, but that they did change the momentum in the game.
“This is just my opinion, I felt it was a little unfair. In the playoffs, how do you let those slide,” he asked.
The Panthers won the series 4-1 and advanced to face the winner of the Boston Bruins–Toronto Maple Leafs series. The Bruins hold a 3-1 lead in that series, potentially setting up a rematch of last season’s epic first-round upset by Florida in seven games.
For the Lightning, the loss begins a critical offseason for the franchise. That includes the future of 34-year-old star captain Steven Stamkos, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer. He had 40 goals in 79 games this season for Tampa Bay, his 16th with the franchise.
“That never crossed my mind. I’m out there trying to help my team win. Regardless, we’re trying to score. There’s a lot of pride on the line,” said Stamkos, who waited near the tunnel to the dressing room to greet every Lightning player as they left the ice after the game.
Cooper downplayed the fact that Stamkos might have played his last game with the Lightning.
“I don’t know if there will be much conversation. I hope not, anyway. He belongs here. We know it. He knows it,” the coach said. “He and I have grown up together. He’s a heck of a player. He’s in control of his own destiny. I don’t know what’s going to happen. He feels like a Bolt for life, but only he and [GM Julien BriseBois] can answer that one.”
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
TORONTO — Auston Matthews‘ status is “yet to be determined” for the Maple Leafs when they try to stave off elimination in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against Boston on Tuesday.
Matthews has been battling an illness that he was able to play through in Game 3 and the first two periods of Game 4 on Saturday. Toronto’s team doctors ultimately pulled Matthews from the third period of Saturday’s 4-2 Leafs’ loss, which put the Leafs down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Toronto’s top center did not practice with the team Monday but was expected be on the trip to Boston. A decision will be made at some point before Game 5 whether Matthews is healthy enough to play.
“Of course, we’re hopeful that he’s available and feeling good and back to himself,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “That’s what we’re hopeful for. But we’ve played well with guys out in the past. We started the series without [William Nylander] and had to deal with that. But we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Matthews has one goal and three points in the series, including Toronto’s game winner in Game 2. The illness has kept Matthews from being a full participant in all but one of the Leafs’ on-ice sessions since then as they’ve tried to get him healed. Keefe said Sunday that the issue is how this sickness has “lingered” and becomes worse when Matthews exerts himself in a game.
Given that Matthews was unable to finish out Game 4, Toronto practiced Monday as if he wouldn’t be in the lineup. Max Domi took over Matthews’ spot centering the top line with Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi, while Nylander moved up to the second line with John Tavares and Matthew Knies. Domi also worked on the Leafs’ top power-play unit at practice, a special teams sore spot for Toronto in the series at just 1-for-11.
Matthews is coming off a tremendous regular season where he notched 69 goals and earned a third Rocket Richard Trophy in four years as the league’s top goal scorer. Though his postseason production has slowed, his absence would create a void and teammates are resigned to forging ahead without him if needed.
“It’s not ideal to be without Auston Matthews,” Tavares said. “You’re talking about one of the best players in the world. But there’s tremendous depth, talent and character on this team and it’s a great opportunity for all of us to step up, raise our game, which is already needed and necessary.”
Keefe slotted Domi onto the top line when Matthews exited Saturday and the third period was the Leafs’ best of the night (although they already trailed Boston 3-0 going into that frame). It was an “easy decision” for Keefe to put Domi back there and allow the veteran to try to ignite more offense from linemate Marner (who has just assists in the series).
“[Domi’s] played center for us a lot this season,” Keefe said. “He’s done well with Mitch, he’s done well when we’ve had guys out, whether it was Auston or John, when they’ve been out Max has played in that spot and he’s done a nice job for us. He’s a very versatile guy, he can do different things and play different positions and with different types of players.”
The Leafs’ coach was less forthcoming about who would be between the pipes for Toronto in Game 5. Ilya Samsonov started all four games, but Keefe pulled him in favor of Joseph Woll for the third period in Game 4 after Samsonov gave up three goals on 16 shots, including a dagger from David Pastrnak in the final minute of the second. Woll made five saves in relief of Samsonov.
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Keefe’s responded when asked who would get the call in net. But he also stressed the importance of balancing the scales against Boston with better netminding and special teams than Toronto has showed in the series. The Bruins are 6-for-13 on the power play and Jeremy Swayman — who has started three of the four outings for Boston — has a .956 SV% and 1.34 GAA to go with his 3-0-0 record. Linus Ullmark started Game 2 in the Bruins’ lone loss.
“They’ve had the edge in those areas in the series and that’s tough to overcome. We got to take steps there,” Keefe said. “Getting more saves at critical times is a big part of that. They’re obviously getting lots at the other end.”
Boston also practiced Monday, but without captain Brad Marchand or Danton Heinen. Coach Jim Montgomery said both players took maintenance days. Injured forward Justin Brazeau and defenseman Derek Forbort are also “an option” for the Bruins in Game 5 but Montgomery acknowledged some concern in possibly putting Forbort in midway through a series after he’d been sidelined since March 2 with a pair of ailments.
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