Bye weeks are never fun. For the third straight week, the Wisconsin Badgers are ranked as the No. 18 team in the AP Poll heading into their matchup with the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Soldier Field in Chicago. However, despite not playing this weekend, the Badgers jumped up two spots to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll!

The B1G

• Iowa —> No. 6 Coaches Poll, No. 5 AP Poll
• Penn State —> No. 8 Coaches Poll, No. 6 AP Poll
• Ohio State —> No. 12 Coaches Poll, No. 10 AP Poll
• Wisconsin —> No. 15 Coaches Poll, No. 18 AP Poll
• Michigan —> No. 19 Coaches Poll, No. 19 AP Poll
• Michigan State —> No. 21 Coaches Poll, No. 20 AP Poll

Nationwide musings

• Top teams struggled against mediocre opponents. No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 6 Clemson, and No. 9 Ohio State, all walked away from Week 3 with victories, but all had to work much harder than expected. Nebraska found a way to hang tight with Oklahoma, Clemson struggled to find their rhythm versus Georgia Tech, and although Ohio State won by 21 points, their game versus Tulsa was much closer than the score dictates.
• What more can Cincinnati do to convince the committee to put a Group of 5 team in the playoff? The Bearcats went on the road to Indiana and played potentially the worst quarter and a half of football we’ve seen from any top team all year. It was horrific. The second half was a completely different story. Desmond Ridder found his groove, the defense played like a top five defense in the country, and Cincinnati walked out of Bloomington with a 38-24 win. Next up is Notre Dame on the road, and if they find a way to win that one as well, the Bearcats resume will begin to shape up very nicely.
• Although it was pretty impossible to watch given the Pac-12’s awful TV deal, UCLA and Fresno State had one of the most exciting endings we’ve seen all year, combining for 34 4th quarter points and four lead changes in the last seven minutes. Fresno State came out on top, defeating No. 13 UCLA on the road, earning them a placement in both major polls. Jake Haener is a stud at quarterback for the Bulldogs.

Newcomers

AP Top-25: No. 20 Michigan State, No. 22 Fresno State

Coaches Poll: No. 21 Michigan State; No. 25 Fresno State

Drop outs

AP Top-25: No. 15 Virginia Tech; No. 19 Arizona State; No. 24 Miami (Fla.)

Coaches Poll: No. 15 Virginia Tech; No. 21 Arizona State