Pac-12’s Stanford, Oregon have Alabama surrounded

Stanford and Oregon continue to form a Pac-12 sandwich around Alabama after combining for 110 weekend points as the Crimson Tide held Ole Miss pointless. Oklahoma has moved up 12 spots since opening day in a rebuttal to Rankman’s preseason evaluation. Notre Dame, one win from the Bowl Championship Series title last season, is out of the poll but can take the No. 22 away from Arizona State by putting a fork in the Sun Devils on Saturday. Maryland and Texas Tech were a combined 8-0 in the September instructional league and have earned call-ups to the 25-rankings roster.

1; Stanford 4-0; Quipster David Shaw says any USC short list with his name on it is one person too long. (1)

2; Alabama 4-0; Solemn Saban worried Georgia State (0-4) has “players that are capable of making plays.” (2)

3; Oregon 4-0; Outscored opponents in first half, 145-23, and merely embarrassed them in second. (3)

4; Ohio State 5-0; Miami Dolphins of 1972 say they do not recognize Meyer’s 17-0 record in Columbus. (4)

5; Clemson 4-0; Extra fashion police called in to monitor Syracuse game sponsored by Orange Julius. (5)

6; Georgia 3-1; Rankman can’t remember an SEC team playing a tougher schedule before October. (10)

7; Louisville 4-0; Stuck-in-rankings neutral team has leased No. 7 spot with an option to buy. (6)

8; Florida State 4-0; Seminoles, 21-2 against Maryland, will be sad to see Terps leave ACC. (8)

9; Texas A&M; 4-1; Sumlin could try to impress USC by going to his “Student Johnny Right” offense. (9)

10; Louisiana State 4-1; One loss is nothing. Tigers won two BCS titles with three combined defeats. (7)

11; UCLA 3-0; Punter files for unemployment, claiming only three kicks so far this season. (11)

12; Northwestern 4-0; Has lost 28 of last 29 to Ohio State in football but competitive in some non-revenue sports. (12)

13; Oklahoma 4-0; Stoops wore “I Like Ike” button home after first win in South Bend since 1956. (19)

14 South Carolina 3-1; Spurrier says Kentucky will be good again someday, but it won’t be Saturday. (13)

15; Miami 4-0; If NCAA hits ‘Canes hard, USC should set up lunch with Al Golden’s tie collection. (14)

16; Florida 3-1; Not too shabby: No. 2-ranked defense in a conference with national average of 52.5. (15)

17; Washington 4-0; Rising boat-commute-to-work fuel costs could influence Sarkisian’s USC decision. (17)

18; Baylor 3-0; Bears have no three-and-out possessions yet but it’s only October. (21)

19; Michigan 4-0; Minnesota, losers of 21 of last 22, accuses Blue of spiking the Little Brown Jug. (22)

20; Fresno State 4-0; Night guard in Peoria says thanks for turning 42-3 lead at Hawaii into five-point thriller. (24)

21; Wisconsin 3-2; Stays ahead of ASU for as long as kicker insists he would have made that field goal. (18)

22; Arizona State 3-1; Straight-talk express: No school has ever defeated USC and Notre Dame in consecutive weeks. (25)

23; Texas Tech 4-0; Kid Kingsbury matches play-calling wits with Old Uncle Charlie (Weis) from Kansas. (NR)

24; Maryland 4-0; Terps defenders aren’t sad sacks. In fact, they’re tied for the national lead with 17. (NR)

25; Mississippi 3-1; Secondary meaning for “shutout” in new Oxford Dictionary: “What happened at Alabama.” (20)

Dropped out: Notre Dame (23); Oklahoma State (16).

Moved in: Maryland, Texas Tech.