Down went Alabama. Up went Ole Miss. But still sitting at the topdespite its own offensive strugglesis Ohio State.The Buckeyes remain the nation's top-ranked team in the latest Associated Press poll despite looking less than their best for the third straight contest. Their 20-13 defeat of Northern Illinois was the weakest they've looked all of 2015 and it resulted in 17 voters jumping ship with their first-place votes. Urban Meyer's team nonetheless stays at No. 1, followed by new No. 2 Michigan State, which defeated Air Force by two touchdowns. TCU, Ole Miss and Baylor round out the Top Five as they stay undefeated.Here is a look at how the entire Top 25 played out:The biggest changes are obviously at the top, with the nation's top two teams from last week looking less than stellar. Meyer benched Cardale Jones for the second straight week in favor of J.T. Barrett, who appears to have gained the upperhand in the quarterback battle despite not playing well himself. Barrett threw for 97 yards and a touchdown against an interception, adding 18 on the ground.Meyer indicated after the game that he may be leaning toward a more permanent solution under center."There might be some truth to that," Meyer said of needing to make a decision, per Austin Ward of ESPN.com. "Not that I'm going to call some armchair [analysts] and ask them what they think, but I do believe in game reps. That's how players get better, and that's something that I'm going to spend a lot of time thinking about."Tony Jones of theSalt Lake Tribune wondered if Jones regrets returning to school:Of course, Nick Saban would love to have Meyer's problem right about now. The Alabama coach is left to pick up the pieces of his team's season after falling to Ole Miss for the second straight season. Chad Kelly threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns, all to different receivers, as Alabama's defense broke for big play after big play."We thought last year when we played we gave some things away, and I really don't want to take anything away from Ole Miss," Saban said, per John Zenor of The Associated Press. "They played a really good game, but are you going to be a giver or are you going to be a taker' If you're going to be a great competitor, you've got to take what you want."Alabama turned the ball over five times compared to none for Ole Miss. Jake Coker, who did not start the game but finished, threw two picks and starter Cooper Bateman tossed one. The Tide also fumbled twice, good for one of their sloppiest performances of the Saban era.With the loss, they move back to No. 12 in the rankings while Ole Miss vaults into a tie for No. 3. While a disappointing blow, it's worth remembering that Alabama still made the College Football Playoff last season despite its loss to the Rebels.The playoffs might be a little more difficult for USC, which drops to No. 19 after taking a 41-31 loss to Stanford. The Cardinal dominated offensively, holding possession for more than 39 minutes and putting up 474 total yards. Kevin Hogan completed 18 of his 23 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown whileRemound Wright scored three times."I think a lot of people underestimated us as a team," Hogan said, per ESPN.com. "We gave them that ability after our loss in Week 1, but we're going to get better every week. We're already talking about next week."Outside a few notable losses and close calls, the AP Top 25 was relatively quiet this week. Stanford was the only team to move into the rankings at No. 21, replacing Auburn.Notre Dame looked strong in a 30-22 win over Georgia Tech to leap to No. 6. LSU's up to No. 8 after thrashing Auburn. UCLA's one-point triumph over BYU kept it moving up the rankings to No. 9. While all those wins were of note and will be resume builders, they were also expected.As we get deeper into conference play, however, expecting the unexpected will become the norm. Ole Miss and Stanford may have sparked a trend that will continue throughout the season this weekend.Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
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