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The Northern Illinois Huskies cracked the Top 25 of the USA Today Coaches Poll last week after a big win over Purdue. The updated Coaches Poll was released Sunday morning and despite beating the Kent State Golden Flashes 38-24 in an offensive showcase, the Huskies remain at No. 23. There's still a huge voting gap between NIU and the No. 22 team, Fresno State, which is unlikely to change overnight with NIU's weak slate of games over the next few weeks.
But also receiving votes this week is Ball State. The Cardinals got 3 votes this week, making them No. 36 technically, after hanging 48 on Virginia a week ago. The Cardinals will need to keep winning, and by decent margins, if they want to sneak into the Top 25 anytime soon.
If both of these teams keep winning (it's highly likely they will) there is a very real possibility both could be ranked by the time they face off in mid-November.
The Coaches Poll is one of the three polls that are used to calculate the BCS Standings. The first BCS Standings of the 2013 season come out next week. Here's a full breakdown of the latest USA Today Coaches Poll.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 5-0 | 1544 | 57 | 1 |
| 2 | Oregon | 5-0 | 1486 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Clemson | 5-0 | 1356 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Ohio St. | 6-0 | 1356 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Stanford | 5-0 | 1327 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Florida St. | 5-0 | 1188 | 0 | 8 |
| 7 | Georgia | 4-1 | 1130 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | Louisville | 5-0 | 1105 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 1067 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 5-0 | 964 | 0 | 10 |
| 11 | LSU | 5-1 | 953 | 0 | 11 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 4-1 | 833 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 | UCLA | 4-0 | 807 | 0 | 13 |
| 14 | Miami | 5-0 | 747 | 0 | 14 |
| 15 | Baylor | 4-0 | 698 | 0 | 16 |
| 16 | Michigan | 5-0 | 591 | 0 | 17 |
| 17 | Florida | 4-1 | 574 | 0 | 19 |
| 18 | Northwestern | 4-1 | 393 | 0 | 15 |
| 19 | Washington | 4-1 | 366 | 0 | 18 |
| 20 | Oklahoma St. | 4-1 | 350 | 0 | 20 |
| 21 | Texas Tech | 5-0 | 336 | 0 | 22 |
| 22 | Fresno St. | 5-0 | 325 | 0 | 21 |
| 23 | Northern Illinois | 5-0 | 169 | 0 | 23 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 4-1 | 125 | 0 | 25 |
| 25 | Virginia Tech | 5-1 | 97 | 0 | NR |
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