Auburn keeps improving (unlike Stanford and Georgia)

— -- If teams were ranked by how much they improve from the beginning of the season to now, then No. 15 Auburn would have a much higher profile. And if teams were ranked by how much they regress from the start of the season -- my own wrinkle on the Bottom 10 -- then Stanford and Georgia would be neck and neck, and watch Houston coming fast on the rail. Success at the top of college football is a lot more fragile than Alabama and Clemson make it appear.

1. Once you process the shock of Penn State's upset of Ohio State, there's the surprise of seeing a team coached by Urban Meyer lose because of a late-game breakdown of fundamentals in special teams. But it has happened before, Buckeyes, and with an ending that should give you hope. In 2008, Ole Miss knocked off Florida 31-30 by blocking an extra point with 3:28 to play. That's the game which prompted Tim Tebow's postgame pledge now immortalized in bronze outside the Swamp. And as every Gator fan can tell you, Florida rebounded to win the BCS title.

2. This nugget from Sharon Katz, our FPI expert, data miner and all-around creator of Did You Knows: The average top-25 team would have a two percent chance of going through Alabama's first eight opponents undefeated. The Crimson Tide have won seven of their eight games by at least 19 points, thanks to a strong performance out of the halftime locker room. Alabama has outscored its opponents 100-23 in the third quarter. The Crimson Tide is off this week before resuming against another ranked team on Nov. 5 at No. 19 LSU, which is 3-0 under interim coach Ed Orgeron.

3. We could go on and on about Texas Tech's epically bad defense, which allowed more points to Oklahoma (66) on Saturday than No. 2 Michigan has given up all season (62). And Oregon's defense isn't much better; it's?allowing an average of 30 first downs per game. But put those thoughts aside for a moment, and?let's gaze in wonderment at the defenses that create the fewest takeaways. You would think that would be the sign of a losing team, right? This season, you would be wrong. Tied for first with only three takeaways: No. 13 Boise State (7-0) and Toledo (6-1). Among the teams tied for fourth with five takeaways: No. 16 Oklahoma (6-2), which has what looks like the worst defense in Bob Stoops' 18 seasons in Norman.

4. The lack of defense in the Big 12, and the lack of tough nonconference opponents on the schedules of No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 West Virginia, helps explain how the conference's last two unbeatens are in a pile with three one-loss teams (No. 5 Louisville, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Texas A&M) and well behind the front-runners in the playoff race. The AP poll is for amusement purposes only, and really, so are all the ratings by the College Football Playoff committee, which cranks up next week. An unbeaten record will go a long way, but the Big 12's play thus far means its best teams are being viewed more like No. 13 Boise State, the best Group of 5 team, than Alabama and Michigan.

5. At some level, the Stanford football brass could appreciate the celebration of the Colorado players and coaches in the moments after the Buffaloes' 10-5 victory Saturday. Seven years ago, Stanford went 8-5 and qualified for its first bowl in eight seasons. The 6-2 Buffs will go to their first bowl since 2007. After the game, Colorado senior quarterback Sefo Liufau twice stressed how his class had stuck together through winning 10 games combined in their first three seasons. "It's easy to not like people and go out and do your job," Liufau said. "The fact that we like each other, it just helps us stay strong. We told each other we're going to do something special, and here we are now, our senior year."

6. For most new coaches, the toughest challenge is winning with their predecessor's talent. For one thing, the players may not be good enough to win. For another, they may neither fit nor buy into the new coach's style, on and off the field. That's what made Tim DeRuyter's first two seasons at Fresno State so impressive. In 2012-13, the Bulldogs went 20-6 with two Mountain West titles. As Pat Hill's talent moved on and DeRuyter's recruits came in, Fresno State began sliding. In the past two-plus seasons, the Bulldogs are 10-24, including 1-7 this year. Fresno State fired DeRuyter on Sunday. He's a good defensive coach. There will be a coordinator's job available when he's ready.

7. Chad Morris left Dabo Swinney's staff at Clemson two years ago and joined SMU as the Next Big Thing among head coaches. Morris and every other newbie has operated in the shadow of Tom Herman at Houston ever since. That helps make the Mustangs' 38-16 rout of the Cougars stand out. And even though Morris was hired for his offensive brains, SMU won with defense. The Mustangs held the Cougars to their fewest points and yards (303) under Herman. SMU hasn't been very good defensively under Morris, which is what makes this game so encouraging. New head coaches have a tendency to tilt the roster toward their side of the ball, a la Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech.