Northwestern received 89 votes in this week's Associated Press Poll, which was the most of any team not ranked in the Top 25. UCLA was next with 79. Michigan had 44. The Wildcats were also 26th in the USA Today Coaches Poll with 96 votes. Boise State was next with 69 and Michigan had 57.

Here's what coach Pat Fitzgerald said when asked about NU being ranked last week: "I've had a bunch of fans send me messages, 'Aren't you mad that you're not ranked?'" he said. "'No, I don't even care. It doesn't matter. If it were me, I don't know why you would rank anybody prior to October anyway. It's a waste of time because nobody has played anybody until you get into conference play for about three weeks. If you want to talk about things out of our control, but even then I wouldn't give a crap if we're ranked or not. It doesn't matter. What matters is we're starting to play better football."