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Powered by an impressive 28-17 victory over Iowa on Saturday, the Northwestern Wildcats moved into the USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll for just the second time this season.
One of only two Big Ten schools in this week's poll, the No. 21 Wildcats are now 7-2 on the year and hold victories over a handful of bowl-eligible opponents. Junior quarterback Kain Colter needed just nine pass attempts to beat the Hawkeyes in Week 10, as the dual-threat signal caller reeled off a season-high 166 rushing yards with three scores on the ground to lead the offense.
Unable to make their mark against the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Jerry Kill's Minnesota Gophers once again fell further out of the spotlight with their fourth loss of the season. Freshman Philip Nelson completed just 13 of his 29 passes in the loss, and will now be forced to turn things around over back-to-back road games against Illinois and Michigan State.
Here is the full coaches' poll for Week 11:
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Week 11 |
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| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| 1 | Alabama (59) | 9-0 | 1475 |
| 2 | Oregon | 9-0 | 1399 |
| 3 | Kansas State | 9-0 | 1370 |
| 4 | Notre Dame | 9-0 | 1289 |
| 5 | Georgia | 8-1 | 1218 |
| 6 | Florida State | 8-1 | 1147 |
| 7 | Florida | 8-1 | 1091 |
| 8 | Clemson | 8-1 | 1013 |
| 9 | LSU | 7-2 | 998 |
| 10 | Louisville | 9-0 | 940 |
| 11 | South Carolina | 7-2 | 880 |
| 12 | Oregon State | 7-1 | 807 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 6-2 | 800 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 7-2 | 736 |
| 15 | Stanford | 7-2 | 705 |
| 16 | Nebraska | 7-2 | 513 |
| 17 | Texas | 7-2 | 485 |
| 18 | Louisiana Tech | 8-1 | 363 |
| 19 | UCLA | 7-2 | 333 |
| 20 | Rutgers | 7-1 | 264 |
| 21 | Northwestern | 7-2 | 234 |
| 22 | USC | 6-3 | 224 |
| 23 | Mississippi State | 7-2 | 186 |
| 24 | Boise State | 7-2 | 126 |
| 25 | Toledo | 8-1 | 108 |