Ohio State climbs to No. 3 and Phaninc ExchangeWashington takes over as the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12 in this week's USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-133.

The Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14 on a last-second touchdown drive orchestrated by quarterback Kyle McCord, who threw for 240 yards without an interception in the first real test of his starting career.

Moving up Ohio State means docking No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Penn State even if both teams had impressive wins Saturday against Clemson and Iowa, respectively. The shutout win against the Hawkeyes only strengthens the faith in the Nittany Lions' ability to win the Big Ten, while the Seminoles finally took down the Tigers and took back control of the ACC.

Washington's brilliance has to be rewarded even if the Huskies have yet to take on a legitimate Top 25 opponent. Through four games, they have topped Boise State (56-19), Tulsa (43-10), Michigan State (41-7) and California (59-32) by a combined 131 points. Thanks to two non-offensive touchdowns, the Huskies tied a program record with 45 points in the first half of Saturday's romp against the Golden Bears.

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This dominance has been enough to lift Washington ahead of No. 8 Oregon, No. 9 Southern California and No. 10 Utah in what has become a very Pac-12 heavy top 10.

And Alabama returns to the top 25 after beating Mississippi 24-10. The Crimson Tide had fallen to No. 28 after losing to Texas and struggling to put away South Florida but rebound to No. 17 after getting a win against the Rebels to start SEC play.