Former Winston-Salem Journal columnist and ESPN Triad host Scott Hamilton is one of 61 voters in the Associated Press college football poll. Here’s how his Week 6 ballot shook out.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Alabama did what Alabama does, that being demolish overmatched SEC opponents. This time it was a 66-3 blasting of Mississippi that gave the Crimson Tide a 125-3 margin of victory over the past two weeks. Still it wasn’t a no-brainer to keep Alabama situated atop my ballot given Clemson’s strong body of work through the first five weeks that includes three straight comfortable wins to begin ACC play as well as a 14-6 win over Auburn in Week 2 that looks increasingly impressive. Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, it’s a real possibility that the teams soon start to flipflop in the rankings until the College Football Playoff.

Georgia Rule: Woe be unto Vanderbilt. The Commodores will play host to No. 6 Georgia this weekend only two weeks removed from being stomped by Alabama. It could be a case of déjà vu for Vanderbilt given how the Bulldogs have look very Bamalike over the past two weeks in a 31-3 win over Mississippi State and 41-0 romp at Tennessee. That victory at Rocky Top likely started the process of firing Volunteers coach Butch Jones and was more than enough for me to elevate the Bulldogs two spots on my ballot.

Little Giants: My ballot includes three mid-major teams for the first time since I became an Associated Press Top 25 voter four years ago. While each is worthy of a ranking, the challenge is deciding which of the trio is the best. South Florida (a 66-31 winner at East Carolina) sat tight at No. 17 while 20th-ranked San Diego State (34-28 victory over Northern Illinois) also remained in place. Central Florida is in the mix this week after beating previously undefeated Memphis, 40-13. The Knights were winless in 2015, 6-7 during Scott Frost’s first season as head coach and are 3-0 for the first time since 2013. Central Florida is seventh nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense, with Alabama and Washington being the only other teams to ranked in the top 10 in both categories.

The Howling: The preseason hype bubble regarding N.C. State burst during a season-opening loss to South Carolina in Charlotte. But the Wolfpack has bounced back with four straight wins and is 2-0 in ACC play for the first time since 2006 thanks to victories over Boston College and Florida State. The common denominator in those wins? The Wolfpack hasn’t committed a turnover since the opening weekend. Some questions regarding if N.C. State is ready to at least play second to Clemson in the Atlantic Division will begin to be answered this week as the Wolfpack plays host to Louisville on Thursday. The Wolfpack cracked my ballot for the first time this season at No. 25 and will climb with a win over the Cardinals or fall off altogether with a loss.

Kicking and Screaming: Actually, neither Mississippi State nor LSU made much noise while exiting my ballot. The Bulldogs were lifeless in a 49-10 loss to Auburn while the Tigers lost to Troy of the Sun Belt Conference, 24-21. Not only was it LSU’s first non-conference home defeat since 2000 (Nick Saban’s first season in Baton Rouge), but Troy was also paid $985,000 in appearance money to be the Tigers’ homecoming opponent.

Good Luck, Chuck: Rather a more appropriate title would be “You’ve Got Good Luck, Jim” as in Florida coach Jim McElwain. Despite numerous offensive woes and issues, the Gators have managed to bounce back from their season-opening loss to Michigan to win three straight. And it’s not just the winning, but how they’ve won. Florida defeated Tennessee via a Hail Mary and drove down inside of the final minute to beat Kentucky for the 31st straight time. Florida did enough good things to be Vanderbilt, 38-24, despite starting quarterback Luke Del Rio suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in the second quarter. The Gators, sitting tight at No. 19 on my ballot, get LSU and Texas A&M in the Swamp before playing Georgia in a game that will likely determine the SEC East championship.

League(s) of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The exits of LSU and Mississippi State not only opened the door for three Group of Five teams to make my ballot, it created incredible parity among the Power Five conferences and allowed the ACC to take a slight lead. Five teams from the ACC are ranked, while there are four teams from each of the remaining Power Five conferences. Notre Dame, as usual, is the lone independent.

This week’s rankings (previous week):

1. Alabama (1)

2. Clemson (2)

3. Oklahoma (3)

4. Washington (4)

5. Penn State (6)

6. Georgia (8)

7. TCU (7)

8. Michigan (9)

9. Wisconsin (11)

10. Washington State (14)

11. Ohio State (10)

12. Auburn (13)

13. Miami (16)

14. Oklahoma State (14)

15. Southern Cal (15)

16. Virginia Tech (12)

17. South Florida (17)

18. Louisville (18)

19. Florida (19)

20. San Diego State (20)

21. Utah (21)

22. Notre Dame (22)

23. West Virginia (25)

24. Central Florida (NR)

25. N.C. State (NR)

You can follow Scott Hamilton on Twitter: @ScottH_Sports.