The marquee schools in the nation are beginning to lose games. LSU was the latest national title contender to add a loss to its resume after Saturday's crushing 34-29 defeat to Mississippi St. There are still 14 undefeated teams left in the Top 25, with Florida St, Oregon, Alabama, Oklahoma and Auburn still leading the way. The biggest surprise of the early part of the season has been Texas A&M's dominant play over its first four games. The team is coming off a 52-point victory over SMU and wasted no time forgetting about the "Johnny Football" era after last season's quarterback Johnny Manziel took his talents to the NFL. Let's take a closer look at Week 4 of the college football season and some of the trends that emerged over the weekend.

Top 5 Get Challenged

The Top 5 schools in the nation had another tough week as they were able to cover only two spreads. Every team except Alabama was involved in a tough game that stayed close until the very end. Overall, the Top 5 schools ended the week with a 2-3 ATS record and are sitting on a 7-11 ATS mark through the early part of the season. The biggest change over the past few weeks is the fact that most teams are heading into the tougher portions of their schedule, and the spreads are getting smaller and smaller every game. During Week 2 four of the five Top 5 spreads were lines of 23 points or higher. This week the largest spread is 23 points.

No. 1 Florida State : favored by 9.5, won by six

No. 2 Oregon : favored by 23, won by seven

No. 3 Alabama : favored by 14, won by 21

No. 4 Oklahoma : favored by 7.5 won by 12

No. 5 Auburn : favored by seven, won by six

Record : 2-3 ATS; Overall: 7-11 ATS

Large Favorites Struggle Again

Large 30-point-or-more favorites continued to struggle for the second straight week. On Saturday there were three such favorites, and only Michigan State managed to cover its 45.5-point spread. Cincinnati barely escaped with a seven-point win against a 30-point line. Over the last two weeks large favorites are sitting on a 3-6-1 ATS record after starting off the season hot by producing a 6-3 ATS mark

No. 11 Michigan St : favored by 45.5, won by 59

Washington : favored by 35, won by 31

Cincinnati : favored by 30, won by 7

Most teams are falling into a solid groove by now, and those large 30-point lines may be too big of a number to give up. Miami Ohio has faced consecutive 30-points spreads and has easily covered both. Now may be the time to start taking the points on a solid underdog receiving more than four touchdowns worth of points.

Florida State Still Can't Cover

Perhaps the most shocking trend during the early part of the year is the fact that the No. 1-ranked Seminoles still cannot cover a spread. The squad is 0-3 ATS on the year against 18-, 58.5- and 9.5-point lines. Last season Florida State produced an 11-2 ATS mark during the regular season but now is in the middle of a four-game ATS losing streaking dating back to the National Championship Game against Auburn.

Of course, that trend will not last forever, and the defending National Champions are bound to cover a spreads over the next few weeks. If you haven't wagered on the team so far this season, now is a great time to catch the squad breaking out of its ATS slump and covering sometime soon.

Records : Top 5: 7-11 ATS; Top 10: 14-17-1 ATS; Large Favorites: 9-9-1

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