While the top seven teams remained in place, other movement highlights this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. Alabama, Ohio State and Louisville remained the top three teams, but Tennessee vaulted over Florida State after the Volunteers’ 38-28 victory over Florida.
Some analysts felt Tennessee’s win would send them into the top 10, but they came in at No. 11, just behind Washington. Florida State’s 55-35 win on the road against South Florida moved them up one spot to No. 12.
Florida fell to the 23rd position, down four spots from a week ago. Despite being idle, the Miami Hurricanes moved up one position to 14th.
Georgia, who was hammered by Mississippi 45-14, had the biggest fall, dropping 13 spots to the No. 25 position. Michigan State plummeted nine spots to No. 17 after being clobbered by the new No. 8 Wisconsin.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the rise of the Rebels. Despite a 2-2 record, the Ole Miss rout of Georgia convinced voters to move them up seven positions to the No. 16 slot. This will add another item to the rest of the country’s cry about SEC bias.
LSU dropped from the poll after their narrow loss to Auburn on Saturday. Joining the top 25 for the first time is Boise State, who comes in at No. 24.
We know a shakeup among the top five will be seen in next week’s poll. No. 3 Louisville travels to No. 5 Clemson in a battle of Heisman hopefuls in Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and Clemson’s Deshaun Watson.
The SEC has seven teams in the top 25, followed by the Big 10 with five. The ACC has four representatives followed by the Pac 12 with three, the Big 12 with three, the Mountain West with two, and the American with 1.
The AP Top 25 poll is here.
