AP Top 25: Georgia moves up to No. 2, passing Ohio State

Associated PressSep 6, 2022, 6:48 PM EDT

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia moved up to No. 2 in the first Associated Press college football poll of the regular season, passing Ohio State, after the defending national champions dominated their opener.

Alabama remained No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank, receiving 44 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,552 points.

The Bulldogs narrowed the gap on the Crimson Tide after beating Oregon 49-3. Georgia received 17 first-place votes.

Ohio State slipped to No. 3 and received two first-place votes. Michigan moved up four spots to No. 4.

Clemson dropped a spot to No. 5.

Florida debuted at No. 12 after its thrilling victory at home against Utah. The Utes slipped six spots to No. 13 after the loss.

The rest of the top 10 was Texas A&M at No. 6, followed by Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Baylor and Southern California.

USC is in the top 10 for the first time since the final regular-season poll of 2017, when the Trojans were eighth.

The eighth-ranked Fighting Irish dropped three spots out of the top five after losing 21-10 at Ohio State.

POLL POINTS

Georgia has been ranked No. 1 or 2 in 15 of the last 17 polls, with the other two weeks at No. 3.

Since 2017, Georgia has been ranked No. 2 in the country 13 times and No. 1 nine times, all last season.

From 1981 – the season after Georgia won the national title – to 2016, the Bulldogs were ranked in the top two a total of 10 times.

– Florida’s jump from unranked to No. 12 is the biggest for an unranked team since the first regular-season poll of 2016, when Texas landed at No. 11 and Wisconsin at No. 10 after Week 1 victories.

– No. 24 Tennessee is ranked for the first time under second-year coach Josh Heupel.

OUT

– Oregon’s humbling loss to Georgia sent the Ducks all the way out of the rankings. It’s the first time Oregon has been unranked in a poll for which it was eligible since the last regular-season AP Top 25 of 2020.

– Cincinnati dropped out after losing at Arkansas by a touchdown, its first regular-season loss since late in the 2019 season.

For the Bearcats, who made the College Football Playoff last year, it snapped a run of 45 consecutive poll appearances, which was the fifth-longest active streak in the country.

CONFERENCE CALL

Florida and Tennessee moving into the rankings gives the SEC eight ranked teams, the most for a conference since the SEC had eight three times in 2020.

The record for ranked teams from one conference is 10 by the SEC early in the 2018 season. From 2011-18, the SEC had eight teams ranked in a AP Top 25 a total of 14 times.

SEC – 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 12, 16, 20, 22, 24).

ACC – 5 (Nos. 5, 15, 17, 18, 23).

Big Ten – 4 (Nos. 3, 4, 14, 19).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 7, 9, 11).

Pac-12 – 2 (Nos. 10, 13).

Independents – 2 (Nos. 8, 21).

American – 1 (No. 25).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 9 Baylor at No. 21 BYU. Future Big 12 matchup.

No. 20 Kentucky at No. 12 Florida. The first time both will be ranked when they play since 2007.

No. 24 Tennessee at No. 17 Pitt. First SEC/ACC ranked nonconference matchup of the season.

Vick, Fitzgerald and Suggs among stars on College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 1st time

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 9:04 PM EDT

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

Michael Vick, Larry Fitzgerald and Terrell Suggs are among the college football stars who will be considered for induction to the Hall of Fame for the first time this year.

The National Football Foundation released Monday a list of 78 players and nine coaches from major college football who are on the Hall of Fame ballot. There also are 101 players and 32 coaches from lower divisions of college football up for consideration.

Vick, who led Virginia Tech to the BCS championship game against Florida State as a redshirt freshman in 1999, is among the most notable players appearing on the ballot in his first year of eligibility.

Vick finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1999. He played one season of college football before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. Vick’s professional career was interrupted when he served 21 months in prison for his involvement in dog fighting.

Fitzgerald was the Heisman runner-up in 2003 to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White. He scored 34 touchdowns in just two seasons at Pitt.

Suggs led the nation in sacks with 24 in 2002 for Arizona State.

The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be chosen by the National Football Foundation’s Honors Court and announced in January. Induction into the Atlanta-based hall is the following December.

Alabama freshman DB Mitchell says he wasn’t sure he’d get to play again after arrest

Associated PressJun 5, 2023, 8:59 PM EDT

Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama defensive back Tony Mitchell said he feared his football career was over after his arrest on a drug charge.

The Crimson Tide freshman said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he knew “something much bigger could have happened.”

A judge in Holmes County, Florida, sentenced Mitchell to three years of probation with a fine and community service on May 24 after Mitchell pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of more than 20 grams of cannabis.

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to play football again, but I continued to work out and stay close with the Lord and those who love me unconditionally,” Mitchell said. “During those times, it helped me to keep my mind off it. But when I was by myself looking at social media, what everybody had to say about it, it just felt like it happened again.

“I didn’t sleep at night.”

He was suspended from the Alabama team following the arrest, but Mitchell’s father, Tony Sr., posted on Facebook last week that the defensive back had been reinstated. An Alabama spokesman declined to comment on Mitchell’s status.

Tony Mitchell Sr. shared his son’s video on Facebook, saying it was filmed during a talk to youth.

“I was doing things I knew I shouldn’t to try to fit in,” the younger Mitchell said, “but not everybody’s your friend.”

Mitchell, who is from Alabaster, Alabama, was a four-star prospect and the 15th-rated safety in the 247Composite rankings.

He had been charged in March with possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell after a traffic stop when authorities said he drove over 141 mph (227 kph) while trying to evade deputies in the Florida Panhandle. A deputy had spotted Mitchell’s black Dodge Challenger traveling 78 mph (125 kph) in a 55 mph (88 kph) zone on a rural highway north of Bonifay.

He also received 100 hours of community service and paid a fine of $1,560.

Mitchell and a passenger were both charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver, according to a Holmes County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. The other man also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit.