AP Top 25: Alabama jumps Cincinnati to No. 2 behind Georgia

Associated PressNov 14, 2021, 4:05 PM EST

Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Alabama jumped Cincinnati to No. 2 behind Georgia in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday and Oklahoma dropped eight spots to No. 12 after losing for the first time this season.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank for the sixth consecutive week and the Southeastern Conference has the top two teams in the poll for the sixth time this season.

Alabama and Georgia were flip-flopped at Nos. 1 and 2 for five weeks in September and early October.

The switch from Cincinnati to Alabama at No. 2 was more about the Bearcats than the Crimson Tide, which closed the gap on UC to four points last week.

Alabama took care of business against overmatched New Mexico State on Saturday. No surprise there.

Cincinnati remained unbeaten after winning at South Florida 45-28 on Friday night. It was the fourth straight week the Bearcats played a team with a losing record and found themselves in a competitive game in the second half. That tipped a few more voters to drop Cincinnati.

Behind the Bearcats, No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Notre Dame, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 Oklahoma State all moved up one spot after Oklahoma tumbled.

The Sooners were No. 4 before being handed their first loss of the season at Baylor on Saturday.

The Bears moved up to No. 11 behind No. 10 Mississippi.

POLL POINTS

Alabama has the longest current streak of top-five appearances in the AP Top 25 at 29. Georgia is second after running its streak to 12 this week.

At third is Cincinnati at seven straight polls. Oklahoma had been next coming into this weekend at five straight, but with that snapped, the next best top-five streak is Oregon with two straight polls.

Alabama holds the all-time record for top-five appearances with 68 from 2015-19.

The three teams entering the rankings this week have all been there earlier in the season.

– No. 21 Arkansas is back after beating LSU. The Razorbacks had a five-week run in the Top 25, reaching as high as No. 8 before three straight losses knocked them out. Three straight wins later, they’re back.

– No. 23 San Diego State returned after winning a crucial Mountain West game against Nevada. The Aztecs had a four-week stint in the rankings but have been out the last two.

– No. 24 Utah was preseason ranked, dropped out after Week 2 of the regular season and has been back and out a couple times. The Utes are back again after winning six of seven.

OUT

– Auburn dropped out after blowing a 28-3 lead against Mississippi State to fall to 6-4.

– Penn State is out for the first time this season after losing to Michigan at home, the Nittany Lions’ fourth loss in the last five games.

– Coastal Carolina is out for the first time this season, snapping a streak of 22 weeks being ranked. The Chanticleers lost for the second time this season with injured quarterback Grayson McCall out of the lineup against Georgia State.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC – 5 (Nos. 1, 2, 10, 16, 21).

Big Ten – 5 (Nos. 5, 7, 8, 18, 19).

ACC – 3 (Nos. 13, 20, 25).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 9, 11, 12).

Pac-12 – 2 (Nos. 4, 24).

American – 2 (Nos. 3, 17).

Conference USA – 1 (No. 15).

Mountain West – 1 (No. 23).

Sun Belt – 1 (No. 22).

Independent – 2 (Nos. 6, 14).

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RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 7 Michigan State at No. 5 Ohio State.

No. 21 Arkansas at No. 2 Alabama.

No. 4 Oregon at No. 24 Utah.

AP Top 25: Cincinnati holds on to No. 2 as Tide closes in

Associated PressNov 7, 2021, 3:09 PM EST

Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cincinnati held on to the No. 2 ranking by just four points over No. 3 Alabama in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, and Oregon passed Ohio State to move up to No. 5.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fifth straight week in the Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The teams closest to the Bulldogs are more tightly packed after another weekend of upsets and close calls.

The Bearcats received 1,440 points from the media panel after beating Tulsa 28-20, and the Crimson Tide had 1,336 following a 20-14 victory against LSU.

Cincinnati has been ranked No. 2, best in school history, for four straight weeks.

Oklahoma, which had an open date this past weekend, stayed at No. 4.

Oregon moved up two spots to No. 5 after beating Washington 26-16. The Ducks jumped Ohio State at No. 6, taking advantage of Michigan State’s first loss of the season.

The Buckeyes won 26-17 at Nebraska. The Ducks were as high as No. 3 in the country early in the season after beating Ohio State in Week 2, but had slipped behind the Buckeyes while taking a loss.

Notre Dame moved up a spot to No. 7, and the Spartans slipped three to No. 8 after losing at Purdue.

The Boilermakers remained unranked after their second upset of a team ranked in the top five at the time. Purdue was first among other teams receiving votes Sunday.

Michigan stayed at No. 9 and Oklahoma State moved up one to No. 10.

Wake Forest’s first appearance in the top 10 lasted a week. The Demon Deacons lost for the first time this season Saturday, falling at North Carolina.

POLL POINTS

Seven more ranked teams lost this past weekend, upping the total to 68 on the season, including 42 to unranked teams.

The number of ranked teams to lose to unranked teams is the most through 10 weeks of a college football season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

The three teams to move into the Top 25 this week have all been there before.

-No. 20 Wisconsin is back in the rankings after more than a month out. The Badgers have won five straight games since a 1-3 start.

-No. 21 North Carolina State returned to the Top 25 after its second straight victory. The Wolfpack had a three-week run in the rankings in October.

-No. 25 Pittsburgh moved back in after a loss knocked the Panthers out for a week.

OUT

-Kentucky lost for the third straight week to fall out of the rankings after a five-week run in the Top 25.

-SMU’s second straight loss cost the Mustangs their ranking after four weeks in the Top 25.

-Fresno State is out again, a week after it jumped back in at No. 25. The Bulldogs lost at home to Boise State.

CONFERENCE CALL

Big Ten – 6 (No. 6, 8, 9, 19, 20, 23).

SEC – 5 (Nos. 1, 3, 11, 12, 16).

ACC – 3 (Nos. 13, 21, 25).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos. 4, 10, 18).

American – 2 (Nos. 2, 17).

Sun Belt – 2 ((Nos. 22, 24).

Conference USA – 1 (No. 15).

Pac-12 – 1 (No. 5).

Independent – 2 (Nos. 7, 14).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 4 Oklahoma at No. 18 Baylor. Eighth time the Sooners and Bears will be a matchup of ranked teams, all since 2011. Sooners are 4-3 in the first seven.

No. 9 Michigan at No. 23 Penn State. Fourth time in the last five years the Big Ten East foes will both be ranked when they play.

No. 11 Texas A&M at No. 12 Mississippi. Third meeting when both are ranked. Rebels have won the first two.

No. 21 North Carolina State at No. 13 Wake Forest. The Wolfpack and Deacs have played 113 games and just one in which both teams were ranked. N.C. State won it big in 1992.

AP Top 25: Michigan St up to 5; Wake in top 10 for 1st time

Associated PressOct 31, 2021, 3:30 PM EDT

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Michigan State moved up to No. 5 in The Associated Press college football poll and Wake Forest became a top-10 team on Sunday for the first time in school history.

Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 for the fourth straight week in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The rest of the top four was unchanged from last week, with Cincinnati at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3 and Oklahoma at No. 4.

Star running back Kenneth Walker and the Spartans jumped three spots by beating Michigan in the weekend’s biggest game. The last time Michigan State broke into the top five was 2015 when the Spartans made the College Football Playoff.

The first CFP selection committee rankings of the season will be released Tuesday night.

In the AP poll, Ohio State slipped a spot to No. 6 despite holding off Penn State and Oregon was No. 7.

No. 8 Notre Dame, Michigan and Wake Forest rounded out the top 10.

POLL POINTS

The Demon Deacons have their best ranking in program history, topping the No. 11 they reached in 1947. Wake Forest had been the only team in a Power Five conference that had never been ranked in the top 10.

The Demon Deacons reached another first on Saturday, improving to 8-0 with a victory against Duke.

– No. 20 Houston is ranked for the first time under coach Dana Holgorsen after handing SMU its first loss of the season. The last time the Cougars were in the Top 25 was 2018.

Houston is the 45th different team to appear in the Top 25 this season.

– No. 24 Louisiana-Lafayette is back in the Top 25 after being in the preseason poll and falling out after losing its opening game.

– No. 25 Fresno State also returned to the rankings after handing San Diego State its first defeat in a crucial Mountain West game.

OUT

– Pittsburgh dropped from No. 17 to out after losing at home to Miami.

– Iowa State is out again after losing at West Virginia. The Cyclones jumped back into the rankings last week, but it turned out to be a brief stay.

– San Diego State fell out after a four-week run.

CONFERENCE CALL

Two Power Five leagues, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Pac-12, have just one ranked team while two from the Group of Five, the American Athletic Conference (three) and Sun Belt (two), have multiple teams ranked.

SEC – 6 (Nos. 1, 3, 12, 13, 15, 18).

Big Ten – 5 (Nos. 5, 6, 9, 19, 22).

Big 12 – 3 (Nos 4, 11, 14).

American – 3 (Nos. 2, 20, 23).

Sun Belt – 2 (Nos. 21, 24).

Mountain West – 1 (No. 25).

ACC – 1 (No. 10).

C-USA – 1 (No. 16).

Pac-12 – 1 (No. 7).

Independents – 2 (Nos. 8, 17).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 12 Auburn at No. 13 Texas A&M. Third time the Tigers and Aggies have met while both are ranked since A&M joined the SEC in 2011.