After a wild weekend in college football, there has been some reshuffling of the AP poll’s top 25.
Alabama remains at number one in the AP poll, receiving 60 of the possible 63 first-place votes. Georgia received the remaining three votes, staying at number two in the poll. Oregon’s win over then-No. 3 ranked Ohio State propelled them to the number four spot in the rankings.
Visiting “The Shoe” in Columbus, Ohio, Oregon scored a massive win for the Pac-12 conference a week after UCLA beat LSU in Pasadena.
Oregon’s offense was incredibly balanced, passing for 236 yards and rushing for 269 on the ground as Ohio State head coach Ryan Day lost for the first time in the regular season as the head man of the Buckeyes. For Oregon, the 35-28 victory was the school’s first road win over a top-5 opponent since 2011.
“We’ve been building toward this for a while now, but we’re not there yet,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said. “I don’t want to in any way shape or form give that impression. We’re not, and our guys know that too, but we’ve taken massive steps, and I think even more importantly, we’ve taken massive psychological steps, understanding how important that is going to be on Saturdays. … All those things, they just come into play and they just further strengthen the culture and the direction of the program.”
It’s Oregon’s highest ranking since 2014.
For Iowa, a road win over a top-10 opponent in Iowa State also propelled them into the top-five. The Hawkeyes beat the then-No. 9 Cyclones behind a ball-hawking defense that created four turnovers and are at No. 5 after week two.
Iowa managed just 173 yards of total offense, but the game turned midway through the third quarter when Cyclones running back Breece Hall fumbled the ball with Iowa State pinned deep in its own territory before Jack Campbell returned it for a touchdown. On the next possession, quarterback Brock Purdy was intercepted after a pass went through the hands of his receiver and Iowa State was never able to mount a comeback.
Arkansas moved into the top-25 for the first time since 2016 after an impressive win over Texas in Fayetteville, landing at No. 20.
The Razorbacks rushed for a staggering 333 yards on the ground in the 40-21 victory.
The loss was the first for coach Steve Sarkisian as head man in Austin and dropped Texas out of the top-25. On Monday, Sarkisian announced that Casey Thompson will be the new starter at quarterback, replacing Hudson Card under center.
“I thought Hudson was all antsy in the pocket,” Sarkisian said, saying Card moved around too much. “We weren’t great protecting him early on in the game, but I thought he was a little antsy and we missed some opportunities. The game could have easily gone a different direction than it did.”
Two Pac-12 schools dropped out of the top-25, with USC losing to Stanford and Utah losing to their in-state rival in BYU.
BYU is ranked for the first time this season, coming in at No. 23. Michigan also makes its first appearance, landing at No. 25. The complete Associated Press Top-25 can be seen below.
- Alabama (60)
- Georgia (3)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Iowa
- Clemson
- Texas A&M
- Cincinnati
- Ohio State
- Penn State
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- UCLA
- Iowa State
- Virginia Tech
- Coastal Carolina
- Ole Miss
- Wisconsin
- Arizona State
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Auburn
- BYU
- Miami
- Michigan
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].