No. 7 Georgia and No. 9 TCU jumped into the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time this season and Florida State dropped all the way out of the rankings for the first time since 2011 after starting 0-2.
Alabama remained No. 1 and won back some of the support it lost last week to No. 2 Clemson. The Crimson Tide received 52 first-place votes Sunday, up seven from last week, after beating Vanderbilt 59-0 on Saturday.
Clemson received eight first-place votes, down seven from last week, after taking more than three quarters to pull away from Boston College. No. 3 Oklahoma got the remaining first-place vote.
Penn State held at No. 4. Southern California was No. 5, followed by Pac-12 rival Washington.
Georgia followed Michigan, TCU and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
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POLL POINTS
OUT
What a strange start to the season for Florida State, which had a streak of 105 straight poll appearances snapped. The Seminoles were No. 3 in the preseason poll, lost to Alabama in a marquee opener and lost quarterback Deondre Francois to a season-ending injury in that game, too.
Then Florida State’s season was put on hold for two weeks because of Hurricane Irma. That cost the ‘Noles what figured to be a good game against Louisiana-Monroe to break in freshman quarterback James Blackman, and delayed its game against Miami.
Finally back on the field against North Carolina State, the Seminoles lost 27-21 to drop to 0-2 for the first time since 1989. Florida State also became the first team to start the season ranked in the top three of the AP poll and begin its season with two losses since 1984, when No. 3 Pitt began 0-4 and finished 3-7-1.
— Oregon dropped out after one week ranked, following a 37-35 loss at Arizona State.
STREAKS
The current longest streaks of consecutive poll appearances.
168 — Alabama. Last time unranked was final poll of 2007 season.
103 — Ohio State. Last time unranked was final poll of 2011 season.
55 — Clemson. Last time unranked was Nov. 16, 2014.
IN
Welcome back, No. 22 Notre Dame and No. 23 West Virginia. The Fighting Irish had a one-week stint in the poll earlier this month and the Mountaineers are back after being in the preseason poll.
UP
— No. 9 TCU jumped seven spots after one of Saturday’s most impressive victories, 44-31 at Oklahoma State. The Horned Frogs won 44-31 in Stillwater for the first time since they joined the Big 12 in 2012.
— No. 7 Georgia moved up four places after routing Mississippi State 31-3.
DOWN
— No. 11 Ohio State was nudged out of the top 10 when Georgia and TCU moved in, snapping the Buckeyes streak of 42 straight polls ranked in the top 10.
— No. 15 Oklahoma State dropped nine places after its first loss of the season
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC — 6
Big 12 — 4
Pac 12 — 4
Big Ten — 4
ACC — 4
American — 1
Mountain West — 1
Independent — 1
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 2 Clemson at No. 12 Virginia Tech. The Tigers make their first trip to Lane Stadium since 2011.
No. 5 USC at No. 16 Washington State, Friday. Pullman, Washington, for a short-week road game. What could possibly go wrong for the Trojans?
No. 24 Mississippi State at No. 14 Auburn. Third straight ranked opponent for the Bulldogs. So far, 1-1.
Photo credit – Joshua L. Jones / Athens Banner-Herald via AP / Athens, GA
