Michigan, Michigan State climb in Associated Press college football Top 25
Michigan and Michigan State each survived dogfights on Saturday, and continue to move up the national rankings.
Michigan (4-0) moved up five spots to No. 14 in Sunday's updated Associated Press college football poll, while Michigan State (4-0) moved up three to No. 17 in the rankings.
Michigan started strong before holding off Rutgers, 20-13, while Michigan State rallied from a late touchdown deficit to outlast Nebraska, 23-20, in overtime.
Clemson tumbled to No. 25 in the poll, snapping its streak of 97 straight weeks in the top 10.
The Tigers (2-2) lost for the second time this season Saturday — falling in double overtime to North Carolina State — and dropped 16 spots from No. 9 in the AP Top 25.
Clemson’s top-10 streak was tied with Alabama for the longest current run in college football and second-longest in the history of the AP poll, behind Miami’s 137 from 1985-93.
The Crimson Tide remained No. 1 with 58 first-place votes out of 62. No. 2 Georgia received the remaining four first-place votes. Oregon stayed No. 3. Penn State moved up two spots to No. 4, Iowa held at No. 5 and Oklahoma slipped two spots to No. 6.
Cincinnati moved up a spot to No. 7 and Arkansas jumped eight spots to No. 8 after beating Texas A&M. The Razorbacks have their best ranking since they were No. 8 early in the 2012 season.
That season, Arkansas lost its second game of the season to Louisiana-Monroe and was never ranked again. The Razorbacks had finished fifth the season before under Bobby Petrino.
No. 9 Notre Dame and Florida rounded out the top 10.
Poll points
Clemson did manage to extend its streak of weeks ranked to 107, the third-longest active streak behind Alabama (218) and Ohio State (150).
The Buckeyes’ streak does not include polls in which they were ineligible during the 2020 season because the Big Ten was not planning to play due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Alabama’s current streak of poll appearances is second all time to Nebraska’s 348 from 1981-2002.
In
After six ranked teams lost this weekend, four to unranked opponents, four new teams entered the rankings of the first time this season.
► No. 19 Oklahoma State improved to 4-0 by beating Kansas State. The Cowboys finished last season ranked.
► No. 21 Baylor is 4-0 after upsetting Iowa State at home and is ranked for the first time since the final 2019 poll.
► No. 23 North Carolina State (3-1) snapped an eight-game losing streak against Clemson to move into the ranking. The Wolfpack was ranked briefly at No. 23 last season.
► No. 24 Wake Forest is 4-0 for the first time since 2019, when the Demon Deacons were ranked for a total of five weeks with a peak of No. 19. That’s the only season Wake has been ranked since 2008.
Out
Two teams that started the season in the top 10 are now unranked.
► Iowa State started No. 7, its best ranking in school history after finishing ninth in 2020, but now sits at 2-2 and unranked.
► North Carolina was No. 10 to start the season, but fell out after being routed by Georgia Tech to fall to 2-2.
► Wisconsin began the season No. 12 but after losing to Penn State and Notre Dame to fall to 1-2 is unranked.
► Kansas State spent one week in the rankings and dropped out.
Associated Press Top 25
1. Alabama (58 first-place votes), 4-0, 1546 points (last week's ranking: 1)
2. Georgia (4), 4-0, 1492 (2)
3. Oregon, 4-0, 1411 (3)
4. Penn State, 4-0, 1283 (6)
5. Iowa, 4-0, 1277 (5)
6. Oklahoma, 4-0, 1212 (4)
7. Cincinnati, 3-0, 1154 (8)
8. Arkansas, 4-0, 1094 (16)
9. Notre Dame, 4-0, 1076 (12)
10. Florida, 3-1, 1019 (11)
11. Ohio State, 3-1, 1005 (10)
12. Mississippi, 3-0, 852 (13)
13. BYU, 4-0, 748 (15)
14. Michigan, 4-0, 677 (19)
15. Texas A&M, 3-1, 651 (7)
16. Coastal Carolina, 4-0, 613 (17)
17. Michigan State, 4-0, 581 (20)
18. Fresno State, 4-1, 415 (22)
19. Oklahoma State, 4-0, 341 (NR)
20. UCLA, 3-1, 316 (24)
21. Baylor, 4-0, 233 (NR)
22. Auburn, 3-1, 197 (23)
23. NC State, 3-1, 145 (NR)
24. Wake Forest, 4-0, 142 (NR)
25. Clemson, 2-2, 138 (9)
Others receiving votes: Texas 131, Maryland 91, San Diego State 57, Boston College 55, SMU 44, Kentucky 26, Iowa St. 25, LSU 24, Arizona State 23, Virginia Tech 20, Wisconsin 13, Rutgers 6, Kansas State 5, UTSA 4, Oregon St. 4, Louisville 3, North Carolina 1.