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AP Top 25 Poll: Week Eight

Where did the Tar Heels land in the latest edition of the rankings?

By Matt Ferenchick
North Carolina State v North Carolina Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

We’re starting to get some weekends that resemble normal college football weeks in what has been a very unnormal season. The Big Ten and Mountain West returned and opened their seasons over the weekend.

They marked their returns with one big upset and some other games that have led to a shake up in the latest edition of the AP Poll. With UNC also picking up a win over the weekend, let’s see where they and the rest of the country are after the dust settled.

AP Top 25 Poll

  1. Clemson Tigers (52 First Place Votes)
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide (10)
  3. Ohio State Buckeyes
  4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  5. Georgia Bulldogs
  6. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  7. Cincinnati Bearcats
  8. Texas A&M Aggies
  9. Wisconsin Badgers
  10. Florida Gators
  11. BYU Cougars
  12. Miami Hurricanes
  13. Michigan Wolverines
  14. Oregon Ducks
  15. North Carolina Tar Heels
  16. Kansas State Wildcats
  17. Indiana Hoosiers
  18. Penn State Nittany Lions
  19. Marshall Thundering Herd
  20. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
  21. USC Trojans
  22. SMU Mustangs
  23. Iowa State Cyclones
  24. Oklahoma Sooners
  25. Boise State Broncos

Where is UNC?

Despite the dominant win over NC State, UNC actually moved down a spot and now sit at #15.

However, it should be noted that they were actually technically tied for 14th last week with Wisconsin. While they are listed as having dropped a spot, in a way, they were 15th last week as well. Either way, them remaining behind still yet to play Oregon is a bit weird.

Biggest Winners

The Big Ten’s return to action has led to some good things for the conference. Ohio State is back into the top three, Michigan and Wisconsin both had five spot jumps after impressing in their openers, and Indiana is in the poll after a memorable win over Penn State.

Coastal Carolina continued their rise in the rankings and are up to #20. It’s a remarkable rise for a program that was in the FCS as recently as 2016.

Biggest Losers

The flip side of Indiana’s big win has seen Penn State drop 10 spots. Wild how much a couple of inches on a two-point conversion attempt can change.

The second biggest drops of the week belong to SMU and Iowa State, who both fell six spots after each taking a loss.

Conference Breakdown

  • ACC: 4
  • American: 2
  • Big 12: 4
  • Big Ten: 5
  • Conference USA: 1
  • Independent: 1
  • Mountain West: 1
  • Pac-12: 2
  • SEC: 4
  • Sun Belt: 1

Next Week’s Marquee Top 25 Matchups

  • Memphis (3-1) at #7 Cincinnati (4-0) - Saturday 12:00 PM ET, ESPN
  • Texas (3-2) at #6 Oklahoma State (4-0) - Saturday 4:00 PM ET, FOX
  • #3 Ohio State (1-0) at #18 Penn State (0-1) - Saturday 7:30 PM ET, ABC

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