AP Top 25 Poll: Week Five

This wild college football season continues to be just that as it produced another wild set of games over the weekend.

UNC managed to avoid the chaos by eking out a four-point win, but several other ranked teams weren’t as fortunate. Five teams completely fell out of the AP Top 25, while three others took drops of at least six spots. The poll also includes six teams who have yet to kick off their season thanks to the chaotic nature of things.

The result of all that has produced a historic poll for UNC and the ACC, so let’s see where things are at with the dust settled.

AP Top 25 Poll

1. Clemson Tigers (52 First place votes)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (8)
3. Georgia Bulldogs
4. Florida Gators
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (2)
7. Miami Hurricanes
8. North Carolina Tar Heels
9. Penn State Nittany Lions
10. Oklahoma State Cowboys
11. Cincinnati Bearcats
12. Oregon Ducks
13. Auburn Tigers
14. Tennessee Volunteers
15. BYU Cougars
16. Wisconsin Badgers
17. LSU Tigers
18. SMU Mustangs
19. Virginia Tech Hokies
20. Michigan Wolverines
21. Texas A&M Agges
22. Texas Longhorns
23. Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns
24. Iowa State Cyclones
25. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Where is UNC?

After the win over Boston College, the Tar Heels are in the top 10 for the first time since 2015, coming in at #8. Despite the less than perfect performance that they put in, Carolina was able to rise four spots thanks to some higher ranked teams taking losses. UNC was able to jump over Texas, UCF, and Auburn, who all lost, plus Penn State, who didn’t lose but also hasn’t begun play yet.

Biggest Winners

We have five new teams in the rankings this week, but as far as already ranked teams, three moved up seven spots.

Oklahoma State started the season in the top 15, but thanks to some unimpressive performances early on, they had dropped a little. After some losses above them and their obliteration of Kansas, they are not only top 15, but now into the top 10. Tennessee and BYU also moved up seven spots each.

Biggest Losers

Oklahoma State may have seen a big jump, but the rest of their conference is going the other way. Texas fell 13 spots down all the way to #22 following their loss to TCU. Oklahoma started the season at #5, and were #3 just two weeks ago, but they are now fully out of the rankings after taking a second consecutive loss.

Besides them, UCF went from #11 to unranked thanks to a loss to Tulsa. Meanwhile, Mississippi State has gone from unranked to #16 to unranked in a roller coaster opening two weeks for them.

Conference Breakdown

• ACC: 5
• American: 2
• Big 12: 4
• Big Ten: 4
• Independent: 1
• Pac-12: 1
• SEC: 7
• Sun Belt: 1

Including UNC, the ACC has four teams in the top 10, which is a first in the history of the conference.

Marquee Top 25 Matchups

• #19 Virginia Tech at #8 North Carolina (Saturday, 12 PM ET, ABC)
• #14 Tennessee at #3 Georgia (Saturday, 3:30 PM ET, CBS)
• #7 Miami at #1 Clemson (Saturday, 7:30 PM ET, ABC)