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AP Poll Top 25: Week Three

Let’s check in on the rankings with another week in the book.

By Matt Ferenchick
NCAA Football: Georgia St. at North Carolina Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Week two of the 2021 college football season, and it was another wild one. On paper, it wasn’t the most action-packed week, but there ended up being some pretty notable games. Two top ten teams in Ohio State and Iowa State lost. Two that were ranked in the top 15, USC and Texas, fell out of the poll entirely after suffering losses. Notre Dame and Miami were among teams to barely survive scares, and while not ranked, Florida State lost to FCS Jacksonville State.

UNC weren’t among the teams tested. While there certainly are some things to nitpick in their win over Georgia State, the Heels were mostly in control all game.

Now that the dust has settled, let’s check in on the top 25 ahead of week three.

AP Top 25

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide (60 first place votes)
  2. Georgia Bulldogs (3)
  3. Oklahoma Sooners
  4. Oregon Ducks
  5. Iowa Hawkeyes
  6. Clemson Tigers
  7. Texas A&M Aggies
  8. Cincinnati Bearcats
  9. Ohio State Buckeyes
  10. Penn State Nittany Lions
  11. Florida Gators
  12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  13. UCLA Bruins
  14. Iowa State Cyclones
  15. Virginia Tech Hokies
  16. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
  17. Ole Miss Rebels
  18. Wisconsin Badgers
  19. Arizona State Sun Devils
  20. Arkansas Razorbacks
  21. North Carolina Tar Heels
  22. Auburn Tigers
  23. BYU Cougars
  24. Miami Hurricanes
  25. Michigan Wolverines

Where is UNC?

The Tar Heels were clinging onto life in the top 25 after the week one loss, but thanks to the comfortable win over Georgia State, they’ve moved up a couple spots. Carolina is now at #21, three spots up from where they landed after the Virginia Tech loss.

Biggest Winners

Arkansas had one of the most notable wins of the week when they handed it to Texas, and they have been rewarded in kind in the poll. After not getting a single vote last week, the Razorbacks came into the rankings at #20. The only win maybe more notable was Oregon going into Columbus and beating Ohio State, and as a result, the Ducks are up eight spots to #4.

Biggest Losers

Both of the the flip sides of those two games also led to some sizeable drops. Ohio State fell six spots to #9 after their loss. Meanwhie, Texas was #15 last week, but their loss to Arkansas saw them drop out of the top 25 entirely, They’re the unofficial #36, being 11th placed among the “others receiving votes.” USC was one spot ahead of Texas and also fell out of the top 25 after getting crushed by Stanford.

Conference Breakdown

  • SEC: 7
  • Big Ten: 5
  • ACC: 4
  • Pac-12: 3
  • Big 12: 2
  • Independents: 2
  • AAC: 1
  • Sun Belt: 1

Marquee Matchups Next Week

  • #1 Alabama (2-0) at #11 Florida (2-0) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS
  • #22 Auburn (2-0) at #10 Penn State (2-0) - Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on ABC
  • #19 Arizona State (2-0) at #23 BYU (2-0) - Saturday at 10:15 PM ET on ESPN

Coaches’ Poll

  1. Alabama (64)
  2. Georgia (1)
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Oregon
  5. Texas A&M
  6. Clemson
  7. Iowa
  8. Cincinnati
  9. Florida
  10. Notre Dame
  11. Ohio State
  12. Penn State
  13. UCLA
  14. Iowa State
  15. Virginia Tech
  16. Ole Miss
  17. Wisconsin
  18. Coastal Carolina
  19. North Carolina
  20. Auburn
  21. Arizona State
  22. Oklahoma State
  23. BYU
  24. Arkansas
  25. Michigan

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