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While there weren’t a ton of upsets in Week 6, there were several notable games that went right down to the wire. Alabama and NC State were among the teams that pulled out wins from potentially dangerous spots. Meanwhile in an unexpected ranked battle, TCU eventually pulled off a win over Kansas after a back and forth battle.
North Carolina was among the teams to come away with a hard fought win, surviving a late, potentially go-ahead drive from Miami thanks to DeAndre Boykins’ interception. The win got the Tar Heels to a 5-1 record, their best start since 2015. With the week in the books, let’s check in on the AP Poll and see if that was enough to get Carolina ranked.
AP Top 25
- Georgia Bulldogs (32 first place votes)
- Ohio State Buckeyes (20)
- Alabama Crimson Tide (11)
- Clemson Tigers
- Michigan Wolverines
- Tennessee Volunteers
- USC Trojans
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- UCLA Bruins
- Oregon Ducks
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
- NC State Wolfpack
- Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Syracuse Orange
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Utah Utes
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Texas Longhorns
- Kentucky Wildcats (tied for #22 with Texas)
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- James Madison Dukes
Where is UNC?
Close, but no cigar! UNC are first among the “Others Receiving Votes” having fallen just seven rankings points short of #25 James Madison. The Dukes are a good enough story that it’s hard to get too mad at them getting in over the Heels, but it’s still a bit of a bummer that UNC missed out by that small a margin. If they can win the Victory Bell this weekend against Duke, that would almost certainly get Carolina in the rankings. However, they have cracked the Coaches Poll, which is listed further down.
Biggest Winners
As mentioned, James Madison getting in is a pretty cool story considering that this is their first year as an FBS team. Beyond them, the biggest rises of the week belong to Mississippi State and UCLA, who each jumped seven spots. There was also a change at the top with Georgia retaking #1 and Alabama falling to #3 after playing a close game against Texas A&M
Biggest Losers
Three teams fell out of this week’s poll, which the biggest drop belonging to BYU. The Cougars went from #16 to unranked thanks to a neutral site loss to Notre Dame. Beyond them, Kentucky and Utah each fell nine spots, but each managed to maintain rankings in the 20s despite that.
Conference Breakdown
- SEC: 6
- Big 12: 5
- ACC: 4
- Big Ten: 4
- Pac-12: 4
- AAC: 1
- Sun Belt: 1
Marquee Matchups This Week
- #10 Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) at #5 Michigan (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) - Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on FOX
- #3 Alabama (6-0, 3-0 SEC) at #6 Tennessee (5-0, 2-0 SEC) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS
- #8 Oklahoma State (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) at #13 TCU (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ABC
Coaches Poll
- Alabama (35 first place votes)
- Georgia (18)
- Ohio State (10)
- Michigan
- Clemson
- USC
- Oklahoma State
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Penn State
- Oregon
- UCLA
- NC State
- Wake Forest
- TCU
- Kansas State
- Mississippi State
- Syracuse
- Utah
- Kansas
- Cincinnati
- Kentucky
- Baylor
- Texas
- North Carolina
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