AP Poll: Week Seven

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

1. Georgia Bulldogs (32 first place votes)
2. Ohio State Buckeyes (20)
3. Alabama Crimson Tide (11)
4. Clemson Tigers
5. Michigan Wolverines
6. Tennessee Volunteers
7. USC Trojans
8. Oklahoma State Cowboys
9. Ole Miss Rebels
10. Penn State Nittany Lions
11. UCLA Bruins
12. Oregon Ducks
13. TCU Horned Frogs
14. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
15. NC State Wolfpack
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs
17. Kansas State Wildcats
18. Syracuse Orange
19. Kansas Jayhawks
20. Utah Utes
21. Cincinnati Bearcats
22. Texas Longhorns
23. Kentucky Wildcats (tied for #22 with Texas)
24. Illinois Fighting Illini
25. 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

1. Alabama (35 first place votes)
2. Georgia (18)
3. Ohio State (10)
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. USC
7. Oklahoma State
8. Tennessee
9. Ole Miss
10. Penn State
11. Oregon
12. UCLA
13. NC State
14. Wake Forest
15. TCU
16. Kansas State
17. Mississippi State
18. Syracuse
19. Utah
20. Kansas
21. Cincinnati
22. Kentucky
23. Baylor
24. Texas
25. North Carolina