clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

AP Poll: Week Seven

Is a 5-1 record enough to get the Tar Heels ranked?

NCAA Football: North Carolina at Miami Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

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