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Top 25: Week Nine

The Tar Heels were on the move in the rankings despite getting the weekend off.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: AUG 27 Florida A&M at North Carolina Photo by Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Coming off a Week Seven that featured three top ten teams losing, and several other down to the wire battles, Week Eight was not quite as eventful. While one top ten team did go down to an unranked foe, most others handled their business, with only Clemson having to pull off a big escape.

It was also an uneventful week for UNC, who had the weekend off. After cracking the Top 25 for the first time all season last week, the Tar Heels got a break ahead of a stretch that will decide if they win the ACC Coastal Division. That will kick off this weekend with a potentially huge matchup against Pitt. However before we get into looking at that game, let’s put a cap on last weekend and check out the newest AP Rankings.

AP Top 25

  1. Georgia Bulldogs (31 first place votes)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (18)
  3. Tennessee Volunteers (13)
  4. Michigan Wolverines
  5. Clemson Tigers (1)
  6. Alabama Crimson Tide
  7. TCU Horned Frogs
  8. Oregon Ducks
  9. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  10. USC Trojans
  11. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (tied for #10)
  12. UCLA Bruins
  13. Penn State Nittany Lions
  14. Utah Utes
  15. Ole Miss Rebels
  16. Syracuse Orange
  17. Illinois Fighting Illini
  18. LSU Tigers
  19. Kentucky Wildcats
  20. Cincinnati Bearcats
  21. North Carolina Tar Heels
  22. Kansas State Wildcats
  23. Tulane Green Wave
  24. NC State Wolfpack
  25. South Carolina Gamecocks

Where is UNC?

Despite playing no game over the bye week, the Tar Heels were on the move in the newest poll. UNC moved up a spot to #21. They were the beneficiaries of losses from both Texas and Kansas State, who were both among the spots right ahead of Carolina.

Biggest Winners

Thanks to a win over previously undefeated #7 Ole Miss, LSU vaulted into the rankings, all the way up to #18. The now 5-2 Tigers went from one of the teams just on the outside looking in to a top 20 team with just one win. A fellow SEC team, South Carolina, was another that went from unranked to ranked after they beat Texas A&M

Biggest Losers

On the flip side of LSU’s win was Ole Miss, who fell a week high eight spots, down to #15. The only two teams to completely drop out of the Top 25 were Texas and Mississippi State, who both still got votes, but are a ways back of the #25 spot.

Conference Breakdown

  • SEC: 7
  • ACC: 5
  • Big Ten: 4
  • Pac-12: 4
  • Big 12: 3
  • AAC: 2

Marquee Matchups This Week

  • #2 Ohio State (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) at #13 Penn State (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) - Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on FOX
  • #9 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) at #22 Kansas State (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on FOX
  • #19 Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC) at #3 Tennessee (7-0, 3-0 SEC) - Saturday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN

Coaches Poll

  1. Georgia (43 first place votes)
  2. Ohio State (17)
  3. Tennessee (2)
  4. Michigan (1)
  5. Clemson
  6. Alabama
  7. TCU
  8. Oregon
  9. Oklahoma State
  10. Wake Forest
  11. USC
  12. Ole Miss
  13. Penn State
  14. Utah
  15. UCLA
  16. Syracuse
  17. Kentucky
  18. Illinois
  19. Cincinnati
  20. LSU
  21. North Carolina
  22. Kansas State
  23. NC State
  24. Tulane
  25. South Carolina