AP Top 25: Week Three

Week Two didn’t look like a particularly exciting one on paper, college football always has a way of surprising us. The weekend saw multiple top ten upsets, and several other big games go down to the wire. North Carolina managed to survive their game, but the win over Georgia State didn’t come without some worry.

With the weekend in the books, it’s time for our weekly check in of where the Top 25 stands now that the dust has settled on another week.

AP Top 25

1. Georgia Bulldogs (53 first place votes)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (9)
3. Ohio State Buckeyes (1)
4. Michigan Wolverines
5. Clemson Tigers
6. Oklahoma Sooners
7. USC Trojans
8. Oklahoma State Sooners
9. Kentucky Wildcats
10. Arkansas Razorbacks
11. Michigan State Spartans
12. BYU Cougars
13. Miami Hurricanes
14. Utah Utes
15. Tennessee Volunteers
16. NC State Wolfpack
17. Baylor Bears
18. Florida Gators
19. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
20. Ole Miss Rebels
21. Texas Longhorns
22. Penn State Nittany Lions
23. Pittsburgh Panthers
24. Texas A&M Aggies
25. Oregon Ducks

Where is UNC?

The Tar Heels climb up among the “others receiving votes” continued after improving to 3-0. UNC is now up to 71 ranking points, which is 18 behind #25 Oregon. They’re the low team in a big grouping, as there are four teams in between the Ducks and the Heels. It’s hard to imagine Carolina getting into the rankings after a bye week, but the matchup with Notre Dame will probably decide if UNC can crack the top 25 or will go back to receiving little or no votes.

Biggest Winners

After going on the road at the Swamp, Kentucky were the biggest gainers of the week, jumping up 11 spots after beating Florida. Other big jumps came from BYU and Tennessee, who each moved up nine spots. Appalachian State didn’t get ranked, but they went from voteless to just nine ranking points off the #25 spot. They did jump UNC, who beat the Mountaineers, as you may have heard, which is a bit annoying. Marshall, the other big upset-er from the weekend, also got right on the edge of getting ranked.

Biggest Losers

The two victims of the weekend’s biggest upsets, Notre Dame and Texas A&M, took the biggest falls of the week. While the Aggies fell 18 spots, they still managed to cling on to #24. Meanwhile, the Irish went from #8 to unranked and receiving just 23 ranking points. Considering that they’re now 0-2, you could definitely argue that they shouldn’t be getting any votes.

Conference Breakdown

• SEC: 8
• ACC: 5
• Big 12: 4
• Big Ten: 4
• Pac-12: 3
• Independent: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #12 BYU (2-0) at #25 Oregon (1-1) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on FOX
• Texas Tech (2-0) at #16 NC State (2-0) - Saturday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2
• #13 Miami (2-0) at #24 Texas A&M (1-1) - Saturday at 9:00 PM ET on ESPN

Coaches Poll

1. Alabama (39 first place votes)
2. Georgia (25)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Oklahoma
7. Oklahoma State
8. USC
9. Michigan State
10. Kentucky
11. Arkansas
12. NC State
13. Miami
14. BYU
15. Utah
16. Tennessee
17. Ole Miss
18. Wake Forest
19. Baylor
20. Texas
21. Florida
22. Texas A&M
23. Penn State
24. Oregon
25. Pitt