AP Top 25: Week Eight

This past weekend was a bit of a busy one in college football. There were four different ranked on ranked matchups, one of which included our own North Carolina Tar Heels. For the most part, those didn’t feature the teams at the very top of the rankings. However, the slate was headlined by a Top Ten battle where Washington got a win over Oregon, in a game that lived up to the hype.

As for UNC, they used a big second half to handle business and beat Miami. Now that the dust has settled on the weekend, let’s check in on where things stand in the newest set of Top 25 polls.

AP Top 25

1. Georgia (43 first place votes)
2. Michigan (16)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Florida State (1)
5. Washington (2)
6. Oklahoma
7. Penn State
8. Texas
9. Oregon
10. North Carolina
11. Alabama
12. Oregon State
13. Ole Miss
14. Utah
15. Notre Dame
16. Duke
17. Tennessee
18. USC
19. LSU
20. Missouri
21. Louisville
22. Air Force
23. Tulane
24. Iowa
25. UCLA

Where is UNC?

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Thanks to the win over Miami and results elsewhere, the Tar Heels are into the top 10 at #10 on the dot. The last time Carolina was in the top 10 was at the start of the 2021 season, and that famously did not go great, so hopefully UNC can not go down that road again.

Biggest Winners

There are a host of new teams in the rankings this week as Missouri, Air Force, Tulane, and Iowa are all in after missing out last week. For Air Force, this is the first time they’ve made an appearance in the AP Poll since 2019, when they finished also at #22 in the final rankings of that season.

Biggest Losers

That many teams jumping into the poll meant there was also a bunch of teams falling out. That being said, a couple teams that still hung onto spots had some even bigger falls. USC blowout loss at the hands of the Notre Dame helped UNC crack the top ten as they fell eight spots to #18. Meanwhile, Louisville and UCLA dropped seven places each.

Conference Breakdown

• Pac 12: 6
• SEC: 6
• ACC: 4
• Big Ten: 4
• Big 12: 2
• AAC: 1
• Independent: 1
• Mountain West: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #7 Penn State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) at #3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) - Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on FOX
• #17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) at #11 Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS
• Washington State (4-2, 1-2 Pac 12) at #9 Oregon (5-1, 2-1 Pac 12) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ABC
• #16 Duke (5-1, 2-0 SEC) at #4 Florida State (6-0, 4-0 SEC) - Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on ABC
• #14 Utah (5-1, 2-1 Pac 12) at #18 USC (6-1, 4-0 Pac 12) - Saturday at 8:00 PM ET on FOX

Coaches Poll

1. Georgia (58 first place votes)
2. Michigan (4)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Florida State
5. Washington
6. Penn State
7. Oklahoma (1)
8. Texas (tied for #8)
9. Alabama (tied for #8)
10. North Carolina
11. Oregon
12. Ole Miss
13. Oregon State
14. Utah
15. Tennessee
16. USC
17. Duke
18. Notre Dame
19. LSU
20. Missouri
21. Louisville
22. Air Force
23. Iowa
24. Tulane
25. UCLA