AP Top 25: Week Nine

It might have seemed like UNC’s football season ended Saturday night. However, contrary to popular hysteria, the Tar Heels are still a ranked football team. Elsewhere throughout the country, the powers at the top continued to consolidate power, while a G5 upstart was able to crack the bottom of the AP poll.

Let’s check out the full results from the updated Top 25 polls:

AP Top 25

1. Georgia (38 first place votes)
2. Michigan (19)
3. Ohio State (3)
4. Florida State (3)
5. Washington
6. Oklahoma
7. Texas
8. Oregon
9. Alabama
10. Penn State
11. Oregon State
12. Ole Miss
13. Utah
14. Notre Dame
15. LSU
16. Missouri
17. North Carolina
18. Louisville
19. Air Force
20. Duke
21. Tennessee
22. Tulane
23. UCLA
24. USC
25. James Madison

Where is UNC?

There was no doubt that the Tar Heels would be falling in the polls after Saturday night; the only question was how far they would fall. The answer from the AP’s electorate: 7 spots, as Carolina tumbles from #10 to #17.

While the rankings drop stings, it’s hard to argue with this week’s placement. The Heels are 1 slot ahead of Louisville, who also started 6-0 before suffering a loss to a less-than-stellar ACC team (Pittsburgh, in their case).

Biggest Winners

There is only one new entrant to this AP Poll, but it is a notable one. The James Madison Dukes check in at #25, ranked in the AP Poll for only the second time ever (in their vast 1.5 year history as an FBS team). JMU last reached the #25 mark on October 9th last year, after starting their FBS transition 5-0. This is also the first time JMU has ever been ranked in both the AP and Coaches polls, the latter of which is posted below.

The biggest risers from within the top 25 were two of the three SEC Tigers in LSU and Missouri. Each rose 4 spots, up from #19 and #20 last week, respectively. At the top, Michigan picked up 3 additional first place votes, while Ohio State and Florida State each earned two more of the same.

Biggest Losers

Exchanging their spot in the rankings with JMU were the formerly #24 Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa leaves the rankings once again after losing 12-10 to our Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The Tar Heels were the biggest fallers still ranked, dropping 7 spots as we covered above. USC wasn’t far behind, however, as the Trojans fell 6 spots to #24 after their 34-32 loss to Utah.

Penn State dropped 3 spots and Duke and Tennessee each dropped 4 after their respective top 10 losses to #3 Ohio State, #4 Florida State, and #9 Alabama.

Conference Breakdown

• Pac 12: 6
• SEC: 6
• ACC: 4
• Big Ten: 3
• Big 12: 2
• AAC: 1
• Independent: 1
• Mountain West: 1
• Sun Belt: 1

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC) vs Florida (5-2, 3-1 SEC) in Jacksonville - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on CBS
• #8 Oregon (6-1, 3-1 PAC-12) at #13 Utah (6-1, 3-1 PAC-12) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on FOX
• #20 Duke (5-2, 2-1 ACC) at #18 Louisville (6-1, 3-1 ACC) - Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on ESPN

Coaches Poll

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