AP Top 25: Week Three

At the end of the day, North Carolina football added to their win column on Saturday, and that’s truly what matters. It took two overtimes, but the Tar Heels came away with a win over Appalachian State, squeaking out a 40-34 victory. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, with the defense taking a step back from last week. Still, thanks in part to a very impressive performance from Omarion Hampton, Carolina were still eventually able to come up with the win.

While that was happening, there were some other big games going on elsewhere in Week 2 of the college football season. Let’s check in on where things stand in the AP Top 25 rankings after that weekend.

AP Top 25

1. Georgia (55 first place votes)
2. Michigan (2)
3. Florida State (3)
4. Texas (2)
5. USC
6. Ohio State
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. Tennessee
12. Utah
13. Oregon
14. LSU
15. Kansas State
16. Oregon State
17. Ole Miss
18. Colorado
19. Oklahoma
20. North Carolina
21. Duke
22. Miami (FL)
23. Washington State
24. UCLA
25. Iowa

Where is UNC?

After the OT win over the Mountaineers, the Tar Heels did fall a bit in the polls. Carolina dropped four sports down to #20.

Next Week: Saturday vs. Minnesota - 3:30 PM ET on ESPN

Biggest Winners

Colorado’s rise under Deion Sanders continues as they moved up another seven spots after improving to 2-0 with a win over Nebraska. That was the most spots gained in a week, followed closely by Texas, who moved up six spots after tentatively asked the “Back?” question with a win over Alabama.

Biggest Losers

UNC’s four spot drop was the biggest of any team that remained in the Top 25, but there were some larger ones. Wisconsin went from #19 to unranked after losing to the newly #23 Washington State on Saturday. Clemson’s fall continued as they went from #21 to unranked after they took a bit to get going in their win over Charleston Southern.

Conference Breakdown

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

Marquee Matchups This Week

• #14 LSU (1-1) at Mississippi State (2-0) - Saturday at 12:00 PM ET on ESPN
• #8 Washington (2-0) at Michigan State (2-0) - Saturday at 5:00 PM ET on Peacock
• #11 Tennessee (2-0) at Florida (1-1) - Saturday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN
• Wyoming (2-0) at #4 Texas (2-0) - Saturday at 8:00 PM ET on Longhorn Network

(It’s not the most impressive week.)

Coaches Poll

1. Georgia (64 first place votes)
2. Michigan (1)
3. Florida State
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. Texas
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Tennessee
10. Alabama
11. Notre Dame
12. Utah
13. Oregon
14. LSU
15. Kansas State
16. Oklahoma
17. Oregon State
18. North Carolina
19. Ole Miss
20. Duke
21. Colorado
22. Clemson
23. Miami (FL)
24. Iowa
25. UCLA