Week 8 AP Poll: UCLA Football Cracks Top 10 For 1st Time Since 2015
Even without taking the field over the weekend, the Bruins remained on the rise.
UCLA football (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) earned 1,048 points in the Week 8 edition of the AP Poll on Sunday, slotting them in at No. 9 in the country. The Bruins had not been ranked all season long prior to Week 5, but have now made the top 25 in back-to-back-to-back weeks.
After beating then-No. 15 Washington and then-No. 11 Utah, UCLA was on bye this week as the No. 11 team in the country. No. 7 USC and No. 10 Penn State both lost, though, opening the door for the Bruins to climb two spots in the polls.
UCLA has now clinched a spot in the AP top 10 since Sept. 27, 2015, and this is the latest in the season they have been ranked No. 9 or higher since Nov. 23, 2014.
The upcoming matchup with Oregon will now be a battle of top 10 teams, even though the Ducks were also on bye this weekend. Oregon went from No. 12 to No. 10, and now they will play host to both UCLA and ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday.
UCLA also moved up in the USA Today Coaches Poll, earning the No. 10 spot earlier on Sunday while Oregon came in at No. 9.
Towards the top of the AP poll, Georgia held the No. 1 spot after blowing out Vanderbilt. Ohio State stayed at No. 2, but Alabama lost all of its first-place votes and fell from No. 3 to No. 6 after losing a barnburner to undefeated Tennessee.
Elsewhere in the Pac-12, USC fell from No. 7 to No. 12 after losing on the road to Utah. The Utes climbed from No. 20 to No. 15 as a result, giving the conference four teams in the top 15.
Washington State fell out of the receiving votes section following its loss to Oregon State, who picked up six points and tied for 31st in the country.
The full AP Poll is listed below:
1. Georgia (7-0), 1530 points (31 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State (6-0), 1509 (17)
3. Tennessee (6-0), 1474 (15)
4. Michigan (7-0), 1384
5. Clemson (7-0), 1336
6. Alabama (6-1), 1232
7. Ole Miss (7-0), 1173
8. TCU (6-0), 1166
9. UCLA (6-0), 1048
10. Oregon (5-1), 953
11. Oklahoma State (5-1), 913
12. USC (6-1), 861
13. Wake Forest (5-1), 790
14. Syracuse (6-0), 751
15. Utah (5-2), 715
16. Penn State (5-1), 629
17. Kansas State (5-1), 599
18. Illinois (6-1), 433
19. Kentucky (5-2), 414
20. Texas (5-2), 368
21. Cincinnati (5-1), 321
22. North Carolina (6-1), 210
22. North Carolina State (5-2), 155
24. Mississippi State (5-2), 150
25. Tulane (6-2), 115
Others Receiving Votes: Purdue 95, LSU 87, UCF 13, South Carolina 13, Kansas 12, James Madison 6, Oregon State 6, Maryland 5, South Alabama 4, Liberty 2, Arkansas 1, Minnesota 1, Florida State 1
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