College football rankings: AP top 25 poll for Week 10 announced
Another weekend of college football action is in the books and now it's time to get a look at the updated AP top 25 rankings for this week.
Seven teams in the AP poll went down on Saturday, but the top teams stayed perfect, including College Football Playoff contenders Georgia, Ohio State, and Tennessee, all of whom made statements in important wins.
Georgia held off rival Florida to stay undefeated heading into a monumental game against Tennessee, itself coming off a huge win over rival Kentucky, setting up a battle of undefeateds that should determine which team out of the East Division goes on to play for the SEC Championship.
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Ohio State held off a tough Penn State team that took a lead in the second half before the Buckeyes mounted a comeback behind their efficient offense and a brilliant effort from edge rusher J.T. Tuimoloau.
Michigan dominated in a win over Michigan State, taking another important step towards being undefeated when it goes to Ohio State to close out the regular season in a matchup that looks like a potential play-in game for the College Football Playoff out of the Big Ten.
Here's your look at the updated top 25 rankings from the voters as we head into a major Week 10 slate of games.
College football rankings: AP top 25 poll for Week 10 announced
The updated AP top 25 college football rankings
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1. Georgia (30 1st-place votes)
2. Ohio State (15)
T-2. Tennessee (18)
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. USC
10. UCLA
11. Ole Miss
12. Utah
13. Kansas State
14. Illinois
15. LSU
16. Penn State
17. North Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Tulane
20. Wake Forest
21. NC State
22. Syracuse
23. Liberty
24. Oregon State
25. UCF
AP top 25 notes: Georgia leads the way with 1,528 total votes, while Ohio State and Tennessee are tied with 1,500 votes exactly each, though the Vols did receive three more votes as the No. 1 team this week.
Others receiving votes
Texas 58, Kentucky 57, Maryland 36, Cincinnati 32, Notre Dame 24, Washington 12, Arkansas 11, Baylor 9, Coastal Carolina 8, Florida State 8, Troy 7, Mississippi State 5, Boise State 4, East Carolina 2, South Carolina 2, Louisville 1, UTSA 1
AP top 25 biggest movers
Kansas State (Up 9). The Wildcats are moving up the rankings after a dominating victory over Oklahoma State to move to No. 2 in the Big 12.
Wake Forest (Down 10). An ugly loss at Louisville sinks the Demon Deacons and this one-time ACC hopeful looks anything but now.
Ole Miss (Up 4). A hard-earned victory for the Rebels, who ran for almost 400 yards in a victory at Texas A&M to stay at one loss on the year looking ahead to a matchup against Alabama that could help determine the SEC West.
Three teams that were unranked, including: No. 25 UCF, No. 24 Oregon State, and No. 23 Liberty.
Teams that dropped out of Top 25: No. 19 Kentucky, No. 20 Cincinnati, and No. 25 South Carolina.
College football top 25 losers
Rankings reflect last week's AP poll
No. 9 Oklahoma State. The worst loss of the Mike Gundy era and the worst for a top 10 team since back in 1966, the Cowboys dropped an ugly 48-0 decision on the road to a resurgent Kansas State. OSU's stout defense had no answers for Deuce Vaughn, who ran for 158 yards, or backup quarterback Will Howard, who hit almost 300 yards passing with 4 TDs and no picks. With the loss, the Cowboys lost their grip on the No. 2 spot in the Big 12, which now belongs to the Wildcats.
No. 10 Wake Forest. This offense may have had the worst single quarter in college football history. In the third frame at Louisville, the Deacons lost six turnovers including a pair of pick-sixes thrown by quarterback Sam Hartman, an avalanche of misery that allowed the Cardinals to walk away with a rout.
No. 13 Penn State. Give credit to the Nittany Lions, who played some inspired defense and overcame early turnovers to take a lead on Ohio State in the second half. But ultimately the Buckeyes' pressure up front and their stout skill targets proved too much for Penn State to hold off, allowing a 28-3 scoring run from the visitors, and now James Franklin is just 1-10 against top 5 teams during his tenure at Happy Valley.
No. 16 Syracuse. Make it two straight losses for the Orange, who had started on a 6-0 win streak, their best since 1987. But the Fighting Irish decided to be good on offense this week, driving up and down the field on this good Cuse defense, and although the Irish had a lull in the second half, it wasn't enough for the one-time ACC contenders to take advantage of.
No. 19 Kentucky. This weekend was supposed to be the moment when the Cats made everybody pay attention. That they did, but for the wrong reasons, as this offense fell on its face at Tennessee. Will Levis, until now promoted as a top draft pick, went under 100 yards passing for no TDs and 3 picks against a Vols pass defense that was ranked 130th coming in.
No. 20 Cincinnati. A close loss to conference rival UCF ended Cincy's 19-game win streak in the AAC, and now the road back to a league title looks harder than it did last week.
No. 25 South Carolina. Shane Beamer finally got the Gamecocks back in the top 25 rankings only to drop right out after a confusing loss at home to Missouri, which is now 4-0 against this team under Eli Drinkwitz. Carolina had just over 200 total yards and ran for just 1.4 yards per carry.
Undefeated college football teams remaining
And then there were six...
Georgia (8-0). College football's defending national champs took down rival Florida in honor of Vince Dooley, but faces a considerably tougher test next week against undefeated Tennessee.
Ohio State (8-0). It took more than half the game, but the Buckeyes offense woke up at Penn State to mount a comeback, with some major help from J.T. Tuimoloau, a one-man wrecking crew Sean Clifford will be seeing in his dreams.
Tennessee (8-0). College football's No. 1 total offense went to work early on Kentucky in a 44-6 rout over its rival and continues to get Jalin Hyatt open; the receiver has 14 TD catches on the year.
Michigan (8-0). Still perfect after taking down rival Michigan State, the Wolverines have what it takes to stay that way going into The Game, which looks like the Big Ten's play-in for the College Football Playoff.
Clemson (8-0). It took a comeback to take down Syracuse two weeks ago and now comes a big date on the road to Notre Dame, where it lost in 2020 as the No. 1 team in the rankings.
TCU (8-0). These games have been close, but they're all wins as the Horned Frogs hold their place in the lead for the Big 12 title chase after a 10-point win on the road at West Virginia.