AP top 25 poll: Georgia rises, Irish tank in Week 4 college football rankings

Where things stand in the updated AP top 25 college football rankings coming out of a consequential Saturday of games and looking forward to Week 4.

The updated AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 4 have been released, with some notable changes. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Let’s take a look at the updated AP top 25 college football rankings coming out of an active and consequential Saturday and looking ahead to the Week 4 games.

There was some notable change at the top of the rankings as we near the end of the first month of the season, as Georgia jumped over Oregon after a signature win in the SEC opener at Tennessee.

Notre Dame was a predictable loser in the updated poll after falling to 0-2 with losses to ranked teams in Miami and Texas A&M, and with their College Football Playoff ambitions in peril.

As expected, Ohio State stayed in the No. 1 position this week, receiving the vast majority 55 first-place votes, but four other teams also got those coveted votes.

Clemson tumbled out of the rankings entirely this week after a costly loss at Georgia Tech that dropped the reigning ACC champs to 1-2, while South Carolina also fell out after a loss in the SEC opener against Vanderbilt, which notably broke into the top 25 this week.

Where do things stand in the updated AP top 25 college football rankings as we look ahead to an active slate of Week 4 games?

Let’s take a look at the teams that moved up, slid down, and stayed put in this week, according to the AP voters.

AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 4

First-place votes in parentheses

1. Ohio State (55)
2. Penn State (5)
3. LSU (2)
4. Miami (3)
5. Georgia
6. Oregon (1)
7. Florida State
8. Texas
9. Illinois
10. Texas A&M
11. Oklahoma
12. Iowa State
13. Ole Miss
14. Alabama
15. Tennessee
16. Utah
17. Texas Tech
18. Georgia Tech
19. Indiana
20. Vanderbilt
21. Michigan
22. Auburn
23. Missouri
24. Notre Dame
25. USC

How did we do? Our prediction for the AP poll

Where we left off: Last week’s AP top 25 rankings

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Close, but no cigar

These teams received votes from AP pollsters, but not enough of them to qualify for the top 25 football rankings this week

BYU 94, USF 83, South Carolina 82, Mississippi State 69, TCU 67, Arizona State 57, Tulane 33, Louisville 25, Nebraska 9, Baylor 6, Clemson 6, SMU 4, NC State 4, UNLV 2, Navy 1.

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AP top 25 biggest movers

Georgia Tech (Was unranked). Congrats to the Yellow Jackets, who improved to 3-0 after a huge win at home over then-ranked, now-unranked Clemson with Haynes King at the helm at quarterback.

Vanderbilt (Was unranked). The Commodores were 2-122-1 against ranked teams on the road all-time before taking out South Carolina in a 31-7 decision.

Notre Dame (Down 16). College football’s national title runner-up fell to a very costly 0-2 after a 1-point loss to Texas A&M at home, severely curtailing their playoff ambitions, but there is still technically a path, provided they don’t slip up again.

Texas A&M (Up 6). Conversely, the Aggies propelled themselves to a perfect 3-0 mark as Marcel Reed scored a game-winning touchdown with seconds left on fourth and goal in an important moment for Mike Elko’s coaching tenure.

Alabama (Up 5). Another shellacking against Wisconsin has the Crimson Tide looking more confident heading into an idle week with a major test at Georgia after that.

Oregon (Down 2). Nothing the Ducks did wrong, but clearly the AP pollsters prefer what Georgia did against Tennessee more than what Oregon has done so far, not really being tested after pounding Northwestern.

Texas (Down 1). Voters are losing some confidence in the Longhorns, who are 2-1 after wins against overmatched foes, but with serious questions around whether or not Arch Manning is ready for primetime. So far, not.

USC (Was unranked). Welcome to the Trojans, who have been winning by decent margins through three games and are getting good returns from the offense so far with quarterback Jayden Maiava at the helm.

Dropped out: Clemson, USF, South Carolina

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