AP Top 25 College Football Poll: Alabama rises to No. 12 with victory over Ole Miss

Alabama has climbed one spot to No. 12 in the latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll with Saturday’s 24-10 win over Ole Miss. The Rebels fell from No. 15 to No. 20 with the loss.

A season-high six teams received first-place votes, the most since the 2016 preseason poll. Georgia is still where it started at No. 1 in the AP Top 25, but it is down to 55 first-place votes out of a possible 63.

Michigan remained No. 2 and got a first-place vote. Texas stayed at No. 3 with two first-place votes. Ohio State moved up two spots to No. 4 and got a first-place vote after beating Notre Dame with a touchdown on its final offensive play.

The Fighting Irish slipped to two spots to No. 11.

Florida State dropped a spot to No. 5 after a victory at Clemson, but it nevertheless received three first-place votes.

No. 6 Penn State and No. 7 Washington each moved up a spot. The Huskies received a first-place vote.

Southern California fell three places to No. 8 while No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Utah each moved up a spot to give the Pac-12 four teams in the top 10 for the first time in the history of the conference.

Colorado and Deion Sanders fell out of The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday after a resounding loss in one of the weekend’s showcase games.

Oregon’s blowout of Sanders’ Colorado team knocked the Buffaloes all the way out of the AP Top 25 from No. 19.

Colorado has been the story of the early season, starting 3-0 after winning just one game last season. The Buffs jumped into the rankings with an opening week upset of TCU, last season’s national runner-up.

After the Buffaloes were dominated at Oregon, USC comes to Boulder next week to give Colorado a chance to either jump back in the rankings or become an afterthought for voters for the rest of the season.

Utah’s victory over UCLA sent the Bruins falling out of the poll, leaving the Pac-12 with six ranked teams after two weeks with a conference-record eight.

Three teams entered the rankings this week, all for the first time this season: No. 23 Missouri is ranked for the first time since a brief stay in 2019. No. 24 Kansas is ranked for the second consecutive season. The Jayhawks have not had two straight years with poll appearances of any kind since 2008-09. No. 25 Fresno State, which has won 13 straight games, the second-longest streak in the country behind Georgia, finished last season at No. 24.

Joining Colorado and UCLA in falling out the poll was Iowa.

AP TOP 25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL (First-place votes in parentheses, SEC teams in bold):

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

In upcoming games this Saturday:

No. 10 Utah at No. 19 Oregon State. First ranked matchup between the two after 25 meetings.

No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas. The first time the Jayhawks have played the Longhorns when they are ranked.

No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Ole Miss. The 11th ranked matchup in the rivalry.

No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 17 Duke.

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