AP Top 25 College Football Poll: Alabama stays at No. 11 after key victory over Texas A&M

Alabama took control of the SEC West with its 26-20 win over Texas A&M, but it remains at No. 11 in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll.

Elsewhere, there were some key shifts after some highly-ranked teams lost and others moved up because of it.

Oklahoma moved up seven places to No. 5 after beating then-No. 3 Texas in the Red River Rivalry. That sent the Longhorns plummeting to No. 9.

USC dropped a spot to No. 10 after escaping with a three-overtime victory against Arizona. The Trojans have fallen three straight weeks, despite remaining unbeaten.

At the top, No. 1 Georgia, coming off its best game of the season in a rout of Kentucky, regained some of the first-place votes it lost in the AP Top 25 last week when it needed a late rally to stay unbeaten at Auburn. The Bulldogs got 50 first-place votes after 35 last week.

Georgia’s 17-week streak of No. 1 appearances is now tied for the fourth-most of all time with Florida State, which went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in 1999. The Bulldogs are well positioned to make a run at the second-longest streak before the season is out.

No. 2 Michigan received 11 first-place votes as the Wolverines roll along unbeaten and untested. No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State each moved up a spot and received a first-place vote.

No. 6 Penn State held its spot, as did No. 7 Washington and No. 8 Oregon a week before their Pac-12 showdown.

The traditional basketball powerhouses continue to shine on the gridiron in 2022. The top six schools by appearances in the AP men’s college basketball poll are Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, UCLA and Louisville. For the first time in the 87-year history of the AP football poll, all of those schools are ranked at the same time: North Carolina is No. 12, Louisville is 14th, Duke is No. 17, UCLA is 18th, Kansas is No. 23 and Kentucky No. 24.

Louisville jumped 11 spots to its highest ranking since 2017, after defeating Notre Dame to stay unbeaten. The Irish slipped 11 spots to No. 21 after a second loss in three weeks to an undefeated team.

Seven teams that entered Saturday unbeaten lost, and two of them dropped out of the AP Top 25. Fresno State, which lost a key Mountain West game at Wyoming, fell out of the ranking after two weeks in. Missouri lost to LSU and also slipped out after two weeks ranked.

The two teams jumping into the rankings this week have been here earlier this season. UCLA vaulted to No. 18 after beating Washington State. No. 23 Kansas returned to the rankings after a week out by routing UCF.

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

1. Georgia (50)
2. Michigan (11)
3. Ohio State (1)
4. Florida State (1)
5. Oklahoma
6. Penn State
7. Washington
8. Oregon
9. Texas
10. USC
11. Alabama
12. North Carolina
13. Ole Miss
14. Louisville
15. Oregon State
16. Utah
17. Duke
18. UCLA
19. Washington State
20. Tennessee
21. Notre Dame
22. LSU
23. Kansas
24. Kentucky
25. Miami

Some key games involving ranked teams are happening on Saturday:

No. 8 Oregon at No. 7 Washington. The 103rd meeting between the Ducks and Huskies will be the first top-10 matchup.

No. 10 USC at No. 21 Notre Dame. For the first time since 2005-06, the Trojans and Fighting Irish are playing with both teams ranked in consecutive seasons.

No. 25 Miami at No. 12 North Carolina. Only the second meeting in which both teams are ranked.

No. 18 UCLA at No. 15 Oregon State. For the first time since 2001, both teams are ranked, and it’s the second straight home game for the Beavers hosting a ranked opponent.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)