AP Top 25 College Football Poll: Alabama rises to No. 8 following bye week
By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer
Alabama has risen one spot to No. 8 coming off its bye week in the latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll.
The Crimson Tide (7-1) will host LSU (6-2) Saturday night. LSU is also coming off a bye week, and rose two spots to No. 13.
Elsewhere in this week’s poll, Oklahoma dropped four spots to No. 10, the top five teams held their places and Kansas and Kansas State both entered the poll. The Sooners lost for the first time this season and to Kansas for the first time since 1997, then tumbled in the rankings behind Big 12 rival Texas, which Oklahoma beat in a thriller three weeks ago.
Kansas reentered the rankings at No. 22 after one of the biggest victories in program history and Kansas State moved back in at No. 25 ahead of a big matchup at Texas next Saturday.
The Sunflower State rivals have a long history of bad football.
Kansas State turned one of the most hapless programs in the country around in the 1990s under Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder, and the Wildcats have stayed competitive to varying degrees ever since, winning three Big 12 titles — including last season.
Historically, Kansas has had a few more runs of success, though the Jayhawks’ last conference championship came in the Big Eight in 1968. From 2010-20, Kansas was the standard for Power Five ineptitude, winning a total of 21 games.
With both teams sitting at 6-2 heading into the final month of the season, the Jayhawks and Wildcats have a solid chance to finish the season ranked for just the second time in the 87-year history of the AP poll.
Out of the poll this week: ACC rivals North Carolina and Duke. The Tar Heels have dropped two straight after falling to Georgia Tech and are unranked for the first time this season. Duke had been ranked since beating Clemson in Week 1, but the Blue Devils lost two straight to fall to 5-3 on the season. Duke was shut out by Louisville on Saturday.
AP TOP 25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL (First-place votes in parentheses; SEC teams in bold):
- Georgia (48)
- Michigan (9)
- Ohio State (3)
- Florida State (3)
- Washington
- Oregon
- Texas
- Alabama
- Penn State
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- LSU
- Missouri
- Louisville
- Oregon State
- Air Force
- Utah
- Tennessee
- UCLA
- Tulane
- Kansas
- James Madison
- USC
- Kansas State
In games featuring ranked teams coming up on Saturday:
No. 14 Missouri at No. 1 Georgia.
No. 5 Washington at No. 24 Southern California.
No. 25 Kansas State at No. 7 Texas.
No. 13 LSU at No. 8 Alabama.
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