Alabama plunges eight spots to No. 15 in AP Top 25 College Football Poll

Alabama took the biggest drop by far in the latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll, falling from No. 7 to No. 15 after its 24-17 loss to Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday. That’s Alabama’s lowest ranking since 2010.

While the Crimson Tide fell eight places with the loss, Tennessee rose from No. 11 to No. 7 with the win.

Elsewhere, Texas has also dropped. It fell from No. 1 to No. 5 after its 30-15 loss to Georgia, which rose from No. 5 to No. 2 after the victory. Georgia got two first-place votes.

Oregon has now became the fourth team this season to hold the No. 1 ranking, moving into the top spot for the first time in 12 years. It got the remaining 59 first-place votes. The unbeaten Ducks followed up on their one-point win over Ohio State with their first road shutout in 32 years, defeating Purdue 35-0.

Vanderbilt, which defeated Alabama earlier this month, made its first appearance since the 2013 season, at No. 25, and defending national champion Michigan fell out after a second straight loss dropped it to 4-3.

No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Penn State were idle Saturday and held their spots.

The SEC has nine teams in this week’s poll, the most of any conference.

AP Top 25 College Football Poll (first-place votes in parentheses; SEC teams in bold):

1. Oregon (59)
2. Georgia (2)
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. Texas 
6. Miami
7. Tennessee 
8. LSU
9. Clemson
10. Iowa State
11. BYU
12. Notre Dame
13. Indiana
14. Texas A&M
15. Alabama
16. Kansas State
17. Boise State
18. Ole Miss
19. Pittsburgh
20. Illinois
21. Missouri
22. SMU
23. Army
24. Navy
25. Vanderbilt 

Dropped out: No. 24 Michigan
Others receiving votes: Washington State 46, Syracuse 15, UNLV 5, Duke 2, South Carolina 1, Nebraska 1, Liberty 1

There will be several ranked-vs.-ranked matchups coming up Saturday, October 26:

—No. 21 Missouri at No. 15 Alabama. Alabama hasn’t lost three games before November since 2006, the year before Nick Saban’s arrival.

—No. 8 LSU at No. 14 Texas A&M. The teams have split their last three meetings.

—No. 20 Illinois at No. 1 Oregon. The Illini play the top-ranked team for the first time since 2007. They won 28-21 at Ohio State that year.

—No. 12 Notre Dame at No. 24 Navy. This will be the 11th time in 97 meetings, and first since 2019, that both teams are ranked when they meet.

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