MSU, FSU still 1-2; Baylor, Arizona St and Ohio St move up
New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Mississippi State and Florida State remained the top teams in the latest Associated Press college football poll, but big wins for Baylor, Arizona State and Ohio State allowed those three teams to move up in the rankings.
Mississippi State had no trouble in its rout of UT Martin on Saturday in advance of next week’s mammoth showdown with Alabama in Tuscaloosa, while Florida State rebounded from a tough first quarter to pull away from Virginia.
The Bulldogs received 48 first-place votes — three more than last week — and a total of 1,488 points from a nationwide media panel to keep the top spot, while the Seminoles lost three No. votes and now have 12.
Oregon jumped past Alabama into third after a win over Utah, while the Crimson Tide gutted out a victory at LSU and stayed fourth. TCU also moved up one spot into fifth after a blowout of Kansas State in Fort Worth.
Baylor’s surprisingly easy win at Oklahoma moved the Bears four places from 10th to sixth and Arizona State’s victory over Notre Dame pushed the Sun Devils four spots from 11th to seventh. Ohio State vaulted five places from 13th to eighth after outscoring Michigan State in East Lansing.
Auburn tumbled six spots from third to ninth after a 41-38 home loss to Texas A&M, a setback that will likely cost the Tigers their spot among the top four teams in the College Football Playoff rankings when they are announced Tuesday.
Ole Miss rounds out this week’s top 10, while Nebraska starts the second 10 and is followed by Michigan State, Kansas State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Georgia, Arizona, Clemson, Duke and LSU.
Michigan State dipped five places from seventh after its home loss and K-State dropped four spots from ninth after losing at TCU, while the Fighting Irish had the biggest drop within the poll, falling seven spots from eighth after its loss in Tempe. LSU tumbled six places from 14th after the overtime loss to Alabama.
The last five teams ranked this week are Marshall, Wisconsin, Colorado State, Georgia Tech and Utah. The Utes dropped five spots after losing to Oregon.
Colorado State and Georgia Tech are this week’s newcomers. The Rams are 9-1 with eight straight wins, while the Yellow Jackets are 8-2.
Oklahoma and West Virginia dropped out of this week’s rankings. The Sooners were 16th and the Mountaineers were 24th.
In addition to this week’s battle between Mississippi State and Alabama, three other ranked matchups are on the docket. Auburn will visit Georgia in the SEC, while first place in the Big Ten West is up for grabs when Nebraska travels to Wisconsin. Also, Georgia Tech hosts Clemson in the ACC.
Categorized in: NCAA Football