In AP Top 25 football poll, ACC adds fifth team in rankings as top teams stay in place
Louisville’s unbeaten record survived intact from a close call at N.C. State on Friday night, and that allowed the Cardinals to join four other ACC brethren in Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25 football poll.
After beating the Wolfpack, 13-10, at Carter-Finley Stadium, the Cardinals (5-0) entered the national poll for the first time this season at No. 25.
No. 5 Florida State (4-0), which didn’t play on Saturday, stayed at No. 5 as the poll’s top seven teams stayed in their same positions the prior week’s poll.
North Carolina (4-0), which also had a week off from games, moved up one slot to No. 14.
Duke (4-1) suffered its first loss of the season as Notre Dame rallied with touchdown in the final minute to win, 21-14, at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday night. The Blue Devils fell two spots to No. 19, while the Irish (5-1) rose one spot to No. 10.
Miami (4-0), which also had its open week, moved up one spot to No. 17.
The teams with the biggest move upward in the poll from last week are No. 15 Oregon State (4-1) and No. 16 Mississippi (4-1). The Beavers knocked off Utah, 21-7, on Friday night while the Rebels outlasted LSU, 55-49, on Saturday.
Their wins caused Utah (4-1) and LSU to take the largest drops. No. 24 LSU (3-2) plummeted 10 slots while the Utes fell eight spots to No. 18.
Kentucky (5-0) entered the poll for the first time this season, showing up at No. 20 following its 33-14 win over Florida, a result that caused the Gators to fall out of the poll.
Latest AP poll football rankings
Rk. | Team |
1 | Georgia |
2 | Michigan |
3 | Texas |
4 | Ohio State |
5 | Florida State |
6 | Penn State |
7 | Washington |
8 | Oregon |
9 | USC |
10 | Notre Dame |
11. | Alabama |
12 | Oklahoma |
13 | Washington St |
14 | North Carolina |
15 | Oregon St. |
16 | Mississippi |
17 | Miami |
18 | Utah |
19 | Duke |
20 | Kentucky |
21 | Missouri |
22 | Tennessee |
23 | LSU |
24 | Fresno State |
25 | Louisville |
Steve Wiseman’s ballot
Even though the top teams stayed the same with emphatic wins, September’s last weekend of games provided more clarity to college football’s national order.
Below the top six teams, challengers lurk with four more unbeaten teams.
Georgia and Michigan remain atop my ballot, followed by Texas, Ohio State and Florida State, with Penn State just behind.
The Pac-12’s best teams look to be Washington and Oregon, with Oklahoma having proven enough to me with its start to enter my top-10 at No. 9. Southern Cal, though with the same record, is now at No. 10 due to some serious defensive concerns that have me doubting that the Trojans will beat Washington or Oregon when they play in November.
Ok, now for the fun part of the poll because there are very good, one-loss teams.
Notre Dame is one, having only lost late, 17-14, to Ohio State and now owning a 21-14 road win over a ranked Duke team. Alabama, with only a loss to Texas, looked good in routing not-strong Mississippi State, 40-17, on Saturday after handling Mississippi a week earlier.
I still have both in front of North Carolina (4-0) despite the Tar Heels still being unbeaten. I still need to see the Tar Heels play well against a great team, which they have yet to face.
Mississippi and Washington State earned moves up my ballot with impressive wins this weekend. The Rebels outscored LSU, 55-49, to hand the Tigers their second loss.
Duke drops a bit after seeing a lead disappear with 31 seconds left in a loss to Notre Dame. But the Blue Devils shouldn’t drop far.
Utah (4-1) drops after suffering its first loss, 21-7 at Oregon State on Friday night. Playing without injured quarterback Cam Rising finally caught up to the Utes. But they still own wins over Florida, TCU and UCLA with their only loss to a ranked team so the Utes stay on the ballot.
LSU (4-2) is the only two-loss team I still have ranked. The losses are to Florida State and Mississippi. The Tigers still feel like the 25th best team in the country to me, at a minimum.
Kentucky (5-0) moves into the poll after an impressive 33-14 beat down of previously ranked Florida. Another unbeaten team, Fresno State, is also worthy a place on my ballot.
| 1 | Georgia |
| 2 | Michigan |
| 3 | Texas |
| 4 | Ohio State |
| 5 | Florida State |
| 6 | Penn State |
| 7 | Washington |
| 8 | Oregon |
| 9 | Oklahoma |
| 10 | USC |
| 11 | Notre Dame |
| 12 | Alabama |
| 13 | UNC |
| 14 | Mississippi |
| 15 | Washington St |
| 16 | Oregon St |
| 17 | Miami |
| 18 | Duke |
| 19 | Utah |
| 20 | Missouri |
| 21 | Kentucky |
| 22 | Tennessee |
| 23 | UCLA |
| 24 | Fresno State |
| 25 | LSU |
This story was originally published October 1, 2023 at 11:00 AM.