New AP Top 25 football poll: Duke Blue Devils earn first ranking since 2018; UNC moves up
A win 34 years in the making earned Duke football something it hasn’t achieved in five years
Duke’s 28-7 win over Clemson on Monday night caused the nationwide panel of Associated Press Top 25 football poll voters to put the Blue Devils at No. 21 in the new poll, announced Tuesday.
It’s the first time Duke’s been in the AP Top 25 since September 2018 and the Blue Devils’ highest ranking since they were No. 19 in November 2014.
While the win over last week’s No. 9 pushed Duke into the rankings, it simultaneously caused Clemson to drop 16 spots to No. 25.
Duke’s heated rival, North Carolina (1-0), moved up in the poll to No. 17 after the Tar Heels beat South Carolina, 31-17, in Charlotte on Saturday night. That represented a four-spot jump for UNC.
Florida State, already at top-10 team in the preseason poll, moved four spots to No. 4 on the strength of its 45-24 win over LSU. That result caused the Tigers to fall nine spots to No. 14.
Duke was joined as a poll newcomer this week by No. 22 Colorado, who is ranked for the first time since December 2020. Under first-year coach Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes won, 45-42, at TCU on Saturday. That loss dropped the Horned Frogs, last season’s national runner-up, out of the rankings.
The national champion the last two seasons, Georgia remained at No. 1, followed by Michigan and Alabama.
Notre Dame (2-0) moved up three spots to No. 10, meaning N.C. State will have a chance to knock off a top-10 opponent on Saturday when the Irish and Wolfpack play at Carter-Finley Stadium.
Latest AP poll football rankings
Rk. | Team |
1 | Georgia |
2 | Michigan |
3 | Alabama |
4 | Florida State |
5 | Ohio State |
6 | USC |
7 | Penn State |
8 | Washington |
9 | Tennessee |
10 | Notre Dame |
11. | Texas |
12 | Utah |
13 | Oregon |
14 | LSU |
15 | Kansas State |
16 | Oregon State |
17 | North Carolina |
18 | Oklahoma |
19 | Wisconsin |
20 | Mississippi |
21 | Duke |
22 | Colorado |
23 | Texas A&M |
24 | Tulane |
25 | Clemson |
Steve Wiseman’s ballot
College football’s first full weekend of games, and then some thanks to the Labor Day holiday, introduced delicious storylines into the new season.
Deion Sanders, Coach Prime, if you will, announced his presence with an authority and that should to propel his Colorado Buffaloes into the Associated Press Top 25.
North Carolina racked up nine sacks to manhandle South Carolina, 31-17.
Florida State romped over LSU in Sunday night’s matchup of top-10 ranked teams.
Finally on Monday, Duke shocked the ACC and the nation with the ease of its 28-7 win over, until that moment, the ACC favorite Clemson Tigers.
When the new top 25 poll is released Tuesday at 2 p.m., expect wholesale changes.
The top team should remain the same with two-time defending champion Georgia (1-0) at No. 1. But Florida State (1-0), after its 45-24 walloping of LSU (0-1), needs to be in the top four.
That means I moved Ohio State (1-0) down to No. 5. The Buckeyes led by just a touchdown at halftime at Indiana before posting a 23-3 win. Nice, but not as impressive as what the Seminoles did. Hey, someone has to fall.
Soon to be a dearly departed conference, Pac-12 had a big weekend so Southern California (2-0), Utah (1-0) and Washington (1-0) are all top-10 worthy.
Heading to N.C. State this Saturday, Notre Dame (2-0) also looks like a top-10 team with Sam Hartman at quarterback.
LSU still has top-25 talent so let’s slot the Tigers at No. 14 for now. But the Tigers are one more loss away from falling out.
Duke (1-0) joins its heated rival, North Carolina (1-0) on my ballot.
The Blue Devils went 9-4 last season but only beat two teams that finished with winning records. Duke was worthy of consideration but needed a marquee win to earn a spot. Whipping Clemson certainly did that so put Duke, which hasn’t been ranked since 2018, at No. 17.
At No. 16, the Tar Heels are still one spot ahead, though, after their comfortable win over South Carolina.
Here’s the thinking on Colorado: Very notable win in week one, going on the road to beat No. 17 TCU, 45-42. I had the Horned Frogs at No. 24 last week, so while I give the Buffaloes credit, it’s only so much. Drop TCU out and put Colorado at No. 24 with UCLA (1-0) rounding out the 25 teams.
| 1 | Georgia |
| 2 | Alabama |
| 3 | Michigan |
| 4 | Florida State |
| 5 | Ohio State |
| 6 | Penn State |
| 7 | USC |
| 8 | Utah |
| 9 | Washington |
| 10 | Notre Dame |
| 11 | Tennessee |
| 12 | Wisconsin |
| 13 | Texas |
| 14 | LSU |
| 15 | Oregon |
| 16 | North Carolina |
| 17 | Duke |
| 18 | Kansas State |
| 19 | Oregon State |
| 20 | Mississippi |
| 21 | Oklahoma |
| 22 | Texas A&M |
| 23 | Tulane |
| 24 | Colorado |
| 25 | UCLA |
This story was originally published September 5, 2023 at 9:30 AM.