College Sports

After college football upsets, NC State and Wake Forest move up in latest AP poll

The wild Saturday on the field showed why college football is so popular.

The result was massive changes in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll.

Georgia took over the No. 1 spot after Alabama, the top team in the previous two polls this season, posted a narrow 20-19 win at Texas.

Behind them, teams shuffled after three teams in last week’s top 10 — No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 9 Baylor — all lost. So, too, did No. 19 Wisconsin.

Three of those losses, all but Baylor, came at home to unranked opponents in Appalachian State, Marshall and Washington State.

Speaking of App State, the Mountaineers (2-1) narrowly missed joining the top 25 after their 17-14 win at Texas A&M, which was No. 6 in the rankings prior to Saturday’s loss. App State gained 80 poll points, finishing nine points behind No. 25 Oregon.

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UNC was also among teams close to reaching the top 25. The Tar Heels (3-0) gained 71 poll points from the voters.

The ACC once against has five teams in the top 25 led by No. 5 Clemson. Miami (2-0) moved up two spots to No. 13, followed by No. 16 N.C. State (2-0). Wake Forest (2-0) moved up four spots to No. 19 after it beat Vanderbilt 45-25 in Nashville on Saturday.

N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren greets fans after N.C. States 55-3 victory over Charleston Southern at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.
N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren greets fans after N.C. States 55-3 victory over Charleston Southern at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com

Pittsburgh (1-1) stayed in the poll, dropping six spots to No. 23, after its 34-27 overtime loss at home to Tennessee on Saturday. The Vols jumped nine spots to No. 15 with the win.

Latest AP Top 25 rankings

Rk.

Team

1

Georgia

2

Alabama

3

Ohio State

4

Michigan

5

Clemson

6

Oklahoma

7

USC

8

Oklahoma State

9

Kentucky

10

Arkansas

11

Michigan State

12

BYU

13

Miami

14

Utah

15

Tennessee

16

N.C. State

17

Baylor

18

Florida

19

Wake Forest

20

Mississippi

21

Texas

22

Penn State

23

Pittsburgh

24

Texas A&M

25

Oregon

Steve Wiseman’s latest AP ballot

1Georgia
2Alabama
3Ohio State
4Clemson
5Oklahoma
6Michigan
7USC
8

Oklahoma State

9Michigan State
10Kentucky
11BYU
12Arkansas
13Miami
14Wake Forest
15Florida
16Utah
17Baylor
18N.C. State
19Tennessee
20Ole Miss
21Oregon
22Cincinnati
23Penn State
24Pittsburgh
25Texas

This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 10:00 AM.

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Steve Wiseman
The News & Observer
Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989. 
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