College Sports

UNC and NC State rise in AP Top 25 football poll. Four ACC teams in latest rankings

A wonderful first November Saturday of college football served to reset the national rankings as the stretch run to the playoff began.

That included the ACC, thanks to Clemson’s 35-14 loss at Notre Dame, no longer having a team among the top 10 in the new Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sunday.

One of three top-10 teams to lose on Saturday, the Tigers, now No. 12, fell seven spots. That was part of a big shuffle after nine ranked teams lost during Week 10 play on Friday and Saturday.

ACC teams North Carolina and N.C. State benefited with their league wins on Saturday.

The No. 15 Tar Heels (8-1, 6-0 ACC) moved up two spots after beating Virginia, 31-28.

No. 17 N.C. State’s 30-21 win over Wake Forest pushed the Wolfpack (7-2, 3-2 ACC) up five spots.

That loss caused the Demon Deacons (6-3, 2-3 ACC) to fall out of the poll. The ACC also lost Syracuse from the top 25 after the Orange lost 19-9 to unranked Pittsburgh.

A fourth ACC team is included in the poll this week as No. 25 Florida State joined Clemson, UNC and N.C. State. The Seminoles (6-3, 4-3 ACC) blasted Miami, 45-3, on Saturday night.

In addition to Clemson’s loss, top-10 teams Tennessee and Alabama lost to fellow ranked teams in SEC play, with No. 1 Georgia whipping the Vols, 27-13, and No. 10 LSU outlasting the Crimson Tide, 32-31, in overtime.

That leaves only four unbeaten teams to occupy the top four spots in the poll.

Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU are all 9-0 and ranked in that order.

After that, Tennessee fell three spots to No. 5 thanks to its impressive overall resume even after losing at Georgia. No. 6 Oregon (8-1) has also only lost to Georgia.

LSU (7-2) moved up to No. 7, followed by a pair of 8-1 Pac-12 teams in USC and UCLA. No. 10 Alabama fell four spots after its loss to LSU.

Latest AP poll football rankings

Rk.

Team

1

Georgia

2

Ohio State

3

Michigan

4

TCU

5

Tennessee

6

Oregon

7

LSU

8

USC

9

UCLA

10

Alabama

11.

Mississippi

12

Clemson

13

Utah

14

Penn State

15

North Carolina

16

Tulane

17

N.C. State

18

Texas

19

Liberty

20

Notre Dame

21

Illinois

22

UCF

23

Kansas State

24

Washington

25

Florida State

Steve Wiseman’s latest AP Top 25 ballot

1Georgia
2Ohio State
3Michigan
4TCU
5Tennessee
6Oregon
7USC
8UCLA
9LSU
10Mississippi
11Alabama
12

Clemson

13Utah
14Penn State
15Tulane
16

North Carolina

17N.C. State
18Notre Dame
19Texas
20Kansas State
21Liberty
22Washington
23Illinois
24

UCF

25Cincinnati

This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 11:45 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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