The week 6 AP poll has arrived, with many changes to the rankings. This week’s poll features some interesting changes as 7 new teams entered the top 25. Along with these new teams, the top of the poll had plenty of turnover, so let’s get into it.
The top 4 has remained unchanged throughout the entire year, but they have swapped spots every week. There was a bit of shakeup at the top after Georgia’s narrow 26-22 escape at Missouri. Alabama is the new number 1 in the country after a sound victory over Arkansas, 49-26. Georgia follows behind them at number 2, looking to bounce back against Auburn after last week’s mediocre performance. Ohio State has not moved from their spot at number 3 for many weeks now, as they wait patiently for the top 2 teams to slip up. Ohio State plays at Michigan State this weekend for their first road game of the year. Michigan sits quietly at number 4 after a convincing win at Iowa. They look to continue their winning streak when visiting Indiana.
The rest of the top 10 features familiar teams from the last polls along with some new faces. Clemson and USC sit at number 5 and 6 after they continued their winning streaks over the weekend. The top 6 teams in the country are very easy to see, but the rest of the top 25 looks to challenge them for the throne. Oklahoma State moved up two spots in the poll to number 7 after a gritty win at Baylor in a rematch from last year’s Big 12 championship game. Tennessee remained at number 8 after their bye week and has a very tough matchup in Baton Rouge this weekend. Ole Miss moved up 5 spots to enter the top 10 for the first time this season after defeating Kentucky at home 22-19. Lane Kiffin has the 5-0 Rebels ranked number 9 in the nation. Penn State enters the top 10 for the first time this season, rounding out the rest of the top 10 at number 10.
Numbers 11-15 feature some risers and fallers from the previous week, starting with number 11 Utah. Utah suffered an early season loss at Florida, but has climbed in the polls ever since and now sits one spot outside the top 10. Oregon has been on a roll ever since that blowout loss to UGA. Bo Nix looks like a Heisman candidate with the fantastic plays he has been making game after game, and has Oregon ranked 12th in the nation. Kentucky is the biggest faller of the week after a tough loss to Ole Miss, falling 6 spots to number 13. North Carolina State falls to 14 after they failed to meet expectations against Clemson, and Wake Forest re-enters the top 15. After a convincing win at Florida State, Wake rose 7 spots to number 15.
The bottom 16 of the poll is where the poll gets the most interesting. 7 new teams entered the rankings this week. In the bottom 16, we finally see some diversity in the teams that were chosen by the AP voters. BYU comes in at number 16 with a big matchup against Notre Dame this weekend in Las Vegas. TCU is ranked number 17 after a dominating performance against Oklahoma over the weekend. The Horned Frogs were projected to finish last in the Big 12 by many experts, but they currently sit at 4-0 and are tied for first in the conference. UCLA comes in at number 18 after a convincing win over Washington this past Friday night. Dorian Thompson-Robinson has UCLA looking like a dark horse contender in the PAC-12, and if he continues his performance UCLA may be in the playoff come January. Number 19 is the biggest team to be included in this week’s rankings, the Kansas Jayhawks.
For the first time in 13 years, Kansas has been ranked in the top 25 for football after a 5-0 start to the season. College Gameday will be visiting Lawrence, KS, for the first time ever for the ranked Big 12 matchup between TCU and Kansas. Kansas State sits at number 20 after Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez lead the Wildcats to two huge victories back to back. The bottom of the rankings features: Washington at 21, Syracuse at 22 after their 5-0 start to the season, Mississippi State at 23 after their dominating performance over Texas A&M, Cincinnati at 24, and LSU at 25. This week’s poll was interesting, and I cannot wait to see the big shakeup next week after the huge ranked slate of games this weekend.
Quad Sports 