No. 1 Georgia extended its lead in the AP Top 25 college football rankings with a commanding win over Clemson, while same-state rival Georgia Tech joined the Bulldogs in the poll for the first time since 2015.
The Bulldogs received 57 of 62 first-place votes, up from 46 the previous season. The other five went to No. 2 Ohio State. The top five include No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Notre Dame, with Oregon dropping from third to seventh after a narrow win over Idaho.
Georgia Tech, which beat Georgia State on Saturday, jumped into the poll at No. 23, thanks largely to its Week 0 win over then-No. 10 Florida State in Ireland. It was the Yellow Jackets’ first win over an AP top-10 team at the time of the game since a walk-off blocked field goal return touchdown against the Seminoles in 2015. Georgia Tech finished 3-9 in 2015 but appeared in the poll in September. Its jump into the poll this week ends the third-longest poll drought among the Power 4. Only Rutgers (Nov. 18, 2012) and Vanderbilt (Jan. 7, 2014) have been out of the top 25 longer.
Although Boston College dominated Florida State on Monday, it narrowly missed a ranking this week.
Other vote recipients: Texas A&M 97, Boston College 49, Boise State 47, Iowa State 32, Memphis 27, Nebraska 27, SMU 23, Washington 20, Liberty 12, Vanderbilt 8, Wisconsin 8, Auburn 8, Tulane 4, North Carolina 4, UTSA 3, Appalachian State 3, Kentucky 2, West Virginia 2, Arkansas 2, UNLV 1, Colorado 1
How Week 1 influenced the rankings
The biggest declines were suffered by ACC favorites Florida State and Clemson. The Seminoles plummeted from 10th place to zero votes after their 0-2 start, while the Tigers fell 11 places to 25th.
Miami is the top-ranked ACC team, climbing seven spots to No. 12 after its 41-17 win at Florida. The ACC occupies the final four spots in the top 25 along with Louisville, Georgia Tech, NC State and Clemson. Louisville and Georgia Tech are the two newcomers to the poll, while Florida State and Texas A&M have fallen out.
USC was a big climber alongside Miami, climbing 10 places to 13th after its 27-20 win over LSU in Las Vegas. LSU slipped five places to 18th.
What would the CFP bracket look like based on the AP poll?
Georgia and Ohio State would be the clear top two spots if the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff were ranked according to the AP poll. Third place would go to Utah (top-ranked team in the Big 12) and fourth to Miami (top-ranked team in the ACC). If you add the top team in the Group of 5 – Boise State, which is just outside the poll – Michigan would not be included despite being ranked 10th.
Texas vs. Michigan is the spotlight in Week 2
Saturday’s biggest game is set: No. 3 Texas visits No. 10 Michigan in the Big House at noon ET. It will be the first time Michigan has hosted a nonconference game against an AP top-5 team since 1991 against Florida State.
The other Top 25 meeting is at 7:30 p.m. ET in Charlotte between No. 14 Tennessee and No. 24 NC State.
Required reading
(Photo by Haynes King: Michael Wade / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
