Tennessee moved up to 5th place in The Associated Press College Football Poll Sunday, as the Volunteers continued their climb up the rankings and No. 25 Boise State returned to the AP Top 25 for the first time in four years.
Texas was No. 1 for the second week in a row, receiving 44 of 62 first-place votes while the top four teams remained the same. The Longhorns won a game as the top-ranked team in the country for the first time since 2008, defeating Louisiana-Monroe in Quarterback Arch Manning’s first career start.
Georgia came in second with 13 first-place votes, Ohio State is third with five first-place votes. Alabama is number 4.
Both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide had last weekend off as they prepare for next Saturday’s top-five clash in Tuscaloosa.
The Volunteers welcomed Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference with a 25-15 away win This marks Tennessee’s fourth consecutive week of climbing in the rankings. The Vols started the season ranked 15th, then fell to 14th after Week 1, 7th after Week 2 and 6th last week.
Tennessee was last ranked in the top five in 2022, reaching No. 2 on October 30.
Mississippi slipped one spot to No. 6, and Miami (No. 7), Oregon (No. 8) and Penn State (No. 9) each moved up one spot.
No. 10 Utah moved up two places to Away win against Oklahoma State in a clash between the top-ranked Big 12 teams.
Boise State is in the poll for the first time since a two-week stay in early November 2020. The Broncos, who lost on a last-second field goal two weeks after their loss at Oregon, improved to 2-1 with a landslide victory against Portland State on Saturday.
Survey points
The SEC’s stranglehold on the top of the rankings loosened somewhat, with Missouri’s overtime win against Vanderbilt The Tigers dropped four places to 11th place. The conference has nevertheless reached another milestone.
The SEC has held six of the top seven spots in the rankings for two weeks in a row, a first for any league in the poll’s history. No conference has ever held even five of the top seven spots, which the SEC still holds this week with 16 teams.
Despite Missouri’s slippage, the SEC still holds five of the top six spots and has held four of the top five spots for the past three weeks, another first in the AP poll.
The only other time in the poll’s 88-year history that a conference had four of the top five ranked teams was the SEC on Oct. 19, 2014 (No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 3 Mississippi, No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Auburn). That lasted one week.
In and out
Boise State’s absence from the AP rankings was conspicuous after the Broncos were a staple in the polls for nearly two decades.
Boise State has been ranked in the AP Top 25 at least once for 19 consecutive seasons, from its very first appearance in 2002 through 2020. The Broncos finished the season ranked 13 times during that span.
No. 22 BYU also made its season debut in the rankings. The Cougars (4-0) are in the rankings for the first time since October 2, 2022, after Defeat Kansas State at home Saturday night. The defeat caused the previously unbeaten Wildcats to drop 10 places to 23rd place.
After short stays and their first losses of the season, Nebraska and Northern Illinois left the rankings this week.
The Cornhuskers lose to Illinois in overtimea win that helped the Illini climb five spots to 19th.
NIU, which had not played since its victory against Notre Dame two weeks ago, lost in overtime against Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game.
Conference call
SEC – 9 (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 14, 21, 24).
Big Ten – 6 (Nos. 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 19).
Big 12 – 5 (Nos. 10, 18, 20, 22, 23).
ACC — 3 (No. 7, 15, 17).
Mountain West – 1 (No. 25).
Independent – 1 (No. 16).
Ranking vs. Ranking
—No. 2 Georgia at No. 4 Alabama. The Bulldogs and Tide played each other eight times between 2012 and 2023, but only twice in the regular season on each other’s home field. The other six were two national title games and four SEC championships.
—No. 19 Illinois at No. 9 Penn State. The last time the Big Ten rivals met as ranked teams was 2008.
— No. 20 Oklahoma State at No. 23 Kansas State. Second straight game against a ranked Big 12 opponent for the Cowboys. Only the third time in 68 meetings have both been ranked.
— No. 15 Louisville vs. No. 16 Notre Dame. For the second year in a row, the Cardinals and Fighting Irish are in a high-ranking matchup.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo on https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
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