AP Top 25 college football poll: Will Tennessee be in top 5? Should Michigan be top 10?
Most college football teams are now one-third of the way through their regular season schedules and the view of what teams really are is coming into sharper focus.
Tennessee, barely a top 15 team in the preseason poll, is now a serious candidate to be a top 5 team, with another week of September play remaining, after its 25-15 win at Oklahoma on Saturday.
Reigning national champion and No. 18 Michigan, which tumbled after losing at home to Texas two weeks ago, could move back into the top 10 after beating No. 11 Southern California, 27-24, on Saturday.
No. 21 Clemson (2-1), after a humbling 34-3 season-opening loss then-No. 1 Georgia, continued to show it could still be the ACC’s best team with another rousing 59-35 win over outclassed N.C. State on Saturday.
When the new Associated Press Top 25 poll, the fifth edition of those rankings this season, comes out Sunday at 2 p.m., it will reflect all this new information.
No. 7 Missouri (4-0) could drop out of the top 10 even though it won. A 30-27 overtime escape against Vanderbilt didn’t impress.
Meanwhile, No. 12 Utah (4-0) could move in after the Utes won 22-19 at No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-1) despite not having starting quarterback Cam Rising in the lineup.
No. 13 Kansas State (3-1) is due to be punished after BYU routed the Wildcats, 38-7, late Saturday night. BYU (4-0) might enter the top 25.
That’s because No. 23 Northern Illinois (2-1), which lost 23-20 in overtime at home to Buffalo (3-1), figures to fall out of the poll. So, too, does No. 22 Nebraska, which lost 31-24 at home to No. 24 Illinois, on Friday night.
Who else could move in? Maybe Indiana (4-0), Pittsburgh (4-0) or Duke (4-0). Or perhaps one-loss teams like Boston College (3-1) or Boise State (2-1) who had received considerable support last week and followed up with Saturday wins.
The ACC had three ranked teams last week in Miami, Louisville and Clemson. All three won in convincing fashion so they will stay in the poll.
Last week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll
Rank | Team |
1 | Texas |
2 | Georgia |
3 | Ohio State |
4 | Alabama |
5 | Mississippi |
6 | Tennessee |
7 | Missouri |
8 | Miami |
9 | Oregon |
10 | Penn State |
11 | Southern Cal |
12 | Utah |
13 | Kansas State |
14 | Oklahoma State |
15 | Oklahoma |
16 | LSU |
17 | Notre Dame |
18 | Michigan |
19 | Louisville |
20 | Iowa State |
21 | Clemson |
22 | Nebraska |
23 | Northern Illinois |
24 | Illinois |
25 | Texas A&M |
This story will be updated when the new AP Top 25 poll is released at 2 p.m.
