Georgia and West Virginia made key moves this week after a Saturday of statements across the country, each moving closer to the top of the rankings in the new AP Top 25.
The Bulldogs made a return to the top five of the poll after a dominant win at Kentucky, moving up one spot to No. 5 as they clinched the SEC East title and a spot in Atlanta against No. 1 Alabama -- still the unanimous top team in the country according to the AP voters -- in the SEC Championship Game.
West Virginia had one of the most significant jumps, up five spots into the top 10 at No. 7 after knocking off Texas on the road. The biggest jump of the week within the poll came from Syracuse and Boston College, up nine spots and seven spots respectively after Week 10 wins. No. 19 Florida and No. 21 Penn State each fell out of the top 15 after losses but remained in the top 25 thanks to other teams below them falling out of the rankings.
The last two weekends, 21 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 lost. The shuffling has created fluidity outside of the top 10, extending all the way down to the top dozen spots in Others Receiving Votes. Nearly all of the voters can agree on the teams at the top, but splitting hairs between two-loss and three-loss teams at this point in the season is more of an art than a science. With no real consensus not only on who those teams are but also the order, there are bound to be some interesting movements in and out of the polls.
Utah, Houston, Iowa, Virginia and Texas A&M weren't able to hang on in the rankings after losses, getting replaced in the top 25 by No. 20 Washington, No. 22 NC State, No. 23 Iowa State, No. 24 Michigan State and No. 25 Cincinnati.
Check out the full AP Top 25 below:
- Alabama (60 first-place votes)
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- West Virginia
- Ohio State
- LSU
- Washington State
- UCF
- Kentucky
- Syracuse
- Utah State
- Texas
- Fresno State
- Boston College
- Mississippi State
- Florida
- Washington
- Penn State
- NC State
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- Cincinnati
Dropped out: No. 16 Utah, No. 17 Houston, No. 19 Iowa, No. 23 Virginia, No. 25 Texas A&M
Others receiving votes: Utah 110, Auburn 93, Wisconsin 37, Army 32, UAB 31, Northwestern 28, Iowa 17, Boise St. 15, Purdue 14, Buffalo 11, Oregon 9, San Diego St. 5, Duke 4, Texas A&M 3, Houston 3, Texas Tech 2.
