AP Top 25 poll: Clemson jumps Alabama, Tennessee plummets in updated college football rankings
By David Cobb
Clemson rose two spots, jumping Alabama, for No. 7 in the new AP Top 25 poll released Sunday as the Tigers quietly lurk in the background of the race for College Football Playoff bids. Though the Tigers do not have a true marquee win on their resume, they are now 10-1 with games against quality foes South Carolina and North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game remaining before the four-team CFP field is announced on Dec. 4.
The Tigers crushed Miami 40-10 on Saturday behind a dominant effort from their defense and benefitted from Tennessee's surprising 63-38 loss at South Carolina. The Volunteers dropped from No. 5 to No. 9 because of the defeat. Tennessee's loss also allowed USC to jump two spots to No. 5 after the Trojans beat crosstown rival UCLA 48-45.
Among the other big winners in Sunday's new AP poll were Oregon, which rose two spots to No. 10 after beating Utah and Notre Dame, which vaulted up five spots to No. 13 following a 44-0 win over Boston College.
No. 15 Kansas State and No. 16 Florida State rose four spots each after wins Saturday.
North Carolina dropped five spots to No. 18 following a surprising loss to Georgia Tech and Ole Miss dropped six spots to No. 20 after losing at Arkansas.
Here's a look at the entire top 25 college football rankings as voted on by the AP panel. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
AP Top 25
1 Georgia (62)
2 Ohio State (1)
3 Michigan
4 TCU
5 USC
6 LSU
7 Clemson
8 Alabama
9 Tennessee
10 Oregon
11 Penn State
12 Washington
13 Notre Dame
14 Utah
15 Kansas State
16 Florida State
17 UCLA
18 North Carolina
19 Tulane
20 Ole Miss
21 Cincinnati
22 Oregon State
23 Coastal Carolina
24 Texas
25 UCF
Others receiving votes: UTSA 85, South Carolina 44, Troy 34, Boise State 16, Illinois 12, Iowa 5, Louisville 5, South Alabama 3, Mississippi State 3, Oklahoma State 2, Arkansas 2, Purdue 2, Fresno State 1.