Clemson had to rally to defeat Syracuse at Death Valley Saturday to become the first at 8-0 among ranked teams, but the Tigers did not move in the AP ranking this week. They remain fifth behind the top four of Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan.
USC, with their win over Texas A&M last night at Williams-Brice Stadium, improved to 5-2 and extended their winning streak to four games. That garnered the Gamecocks enough votes to break into the ranking for the first time this season at #25. Two voters had the Gamecocks as high as #18. It’s the first appearance for the Gamecocks in the AP ranking since September 4th, 2018, when they were ranked 24th.
Clemson actually received one first place vote this week, from Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News. Four voters had the Tigers as low as seventh. Georgia received 31 first place votes, Ohio State 18th and Tennessee 13. #4 Michigan has a 64-point cushion on Clemson.
Wake Forest and Penn State were the biggest gainers this week moving up three positions each to 10th and 13th respectively. The biggest loser was Ole Miss who dropped eight spots to 5th after the loss at LSU. The Tigers are back in the poll at #18.
AP Poll
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | PREVIOUS | RECORD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia (31) | 1530 | 1 | 7-0 |
| 2 | Ohio State (18) | 1513 | 2 | 7-0 |
| 3 | Tennessee (13) | 1476 | 3 | 7-0 |
| 4 | Michigan | 1382 | 4 | 7-0 |
| 5 | Clemson (1) | 1318 | 5 | 8-0 |
| 6 | Alabama | 1266 | 6 | 7-1 |
| 7 | TCU | 1213 | 8 | 7-0 |
| 8 | Oregon | 1114 | 10 | 6-1 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 1064 | 11 | 6-1 |
| T-10 | Southern California | 927 | 12 | 6-1 |
| T-10 | Wake Forest | 927 | 13 | 6-1 |
| 12 | UCLA | 803 | 9 | 6-1 |
| 13 | Penn State | 783 | 16 | 6-1 |
| 14 | Utah | 766 | 15 | 5-2 |
| 15 | Ole Miss | 744 | 7 | 7-1 |
| 16 | Syracuse | 626 | 14 | 6-1 |
| 17 | Illinois | 508 | 18 | 6-1 |
| 18 | LSU | 502 | NR | 6-2 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 429 | 19 | 5-2 |
| 20 | Cincinnati | 386 | 21 | 6-1 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 278 | 22 | 6-1 |
| 22 | Kansas State | 272 | 17 | 5-2 |
| 23 | Tulane | 243 | 25 | 7-1 |
| 24 | NC State | 169 | 23 | 5-2 |
| 25 | South Carolina | 113 | NR | 5-2 |
Coaches Top 25
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 7-0 | 1550 | 43 | 1 | — | 1/3 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 7-0 | 1516 | 17 | 2 | — | 2/3 |
| 3 | Tennessee | 7-0 | 1424 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3/NR |
| 4 | Michigan | 7-0 | 1407 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 3/6 |
| 5 | Clemson | 8-0 | 1325 | 0 | 5 | — | 4/5 |
| 6 | Alabama | 7-1 | 1264 | 0 | 6 | — | 1/6 |
| 7 | Texas Christian | 7-0 | 1184 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7/NR |
| 8 | Oregon | 6-1 | 1125 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 8/24 |
| 9 | Oklahoma State | 6-1 | 1031 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 7/11 |
| 10 | Wake Forest | 6-1 | 949 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 10/21 |
| 11 | Southern California | 6-1 | 941 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 6/15 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 7-1 | 816 | 0 | 7 | -5 | 7/24 |
| 13 | Penn State | 6-1 | 789 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 10/NR |
| 14 | Utah | 5-2 | 782 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 8/19 |
| 15 | UCLA | 6-1 | 744 | 0 | 10 | -5 | 10/NR |
| 16 | Syracuse | 6-1 | 554 | 0 | 14 | -2 | 14/NR |
| 17 | Kentucky | 5-2 | 473 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 8/22 |
| 18 | Illinois | 6-1 | 469 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 18/NR |
| 19 | Cincinnati | 6-1 | 441 | 0 | 19 | — | 19/NR |
| 20 | Louisiana State | 6-2 | 350 | 0 | NR | 6 | 20/NR |
| 21 | North Carolina | 6-1 | 347 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 21/NR |
| 22 | Kansas State | 5-2 | 261 | 0 | 17 | -5 | 16/NR |
| 23 | NC State | 5-2 | 259 | 0 | 23 | — | 10/23 |
| 24 | Tulane | 7-1 | 206 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 24/NR |
| 25 | South Carolina | 5-2 | 87 | 0 | NR | 4 | 25/NR |
