Sep 18, 2022

AP Top 25: Washington moves in; Penn State, Oregon move up

Posted Sep 18, 2022 8:26 PM

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer

Washington made its season debut in The Associated Press college football at No. 18 and Penn State and Oregon moved into the top 15 after all three had decisive nonconference victories. A weekend filled with blowouts by highly ranked teams kept the top 10 almost unchanged. No. 1 Georgia picked up six more first-place votes in the AP Top 25. The Bulldogs are up to 59 first-place votes and 1,569 points. No. 2 Alabama received three first-place votes and No. 3 Ohio State got one. Penn State jumped eight spots to No. 14 after routing Auburn and Oregon moved up 10 to No. 15 after beating BYU. Washington beat previously ranked Michigan State to earn a ranking for the first time since the 2021 preseason poll.

Washington made its season debut in The Associated Press college football on Sunday at No. 18, and Penn State and Oregon moved into the top 15 after all three had decisive nonconference victories.

A weekend filled with blowouts by highly ranked teams kept the top 10 almost unchanged.

No. 1 Georgia picked up six more first-place votes in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank. The Bulldogs are up to 59 first-place votes and 1,569 points.

No. 2 Alabama received three first-place votes and No. 3 Ohio State got one.

No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Southern California all held their spots. The one change in the top 10 was No. 8 Kentucky flip-flopping with No. 9 Oklahoma State. Arkansas stayed at No. 10.

The top 10 teams, most playing overmatched nonconference opponents, won their games Saturday by a combined 521-120.

The shuffling came in the next 10.

No. 11 Tennessee moved up four spots. Penn State jumped eight to No. 14 after routing Auburn on the road. No. 15 Oregon moved up 10 spots after handily defeating BYU, which slipped seven places to No. 19.

Washington beat previously ranked Michigan State 39-28 to earn a ranking for the first time since the 2021 preseason poll. Washington has had two brief stays in the AP Top 25 the last two seasons but has been mostly unranked since the early part of the 2019 season.

"To get this win now is just going to continue to put this belief in our guys. It's only going to get better for us as we go to work in practice," first-year Washington coach Kalen DeBoer told reporters after the game.

Michigan State dropped all the way out after being No. 11.

Mississippi moved up four spots to No. 16 and No. 20 Florida slipped a couple of spots after barely getting by South Florida at home.

At the bottom of the rankings, Miami dropped 12 spots and landed at No. 25 after losing at Texas A&M. The Aggies went up one to No. 23.

POLL POINTS

The 10-0 weekend from the top 10 was the first since they all played and won in Week 2 of the 2019 season.

Overall, the AP Top 25 teams won 22 games, the most since 24 teams won in Week 1 of 2019.

— Washington's leap into the poll from unranked to No. 18 was the best for the program since September 1989, when the Huskies beat Texas A&M and went from outside the rankings to No. 15.

CONFERENCE CALL

The Pac-12 has its most ranked teams since the first regular-season poll of 2021, when it had five.

SEC — 8 (Nos. 1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 16, 20, 23).

ACC — 5 (Nos. 5, 12, 21, 24, 25).

Big 12 — 4 (Nos. 6, 9, 17, 22).

Pac-12 — 4 (Nos. 7, 13, 15, 18).

Big Ten — 3 (Nos. 3, 4, 14).

Independents — 1 (No. 19).

RANKED vs. RANKED

No. 5 Clemson at No. 21 Wake Forest. For the first time since 1950, the Tigers and Demon Deacons will meet as ranked teams.

No. 20 Florida at No. 11 Tennessee. For the first time since 2017, the teams that used to own the SEC East are both ranked when they play.

No. 10 Arkansas vs. No. 23 Texas A&M at Arlington, Texas. It's not getting any easier for the Aggies.

. . .

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sep. 17, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record/Points/Previous

1. Georgia (59) 3-0 1569 1

2. Alabama (3) 3-0 1492 2

3. Ohio St. (1) 3-0 1473 3

4. Michigan 3-0 1364 4

5. Clemson 3-0 1268 5

6. Oklahoma 3-0 1257 6

7. Southern Cal 3-0 1197 7

8. Kentucky 3-0 1096 9

9. Oklahoma St. 3-0 1071 8

10. Arkansas 3-0 920 10

11. Tennessee 3-0 866 15

12. NC State 3-0 781 16

13. Utah 2-1 684 14

14. Penn St. 3-0 666 22

15. Oregon 2-1 593 25

16. Mississippi 3-0 585 20

17. Baylor 2-1 494 17

18. Washington 3-0 485 -

19. BYU 2-1 381 12

20. Florida 2-1 360 18

21. Wake Forest 3-0 345 19

22. Texas 2-1 339 21

23. Texas A&M 2-1 309 24

24. Pittsburgh 2-1 181 23

25. Miami 2-1 123 13

Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 91, Florida St. 85, Appalachian St. 77, North Carolina 72, Washington St. 62, Cincinnati 52, Oregon St. 49, Minnesota 48, Kansas 23, Syracuse 7, LSU 6, Wisconsin 4.