Table of Contents
College football has a new No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll, as Texas moved past Georgia for the top spot on Sunday. The move comes after the Longhorns crushed UTSA 56-7 and the Bulldogs narrowly escaped Kentucky 13-12.
Texas made a statement at the start of the season last week with a blowout win over Michigan, and now it’s the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2008. The Longhorns were coming off an easy win over the Roadrunners in a game in which quarterback Quinn Ewers was injured with an oblique strain and replaced by Arch Manning. Texas received 35 first-place votes, compared to 23 votes for No. 2 Georgia and five votes for No. 3 Ohio State.
GALLING DEEPER
Why Texas is the Right #1 State Over Georgia: Behind the AP Top 25 Voting
The last time Texas was ranked No. 1, it lost a close game at Texas Tech on Nov. 1, 2008. The Longhorns are the first team outside of Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, LSU and Michigan to be ranked No. 1 in the AP poll since Ohio State in 2015.
Alabama and Ole Miss held steady to round out the top five, followed by Tennessee, Missouri, Miami, Oregon and Penn State. The SEC holds six of the top seven spots for the second straight week.
Others who received votes: Memphis 77, Boise State 62, Syracuse 62, UNLV 54, Boston College 47, Washington State 30, Arizona 15, Iowa 15, Indiana 13, California 11, Liberty 10, Toledo 9, UCF 6, South Carolina 3 , North Carolina 3, Arizona State 3, BYU 2, Pittsburgh 1
How Week 3 Impacted the Rankings
While there were a few close calls, only two ranked teams lost, both to ranked opponents: No. 20 Arizona at No. 14 Kansas State on Friday and No. 24 Boston College at No. 6 Missouri on Saturday. Arizona and Boston College both dropped out of the poll, replaced by No. 24 Illinois, which is quietly 3-0, and No. 25 Texas A&M, which won easily at Florida. Memphis narrowly missed the cut, trailing Texas A&M by five voting points.
There was little movement in the poll, as no one moved up or down more than two spots in the rankings, but Week 3 still provided drama at the top with Texas claiming the top spot. And Texas’ move creates a new look for the College Football Playoff bracket based on the AP poll, as Georgia would now host Northern Illinois in the first round:
What now?
Week 4 features four games between teams ranked in the AP Top 25, three of which come as a result of this year’s conference realignment. In the Big Ten, No. 11 USC visits No. 18 Michigan. In the SEC, No. 6 Tennessee visits No. 15 Oklahoma. And in the Big 12, No. 12 Utah visits No. 14 Oklahoma State. All of those games offer early chances to make statements in the race for both the conference titles and College Football Playoff bids.
Friday night features a surprising ranked matchup, as No. 22 Nebraska hosts No. 24 Illinois. It’s the first time Nebraska has played in a matchup between two AP-ranked teams since a 62-3 loss to Ohio State on Nov. 5, 2016.
Required reading
(Photo: Tim Warner/Getty Images)
