Washington moved up to No. 5 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday — the Huskies’ highest spot in six years — after a thrilling victory against Oregon in a top-10 showdown of Pac-12 teams, and unbeaten Air Force is ranked for the first time since 2019.
The top four teams in the country were unchanged from last week’s AP Top 25 after No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Florida State all won in blowout fashion on Saturday.
The top-ranked Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), seeking their third straight national championship, triumphed 37-20 at Vanderbilt to extend the Football Bowl Subdivision’s longest active winning streak to 24 games. They received 43 first-place votes in the latest poll, while the second-ranked Wolverines (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) got 16, and Florida State (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Ohio State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) each had one vote for No. 1.
Georgia has an open date this week before facing Florida at “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” on Oct. 28 in Jacksonville.
Washington (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) received two first-place votes and jumped two spots — past No. 6 Oklahoma (6-0, 3-0 Big 12), which was idle, and No. 7 Penn State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten), which crushed one-win Massachusetts in a nonconference game. That’s the best ranking for the Huskies since they reached No. 5 on Oct. 8, 2017.
The last time Washington was ranked this highly this late in the season was 2016, when the Huskies made the program’s lone appearance in the College Football Playoff. That was also just the second time any Pac-12 team was in the four-team event — Oregon advanced to the title game of the inaugural edition during the 2014 season — and it remains the most recent appearance by the conference, which is set to lose 10 of its current dozen members next year.
Washington beat Oregon 36-33 on Saturday, with the Ducks unable to force overtime as they missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt on the game’s final play.
“That was an amazing football game. If there’s one that I’ve been a part of that was bigger and better, I can’t think of it right now,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said afterward.
It was the 115th meeting between the Ducks and the Huskies, but the first time both were ranked in the top 10.
“This moment right now is really special for our program,” DeBoer said Saturday.
Oregon (5-1, 2-1) dropped one spot to No. 9, flip-flopping with No. 8 Texas (5-1, 2-1 Big 12), with the Longhorns idle a week after their Red River Rivalry loss to Oklahoma.
North Carolina (6-0, 3-0 ACC) moved up two spots to a season-high No. 10 after beating Miami 41-31.
The University of Southern California (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) dropped eight spots to No. 18 after losing 48-20 to nonconference rival Notre Dame. The independent Fighting Irish (6-2), who hosted the Trojans after a three-week run of close games in which they lost twice, jumped six places to No. 15.
Oregon State (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) moved up three spots to No. 12 — the Beavers’ best ranking since reaching No. 7 in 2012 — with a 36-24 victory against UCLA that dropped the Bruins seven spots.
No. 22 Air Force (6-0, 4-0 Mountain West Conference) vaulted into the rankings after rallying from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter and a 21-17 deficit at halftime to beat MWC rival Wyoming 34-27 and sit alone atop the league standings.
AP photo by Vasha Hunt / Alabama football coach Nick Saban shouts during the team’s final drive of Saturday’s home win against Arkansas. Saban’s Crimson Tide hosts Tennessee this week, with the Third Saturday in October rivalry a meeting of ranked teams for the second year in a row.POLL POINTS
Alabama held steady at No. 11 after holding off Arkansas, with coach Nick Saban’s team extending its streak of being out of the top 10 to five weeks.
The Crimson Tide dropped out for the first time since 2015 on Sept. 17, when they fell to a season-low No. 13 after a sloppy performance in a nonconference win at South Florida.
Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC) has won five straight games since 34-24 home loss to Texas on Sept. 9, but it hasn’t been able to get back into the top 10. The Tide have not spent this much of a season out of the top 10 since 2007, Saban’s first season as head coach in Tuscaloosa, when Alabama finished 7-6.
The Tide are positioned to either get back into the top 10 or slip even farther after hosting No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1) in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. After that, Alabama has a week off before hosting No. 19 LSU (5-2, 4-1).
Alabama has not been out of the top 15 since Nov. 28, 2010, when the Tide lost to Auburn in their Iron Bowl regular-season finale to fall to No. 17 at 9-3.
Tennessee moved up two spots this week after an uncharacteristic low-scoring win for coach Josh Heupel’s Volunteers, 20-13 against Texas A&M in Knoxville.
IN & OUT
Air Force has finished 10-3 each of the past two seasons, both times fueled by late winning streaks, but failed to make an appearance in the AP Top 25.
Now the Falcons are 6-0 for the first time since 2002 and ranked for the first time since the last three polls of the 2019 season. Air Force finished that season 11-2 and No. 22 in the country.
The other teams to move into the Top 25 this week have been here earlier in the season: No. 20 Missouri (6-1 2-1 SEC) bounced right back into the rankings after winning at Kentucky, which was 24th at the time; No. 23 Tulane (5-1, 2-0 American Athletic Conference) is back after beating league rival Memphis on Friday night; and No. 24 Iowa (6-1) returns after seizing control of the Big Ten’s West Division by beating Wisconsin and improving to 3-1 against league foes.
In addition to Kentucky, this week’s dropouts were Kansas, Miami and Washington State, all of which lost for the second time this season.
CONFERENCE CALL
SEC: Six (Nos. 1, 11, 13, 17, 19, 20).
Pac-12: Six (Nos. 5, 9, 12, 14, 18, 25).
Big Ten: Four (Nos. 2, 3, 7, 24).
ACC: Four (Nos. 4, 10, 16, 21).
Big 12: Two (Nos. 6, 8).
AAC: One (No. 23).
MWC: One (No. 22).
Independent: One (No. 15).
RANKED vs. RANKED
No. 7 Penn State at No. 3 Ohio State: It will be the seventh straight meeting with both teams ranked.
No. 17 Tennessee at No. 11 Alabama: This will mark consecutive seasons with both teams ranked for the matchup of old SEC rivals. That hasn’t happened since 1995-96.
No. 16 Duke at No. 4 Florida State: These two ACC members have had only two ranked meetings previously, and the Seminoles won them both by a combined 77 points.
No. 14 Utah at No. 18 USC: This will be the straight meeting with both teams ranked after the Utes won both last year to take the Pac-12 title.
AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 21
No. 2 Michigan at Michigan State, 7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Penn State, noon
No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 16 Duke, 7:30 p.m.
No. 5 Washington vs. Arizona State, 10:30 p.m.
No. 6 Oklahoma vs. UCF, noon
No. 8 Texas at Houston, 4 p.m.
No. 9 Oregon vs. Washington State, 3:30 p.m.
No. 10 North Carolina vs. Virginia, 6:30 p.m.
No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 17 Tennessee, 3:30 p.m.
No. 13 Ole Miss at Auburn, 7 p.m.
No. 14 Utah at No. 18 Southern California, 8 p.m.
No. 19 LSU vs. Army, 7:30 p.m.
No. 20 Missouri vs. South Carolina, 3:30 p.m.
No. 22 Air Force at Navy, noon
No. 23 Tulane vs. North Texas, 3:30 p.m.
No. 24 Iowa vs. Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.
No. 25 UCLA at Stanford, 10:30 p.m.