Georgia moved up one spot to No. 4 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, fellow Southeastern Conference program Oklahoma returned to the top 10, and North Texas — which ranked for the first time since 1959 — is among three Group of Five conference teams in the AP Top 25.
Ohio State, Big Ten co-leader Indiana and SEC front-runner Texas A&M were the top three teams for the fifth straight week. Georgia earned its highest ranking since also being No. 4 the first week of September, and Ole Miss of the SEC was back in the top five after spending three weeks there at midseason.
Reigning Big Ten champion Oregon and Big 12 member Texas Tech were tied for No. 6, and Oklahoma rose three spots to No. 8 after its win at Alabama to put a little intrigue in the SEC title race and the College Football Playoff picture. The Sooners had most recently been in the top 10 in the second week of October, when they were No. 6 before a 23-6 loss to Texas in their Red River Rivalry matchup.
Powerful independent Notre Dame remained No. 9 after a 22-point win at Pittsburgh, and Alabama dropped six spots to No. 10 after the Sooners ended the Crimson Tide’s eight-game winning streak that dated to a season-opening loss at Florida State.
Ohio State, which rolled past UCLA to improve to 10-0 for the fourth time in seven seasons, received 57 of 66 first-place votes. Indiana, which beat Wisconsin to go 11-0 for the first time, got eight first-place votes. The third-ranked Aggies, whose comeback from a 27-point deficit to beat South Carolina on Saturday was their program’s largest ever and got them to 10-0, received one first-place vote in Sunday’s poll, three fewer than last week.